“Are you going somewhere?”

Connor’s voice echoed his disapproval as, after glancing at her watch, Zoe stood. She stretched so artlessly beside him he couldn’t control the rise in his temperature. “It’s almost ten o’clock.”

“Mmm. I’d better hurry or I’ll be late.” She turned at the door and smiled back at him. “I enjoyed talking with you, Connor.”

Warmth spread through him even as his emotions warred. He spoke brusquely from the lounge doorway as she emerged from her room in her leathers. “I don’t like you going out alone at this time of night.”

Warmth crept into his face as she smiled at him.

Her eyebrows rose. “Don’t worry, Connor.”

He flinched as she tapped his cheek lightly with her finger.

“I won’t be alone for long.”

Rage flared inside him. “Can’t your boyfriend come and pick you up? That’s what any decent guy would do.”

“Ahh.” She grinned at him, her eyes dancing. “But John isn’t my boyfriend.”

“Just some random bloke you spend the night with?”

“That’s right, he’s just some bloke I spend the night with.”

His teeth grated as she tapped his cheek again.

“A girl’s got to make a living the best way she can.” She evaded the hand that shot out to grasp her arm. With a cheery “see you tomorrow,” she disappeared out the back door, leaving a fuming Connor to pace futilely around the empty house.