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Jess swallowed. It felt like Greg’s last betrayal of all that she’d thought he held dear. But that wasn’t Joe’s fault. ‘So when did you start following me around?’
‘You make it sound like surveillance. I’m just here for your safety. There’s a big difference.’ There was a hint of steel in Joe’s easygoing smile. ‘And I’ve been here since last night.’
The thought that Joe might have been in the house somewhere occurred to Jess and she reddened. Catch-me-if-you-can, naked in the hallway, suddenly didn’t seem as good an idea as it had in the small hours of that morning. ‘Where did you spend the night last night?’
‘In the guest house.’
‘The flat over the top of the garage? With the red door?’ Which just happened to be completely self-contained.
‘That’s the one.’
‘And what? You were just looking out of the window and saw me walking past. So you decided to follow… protect… me.’
Joe gave his slow, easy smile. ‘No. The security system alerts us when anyone goes in or out of the main house. And it’s not up to me to decide anything. My instructions are to look after you.’
‘Your instructions from whom? Dr Shaw?’ Shaw Industries might call him Mr but she wasn’t Shaw Industries. ‘Did he know you’d be looking after me?’
She must have betrayed her indignity. The nagging thought that Greg had let her wander off on her own a little too easily this morning. Joe smoothly went into maximum tact alert. ‘I get my instructions from Mr Shaw’s personal assistant.’
Pat again. Jess wrinkled her nose. ‘What’s she like? Pat?’
‘I’ve never met her. She seems very nice on the phone.’
‘I’m putting you in a difficult position, aren’t I?’
Joe suppressed a smile. ‘Nah. A different position maybe. My job is to blend in with the furniture, not make conversation.’
‘But it won’t make much difference if you have coffee with me?’
Humour flashed in his face. ‘Yeah, it’ll make a difference. I won’t be wishing that you’d waited until I’d had breakfast before you left the house.’
‘Operation Coffee it is, then.’
Joe rolled his eyes and motioned to the waiter. ‘Just coffee will do fine.’
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
JESS OPENED THE front door, fully aware that Joe had paused and was waiting to see her safely inside. Greg was still in bed, but he stirred when she walked into the bedroom.
‘Hey, there. Enjoy your stroll?’
‘Yes.’ She climbed onto the bed and sat astride his body. ‘Guess what happened?’
‘What?’
‘I got saved by Joe from Security.’
A flash of uncertainty appeared in his dark eyes. ‘Saved from what?’
‘A man sat down at my table while I was having coffee. Spoke to me in Italian.’
‘Oh. Really?’
Jess nodded gravely. ‘Really. It was terrifying. Good thing that Joe was there to rush to my rescue.’
He was man enough to know when he was beaten. ‘Fair enough. I dare say you could have dealt with that on your own.’
‘I dare say I could.’ Gripping his wrists, Jess leaned forward, pinning his arms against the pillows. He grinned, stretching beneath her and tipping her forward slightly.
