“You tell me. All I know is you looked anxious as fuck just now.”

“Like I said, Alfie’s not great with people, all people. It’s got nothing to do with you. Now, would you like to take a seat? There are customers behind you waiting to be served.”

Stu stared me down for a moment before going to sit. I watched as he sat a few seats away from two plainly dressed middle-aged men, so completely out of place. Stu wore dark jeans and a T-shirt under his worn leather jacket. Definitely the last person you’d expect to see at an event like this.

The reading would start in just a few minutes, and I was relieved Stu and I wouldn’t have any more opportunities to talk for a while. It wasn’t that I wasn’t happy he was here, showing an interest in an academic subject. It was more that our conversations always tended to veer toward the uncomfortable or awkward, or sexy awkward. And I couldn’t tell if it was his fault or mine.

Probably a little of both.

When the reading began I took the opportunity to pay a visit to the bathroom, and when I returned, Alfie was waiting outside, an unhappy slant to his mouth.

“What is that man doing here? Did you invite him?”

“He expressed an interest in Persian history,” I answered, trying for casual. “I’m encouraging him to be pro-active about his learning.” It wasn’t exactly the truth, but it was the best I could do. I couldn’t tell Alfie that Stu had turned up after eavesdropping on a conversation and discovering I’d be here. If I did he’d blow a gasket. He already thought I was too lax with my personal information as it was.

“He keeps turning up, Andie. Are you sure he isn’t stalking you?”

“He’s not stalking me. Now relax and go back to the reading. Jamie’s spent the last month organising all this, and it’d be nice for him to see you show an interest.”

“He’s well aware that wars are my most hated aspect of history.”

“Your last painting depicted the wreckage after a bomb,” I countered.

“Yes, and every moment creating it was agony. Sometimes the things I hate the most make me feel the most, Andie.”

“I know. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”

Alfie looked at the floor. “Well anyway, I think I might head home. I don’t feel safe with your stalker hanging around.”

He said the last part with a hint of sarcasm and I had to wonder if he just didn’t like the idea of anyone taking my attention away from him. He could be very possessive of my friendship in that respect. Even when Mark was alive, Alfie and I had been close, but still not as close as we were now. I’d been terribly bereft and lonely after Mark passed and Alfie had been desperate to move out of his mother’s house, hence our decision to move in together. Over the years we’d come to depend on one another in different ways, though Alfie definitely depended on me more than I did him. But it was a good fit. For both of us.

“Andrea, is there a john in here I can use?” came a familiar voice and I startled when Stu appeared.

Alfie looked at him with absolute horror in his expression. He seemed to shrink as if he was hiding himself, like Stu had walked in on him naked, towelling himself dry after a shower. Oh, Alfie. Always one to overreact. I guessed Stu now understood what I meant about Alfie being a little odd.

I cleared my throat. “Yes, it’s just through there,” I said, indicating the way I’d come.

“Thanks,” he replied and glanced at Alfie. “Hi, I’m Stu, a student of Andrea’s. You must be her cousin.”

He held out his hand but Alfie just stared at it like he was offended. His social awkwardness really knew no bounds. In fact, it was making me feel awkward by association.

“You all right, mate?” Stu asked, frowning.

Alfie looked at me, shook his head and began backing away. “I’m going home. I’ll see you later.” And with that, he left.

I shot Stu a look of apology. “I’m sorry. I told you he’s not good with people.”

He chuckled. “Yeah. I got that.”

Staring at the wall because his eyes were intense this close, I continued, “He’s also incredibly paranoid. I, um, I may have mentioned your past to him. He thinks you’re stalking me.”

Stu’s smile grew wider. “How do you know I’m not?”

His response took me off guard as I sputtered a reply, “Are you?”

“Nah, but you have to admit it’d be just a little bit sexy if I was.”

I rolled my eyes, trying not to let him see how his words affected me. “Sure.”

“You know I’m right, Andrea,” he said, stepping close and running a hand over my shoulder. It took a concerted effort not to tremble. Until two weeks ago, another man hadn’t touched me this intimately since Mark. I felt skittish, affronted. I backed up as far as the wall and levelled him with a stern look.

“Does that voice work on all women?”

His lips twitched. “I’d say it’s got about a ninety-five per cent success rate. Why? Is it working on you?”

I scoffed, my denial a little too fervent. “Noooo.”

Stu’s eyes flicked down to my chest then back up again. He leaned even closer as he whispered, “Then why are your nipples hard?”

I gasped and reared away, glancing down to check. I was wearing a padded bra, and although yes, admittedly my nipples were hard beneath the fabric, they weren’t visible. Stu had baited me and I’d fallen for it hook, line, and sinker.

He winked. “I bet they are.”

“They aren’t.”

He let out a low, sexy laugh and moved by me into the bathroom. “You keep telling yourself that, luv.”

I exhaled a breath when the door closed and then went to find a quiet spot amid the bookshelves to calm my erratic pulse. The reading had moved on to questions and answers, as Jamie held court taking questions from the attendees. A minute or two passed before I sensed movement in my peripheral vision. Judging by the faint hint of his cologne, I knew he’d found me.

“Are you hiding?” came his deep, masculine voice, and I glanced up from my place on the floor.

“Just having some ‘me’ time,” I answered, and Stu’s brows rose.

“Behind the shelves of a public book shop? Andrea, I didn’t peg you for the kinky type.”