In Separate Bedrooms by Carole Mortimer Page A

make her feel at all better about this coming weekend! How could it? He was enough of a torment on his own, without the rest of his family to cope with too.
    ‘What are they like?’ Mattie made an effort to look composed; she didn’t have to appear quite such a country bumpkin!
    ‘Try them and see,’ he invited lightly, expertly spooning up one of the scallops from her plate and holding it poised in front of her mouth.
    There was something rather—intimate, about having someone feed you in a restaurant, Mattie decided as shechewed briefly before swallowing down the mouth-watering food. Too intimate!
    ‘I was actually referring to your family,’ she bit out tautly, pointedly picking up her own cutlery to feed herself.
    Jack’s eyes widened, and then he smiled. ‘Sorry. What are they like?’ he repeated thoughtfully. ‘Ordinary,’ he finally responded. ‘Like me.’
    Mattie hated to tell him this, but there was nothing in the least ordinary about him!
    ‘Well, none of them have two heads or twelve toes,’ he amended humorously as he easily read the scepticism in Mattie’s face.
    ‘Ordinary, then,’ she conceded. ‘How many brothers and sisters do you—?’
    ‘Did you check out your passport?’ Jack interrupted with sudden urgency. ‘The last thing I want is to turn up at the airport and find they won’t let you on the plane because you don’t have a valid passport.’
    It sounded like a pretty good idea to Mattie! But, unfortunately, her passport was fine. So that was one get-out she could forget about!
    ‘It’s fine,’ she assured him. ‘But they may just have a little trouble at the airport when they see that the name on the ticket doesn’t match the one in my passport,’ she pointed out hopefully.
    ‘Already taken care of,’ Jack assured her. ‘I telephoned the airline today and confirmed the ticket in your name.’
    What he meant was, his secretary—the same secretary who ordered his bouquets of flowers by the quartet!—had called the airline and changed the name on the ticket.
    She really must keep remembering that, Mattie chided herself. It was all too easy to become enslaved by the Beauchamp charm. So much so that she could almost believe they were going away to Paris just for a romantic weekend together. Almost …
    ‘How efficient of you,’ she rejoined with saccharine sweetness.
    ‘Wasn’t it?’ Jack shot back with the same sugary insincerity. ‘Have I told you how beautiful you look this evening, Mattie?’ he said suddenly.
    Once again Mattie found herself the focus of that charm he seemed to be able to turn on and off like a switch. It was lethal! Mattie now felt very hot, her heart beating a wild tattoo in her chest.
    She gave him a scathing glance. ‘Insincerity is the lowest form of flattery,’ she told him hardly.
    ‘But you do look wonderful,’ Jack assured her softly. ‘Your hair is the most amazing colour—what colour would you call that?’ He looked admiringly at the heavy swathe of her layered hair as it fell past her shoulders.
    ‘Blonde,’ Mattie said tersely.
    Jack shook his head, still looking at her hair. ‘It’s honey, and molasses, and yet there’s also a hint of—’
    ‘Salt and pepper?’ she put in derisively. ‘I think you’re just hungry, Jack. I suggest you eat the rest of your scallops!’
    He gave a laugh. ‘It did sound rather like a recipe, didn’t it?’ he acknowledged.
    For disaster! It was not a good idea for Jack to pay her compliments. It was an even worse idea for her to listen to them!
    If only—
    If only what?
    If only she and Jack were out on a real date. If only she and Jack really were going to Paris for a romantic weekend.
    If only!
    But they weren’t on a real date. They weren’t going away for a romantic weekend; she was just a shield against the unwanted attentions of his future brother-in-law’s sister. And it served her right if that was Jack’s only interest in her!
    How could a man like him possibly have