‘That for me?’ asked Leo nodding to the coffee that she was still holding.
‘Er, yes.’ She held it out, focusing on the white mug and the dark liquid, taking great care not to look at his face or to touch his fingers.
‘Where’s lover boy?’ he asked, looking around as if Steve might be hiding in a cupboard somewhere, amusement curving his lips as if he were laughing at a private joke.
Anna drew in a breath, feeing prudish and wrong-footed by Leo’s golden glory. It was so bloody unfair.
‘He’s gone. He had to get back for work tomorrow, so he left early.’
‘Just you and me, then.’ Leo grinned with a touch of malicious triumph. ‘How long has he been on the scene?’
Anna’s nerves, stretched to breaking point, finally snapped. ‘Two years, not that it’s anything to do with you. And will you put some clothes on,’ she snapped. ‘There’s no one here to impress.’
He grinned at her and finally took the coffee from her outstretched hand. ‘Missed me?’
She glowered at him. She might have known he wouldn’t take this seriously.
Leo’s lips curled into a cheerful grin. ‘I take it from your rapturous greeting yesterday he doesn’t know about us?’
With a swallow, Anna shook his head. ‘No. He doesn’t need to. It was a long time ago. We were still children. And this is very unfortunate.’
‘Mmm, nice coffee’ said Leo, although he appeared amused by the situation. ‘Fate’s a funny old thing,’ he observed, leaning back against one of the cabinets, stretching one arm. Anna tried hard not to register the way his skin rippled over the smooth muscles.
‘I don’t believe in fate. It’s bad luck,’ she snapped. ‘But don’t worry, I’m going to ask for alternative accommodation at the meeting today.’
‘That’s up to you,’ said Leo with a nonchalant shrug, which drew her eyes to his chest again. How could anyone be that bloody gorgeous? But then she knew what he was like, which ought to have been enough to dampen her hormones, but they didn’t believe in common sense and had suddenly leapt into life. Frisky, curious and completely out of control. She hoped Leo had no idea of the effect he was having on her. Shame helped douse the feelings. She had a boyfriend, for God’s sake.
‘Don’t feel you have to move out on my account. I’m sure we can be civilised.’
Anna stared at him, at the deep blue eyes, guileless and sincere. ‘So you won’t do the gentlemanly thing and move out yourself?’
A slight frown creased his forehead. ‘Me?’ he asked with a touch of incredulity.
‘Yes, you.’
‘But why? I’m not the one with the problem.’
‘Leo, be serious.’
‘I am. I like this apartment. I like Jan and Michaela. I can tell they’re going to be friends. It’s a nice neighbourhood. I don’t want to move. I just got here. We’re grown-ups, we can live amicably together. I’m sure we can stay out of each other’s way.’
‘And since when have you been interested in making beer?’ Unable to hold it in any longer, the curiosity-loaded question shot out.
He gave her a long considering look and held up his hands in a surrender gesture. ‘I met a girl once who really liked beer. She got me interested. Then I lost interest and did various things for a few years … and then, eighteen months ago, I was at a loose end and got chatting to a guy who runs a micro-brewery in Richmond. He needed some help…’ Leo shrugged. ‘I started doing deliveries for him to start with and gradually got more involved. But it’s too small an outfit to take me on full time and I don’t have the experience yet. In the summer I met a couple of Italian guys who were also running a micro-brewery and helped them out as well. I just decided that I’d like to set up my own, if I could. And here I am.’
Anna refrained from voicing her thoughts. ‘Just decided’. That said it all. Brewing was in her blood – that’s why she was here.
Leo lifted his coffee mug in a quick toast, shot her another cheerful smile and ambled out of the kitchen.
Gritting her teeth to stop herself growling at him, Anna glared at his back, acknowledging that it was a fine back, and a very fine backside, his pert buttocks outlined by the fabric of the towel.
Why did he have to be so bloody reasonable? Surely he could see they couldn’t share this place. Not with their history.
* * *
Half an hour later, she gathered up her bag, ready to leave. She checked her reflection one last time in the mirror and deemed herself ready for the day. The journey timings, which she’d checked and rechecked, would get her to the venue in plenty of time – it would be awful to be late the first day she met her sponsor and the scheme organisers. It was important that she impress her sponsor from day one, because she’d need all their support to help her win the brewery equipment, which was the main reason she was here.
Despite her best efforts, she’d been unable to persuade her uncle to allow her to be involved in the brewing side of things, let alone brew her own beer. If she could win this equipment and use her own savings, she hoped to persuade him to let her have a small part of the building to set up her own line. She was, after all, a shareholder and on the board, even if technically she owned only a tiny percentage of the company.
