Free Keeping Her Up All Night by Anna Cleary Page A

from the threat of hungry wolves with sexy mouths. The sooner the honeymooners were home, the happier she would be. The safer. The sheer energy cost of having met Guy Wilder was exhausting.
Twice
while he’d been in the shop this morning she’d been tempted to soften. Twice. She’d actually, for a fleeting instant, considered his demand to meet him. Visions of exotic temptations at the Shangri-la had floated in her imagination for a teensy, tantalising second. Before her brain had cut in.
    Give in to that and where would her self respect be?
    After he’d gone, though, she hadn’t been able to stop thinking of his expression when he’d turned to leave. The lines of his face had tautened to make him look so—grim.
    Oh, Amber. Please
. What was wrong with her? Had she forgotten everything she’d learned? She stiffened her spine and shoulders in resistance for a second or so, then let them slump.
    Who was she kidding? She knew what was amiss, all right. Having once tasted the wine, the Eustacia Vye in her was craving another sip. A stroll under the gum trees.Perhaps even a swipe of her head from the palm fronds at the Shangri-la.
    She had to fight it—
had
to. Hadn’t she learned only too well how powerfully that addiction could take hold? It was so insidious. The effects of even that single sexual encounter had sunk so deep. Everything about him seemed to have crept into her senses. His hands, his eyebrows. That way he had of considering her every light word as if it had been carved in concrete.
    And it was becoming blindingly clear that, regardless of the things she
said
to him, every moment she spent in his dangerous company only fuelled the flames.
    To add to her quandary, this afternoon she’d received an e-card in her junk mail from Jean.
    Having a sensational time!!! Everything fantastic. The food, the wine, the ports, the people. Look out for Guy, won’t you? Mind you give him some TLC. Lots of love x
    Amber had puzzled over it for minutes. TLC for
Guy
? Was Jean kidding? Did she realise what TLC meant? Maybe she had her acronyms mixed up.
    The residents’ meetings were usually lacklustre affairs, though the oldies got a kick from the gossip. Amber had been to a few of the smaller ones, but tonight’s was the big annual affair, where the residents and arcade tenants combined.
    Though everyone she’d talked to in the mall seemed to be planning to attend, Amber felt tempted to bypass the entire event. Go straight home and soak in a long, soothing, chamomile-scented bath. Wash her hair and paint her toenails. Chill and stop thinking of wine and—that man.
    If only tonight’s gathering hadn’t been slated as especiallyimportant. Roger had told her that once the tower residents’ issues were dealt with the business owners would be discussing future directions in the arcade.
    A worrying thought occurred to her. What if they discussed her shop and she wasn’t there to defend herself? Though surely they wouldn’t do anything so unprofessional? The shopkeepers were all friends, in a low-key sort of way. Regardless of Roger’s quiet hints to her, everyone was always treated with consideration at the meetings.
    With a sigh, she braced herself to be bored, pasted on a smile, and walked into the assembly room.
    What?
She nearly choked. Shock speared through her from head to toe.
    Guy was there.
    Not only was he there, he was occupying Jean’s place at the official desk. But why? As secretary of the committee, it was Jean’s usual role to take the minutes. In her absence anyone else could do it. But there
he
was, laptop open before him, conversing with people, as relaxed and confident as if he belonged there.
    On the other side of the room, some instinct or vibration on the air made Guy glance up. Despite what had happened between them this morning, his heart-rate bumped up a notch. Spring had walked into the room. She was hesitating just inside the rear entrance, as slender and fragile in her flowery dress as an