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I crouch to scoop her up, then freeze. I’m kneeling in front of Ryan Sloan, and he’s naked under that towel. All I’d have to do is tilt my head and⁠—

Get up, Briony.

I jerk upright, clutching Penny to my chest. “Sorry. About the licking.”

“I’m used to it now.” Ryan glances down at Penny. “She can’t seem to keep her tongue to herself.”

Can you blame her? I think. I wouldn’t mind licking⁠—

Briony! What is wrong with you?

“Yes. Well.” My cheeks are hot. I shift Penny under one arm and make myself look at his face rather than all the bare skin below it. Thankfully, my brain finally remembers what I came up here for.

“I did a photoshoot today,” I say. “With someone called Mara Ellis? She said you recommended me to her.”

“She wasnae meant to say that.”

“Yeah, it sort of slipped out. She regretted it as soon as it did.” I hesitate. “What I don’t understand is why you recommended me.”

He gives a small shrug, which sends a fresh trickle of water down his torso. I make a determined effort not to follow it.

“Emmy said the building work cost you business. I offered to cover it. You wouldnae take the money, so…”

He doesn’t say the rest, but he doesn’t need to. He sent business my way to make up for the disruption.

“You didn’t need to do that,” I say. Then, a little reluctantly: “But thank you.”

“I said your name to somebody I’ve worked with before. You did the rest.”

“I know, but still. It was a nice thing to do.”

He cocks an eyebrow. “Me? Nice? Never thought I’d hear you say that.”

Well, you’ve a very nice body, at least, I think. Then I catch myself. Apparently, I’m incapable of rational thought when Ryan Sloan is half-naked.

Unfortunately, telling myself not to think about Ryan’s body only reminds me of the last time we were alone together in this stairwell, when I ended up with my legs wrapped round him. Just thinking of it sends heat straight into my cheeks.

“Another thing,” I say. “About the other night…I don’t want things to be weird between us, so maybe we should clear the a⁠—”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ve no thought about it since.”

Oh.

“Right,” I say. “Good. Neither have I.”

Which is a lie of such magnitude I’m amazed I manage to say it with a straight face.

Penny gives an impatient little wriggle and reaches her nose towards Ryan. He leans in and scratches under her chin with one finger. As he does, a bead of water slides down his chest.

This time, I can’t help myself. I watch it go, down over the ridges of his abs. It follows the dark trail of hair leading down from his belly button, then disappears beneath the towel.

“Anything else?” Ryan says.

My eyes snap up. Did he see me staring?

He’s smirking.

Okay, he saw me staring.