“I can find plenty of girls to do whatever I want, but I want to do those things with you.” Bryn raises the eyebrow that accompanies any comment along these lines and my stomach tightens.

“Is that why you asked me out again, to see if I changed my mind?”

He sips his hot chocolate. “No. I mean yeah. Oh crap, stop confusing me.”

“Have you changed your mind, Bryn?”

“Nothing to change my mind about. I like you. I just warned you about me, that’s all.”

“And then kissed me.” I fix him with a steady gaze.

“You can tell a lot about how somebody feels if you kiss them.” Bryn returns my look and I refuse to back down even though my hormones go haywire at the promise held in his eyes.

“Was the kiss a test? ‘How to tell if Avery likes me’?” I ask.

A smile slowly curves across his lips. “I’m already sure you like me, cariad.”

“Don’t be so conceited!”

“Do you kiss every guy you meet like that? I’m shocked!”

“You kissed me!”

“And you kissed me back,” he says quietly. “Then you pinned me to the sofa. I was defenceless!”

I throw a chip at Bryn’s head, hoping to diffuse the tension he’s creating. “Stop it!”

Under the table, Bryn traps my leg between his, the strength of the muscled thigh holding me in place. “I want to keep seeing you while we’re both in London, then we can see what happens at the end of the two weeks. What do you think?”

What do I think? Two weeks isn’t enough with a man who empties my head of everything but us when I’m with him, and who still runs red-hot through my blood when he’s not around. Each minute with Bryn is one closer to losing him again, each kiss sealing my fate. I’m in over my head, and I’m going to get hurt.

I spoon a melted marshmallow from my mug and slip it into my mouth. Bryn watches, eyes darkening before he reaches across and wipes chocolate from my lips. The sensation of his rough skin against my mouth vibrates the sexual tension into every nerve fibre and when he licks the chocolate from his finger, eyes focused on mine, the world drops away from everything but us.

There is no mistaking this man’s intentions.

“I’m telling you right now, I will not have sex with you,” I blurt.

I sound like a broken record. Why do I have to keep telling him this? Because I’m telling myself at the same time?

He leans across the table. “Not even a little bit? I’ll make sure you enjoy it.” His curls tickle my face and I shift back because his mouth is dangerously close to mine and I won’t be able to keep my lips off him.

“Bryn! No! If that’s why you want to see me, you’re wasting your time.”

Bryn’s expression smugly says ‘I bet I’ll change your mind’. With a few more kisses like the one earlier, I’m pretty sure he will.

“Okay, cariad.”

“Don’t call me…” I huff. “Never mind. Can we talk about something else?”

Bryn looks around the restaurant as I force myself to keep eating, his natural ease around me not matched by the sick giddiness I slip into whenever I’m around him.

What is this we’re doing? And more importantly, can I spend time with a man who I can’t look at without remembering him semi-naked in a hotel room, and regret that I wasn’t?

I don’t know who’s confusing me more, myself or Bryn. One thing is certain; I am not going home with this man tonight.