have any designs on Zack,’ Ellie pointed out. ‘And he knows I don’t. That’s why he employed me.’
‘You’re absolutely right, darling.’ Recognizing when she was beaten, Geraldine closed the shoebox and prepared to leave. ‘Touché.’
***
‘I wish you weren’t married,’ whispered Roo.
Niall tightened his arm around her waist and pulled her closer. ‘Me too.’
Roo closed her eyes. It was Wednesday afternoon and he’d phoned at midday to say he was on his way over. Thanks to her overactive imagination, she’d managed to convince herself that something momentous had happened, he’d realized he couldn’t live without her, he was going to leave Yasmin… or, better still, that Yasmin had decided she wanted out of the marriage, because then they wouldn’t even have to feel guilty…
But in the manner of happy fantasies, it hadn’t come true. When Niall had arrived at the house, Roo had said breathlessly, ‘What’s going on?’
And Niall, seizing her by the hand and leading her upstairs to the bedroom, had replied, ‘I’ve been thinking about doing this all day.’
Which was flattering, of course it was. The fact that he’d so badly wanted to take her to bed was lovely, and romantic in its own way. It was just that it hadn’t quite lived up to expectations because she’d misinterpreted the excitement in his voice over the phone and had geared herself up for something, well, more…
But it had still been nice.
‘Hey, are you OK?’
One thing was for sure, she couldn’t tell him what was wrong. It would make her sound pathetic.
‘I’m brilliant.’ One of the reasons Niall was so attracted to her was her confidence. Playfully raking her fingernails down his chest, she flicked the tip of her tongue against his mouth. ‘I started writing a song about you last night.’
‘You did?’ He looked pleased. ‘How does it go?’
Roo cleared her throat and began to sing: ‘Feeling so real when one and one make two… you should know I’m the best thing that happened to you…’ She shook her head. ‘I’m still working on it. You’ll have to wait till it’s finished.’
‘I know.’ A breeze fluttered the pale gray linen curtains and all Roo’s good intentions flew out of the open window. ‘When are you going to leave your wife?’
‘Hey.’ He tilted her face back towards him, shaking his head slightly. ‘I thought we weren’t doing this anymore.’
Patience had never been Roo’s forte. ‘I just want us to be together properly.’
‘And we will be. I love you,’ said Niall. ‘But it’s a delicate situation. We can’t rush it.’
‘Why not?’ It came out as a bleat but Roo couldn’t help herself; she loved him too.
‘Because it would go against me. The solicitors would have a field day.’ He was checking his watch now, over her shoulder. ‘I need to get back to work.’
‘What’s Yasmin like?’
‘I’ve told you before. Can’t we give it a rest?’
Innocently, Roo said, ‘Where does she work?’
‘Sweetheart, stop it. You don’t need to know that.’
Except I already do. A knot tightened in her stomach as he slid away from her and climbed out of bed. ‘She might be lovely.’
‘She’s not.’
‘When you get home tonight, what will you do?’
‘Honestly? You really want to know?’ Niall began to pull on his trousers. ‘Fine, here goes the routine. I arrive back at the house, see if there’s anything to eat. Occasionally she bothers to cook something, generally she doesn’t. So I’ll make myself an omelet, open some tin or other, or do a microwave meal. Whatever I do, Yasmin will complain about it. Then I’ll spend some time with Benjamin and she’ll moan about that too. If I try to load the dishwasher, she’ll tell me I’ve done it all wrong. If I sit down to watch a program on TV, you can guarantee she’ll want me to get up and take the bins out. Basically, she criticizes me nonstop. And that’s about it, that’s our fairy-tale marriage in a nutshell.’ His shirt was done up now and Niall was shrugging into his jacket. ‘Trust me, my life is no fun.’ Ready to leave, he moved back to the bed and bent to kiss her. ‘Except when I’m with you.’
Why couldn’t everything be straightforward? Why couldn’t he be single? Aching at the unfairness of it all, Roo clung to him for a moment. ‘When am I going to see you again? How about Saturday?’
‘Oh God, I wish I could.’ Niall stroked her short ruffled hair. ‘But it’s Yasmin’s birthday. She’s been going on about