“Mr. Sutherland. What a coincidence.” Her tone made it clear that she thought it was nothing of the sort. “I had a feeling we’d bump into each other again.”

“And I rather hoped we would,” I admitted, relieved to be able to speak something close to the truth.

“Why?”

She looked me straight in the eye when she asked the question.

“You interest me,” I told her, which was honest enough.

“In what way?”

She quirked her brow again, such an odd thing to find alluring, but there it was, and there I was, despite my previous resolutions not to be distracted, struggling not to be distracted by my body’s reaction. “That’s a very personal question, from someone who has not even disclosed her name.”

She narrowed her eyes at me, and I thought for a moment that I had crossed an invisible line with her, but what she said was not the reprimand I anticipated. “I have the distinct impression that you know it already.”