She looked thoughtful. ‘You mean I should ease myself back into it gradually. Practice on strangers to begin with. Start with a bit of trolley rage, something like that?’
‘We could try some bickering in the office if you like.’
‘That’s very kind. But you’d have to promise not to sack me.’
‘I won’t sack you.’ Zack rose to his feet; he wanted to stay but it was time to leave. ‘Thanks for tonight. And for showing me the photos.’
‘Thank you for being interested.’
At the door Zack wanted to kiss her but he couldn’t do that either. Even a peck on the cheek would be inappropriate. He said, ‘What happened to those comb things you had in your hair? You didn’t lose them, did you?’
‘No, I didn’t lose them.’ She opened the door. ‘Bye. See you tomorrow.’
On her own again, Ellie stood at the window and watched as Zack headed off down the street. Having given away the hair combs on a whim because Bibi had said how much she liked them, she was now worrying that it had been a foolish thing to do. They’d been so cheap, Bibi had most likely only said it to be polite. She’d never actually wear them.
Excellent, you just made yourself look like an idiot.
Oh well, at least Zack didn’t know.
‘Jamie?’
‘I’m over here.’
Ellie turned and there he was, stretched out on the sofa.
‘Hi. I miss you.’
His gaze softened. ‘I know, sweetie. But you had fun tonight, didn’t you?’
‘Yes. It was good.’
‘And your boss is nice.’
‘I know. He likes Cornwall too. It’s where he grew up. In Perranporth. Get your feet off the sofa.’
‘Why?’
‘You’re wearing trainers. I don’t want the cushions getting dirty.’
He looked outraged. ‘My trainers are clean!’
‘Oh, for God’s sake, just do it, will you?’
‘But I’m comfortable where I am.’
‘And you don’t care about making a mess because you aren’t the one who has to clean it up, you just bugger off and leave it all to me.’
‘What’s this? Are you trying to start an argument?’
‘Stop laughing at me.’
‘You are, though, aren’t you? You haven’t argued with anyone for ages so now you’re getting grumpy with me. But I don’t want to argue with you. I won’t do it.’
‘Well, that’s just selfish. I can’t argue with you if you’re not going to argue back.’
He shrugged. ‘Sorry.’
‘Typical. You just do what you want to do and you don’t care about me, do you?’
‘I do care. You know that.’
This wasn’t working at all. There was a ball of grief like an unexploded grenade in her chest. Ellie looked at him. ‘If you cared, you’d still be here. You’d still be alive, you wouldn’t have left me on my own, it’s not fair…’ She broke off as something in the region of her rib cage gave way. Her dress hadn’t been tight before, but it was less tight now. Gazing down, her hands went to the zip that had somehow unfastened. It wasn’t broken; it had just come undone.
She stared at Jamie. ‘Did you do that?’
But he simply shrugged, the picture of innocence. ‘It wasn’t me.’
Chapter 33
It had been a toss-up between Claridge’s and the Berkeley, but in the end Tony had gone with the Berkeley. Ellie had no idea he was even over here in the UK; as far as she was concerned, he was still in LA. Crazy, of course, to buy a London pied-à-terre then not use it, but with Ellie and Todd’s relationship still in its tentative early stages, he didn’t want to be in their way. And if it had progressed to the next level… well, then he really didn’t want to be in the way.
Those were the altruistic reasons, anyway. The third one, skewed rather more in his favor, was that if all went well on this visit over here, he wouldn’t want Ellie to be the one left feeling awkward.
This way they all had their privacy.
Right. What was the time? Could he go downstairs and wait now?
Should he put on more cologne or was he already wearing too much?
Would she be early? Would she be late? Was it possible to feel any more like a teenager than this?
Downstairs, ten minutes later, Tony’s breath caught in his throat as she walked into the lobby, exactly on time. Oh God, and even more beautiful than he remembered, despite the fact that she’d taken up practically permanent residence in his head. Now he committed every last detail to memory and opened his arms wide.