proper introductions,’ she hissed, seriously flustered.
‘Well, all right, if you insist. But if you want to curtsey, you’ll have to stand up.’
‘Curtsey? No way.’
‘You are quite right. You shouldn’t put any weight on that foot yet. Not for hours. In fact, I think—’
Abruptly he stopped kneeling beside her and plonked himself down on the sofa. ‘Budge up.’
She did, eyeing him warily. He put one arm along the saggy old back and leaned forward, looking down into her eyes. His, she saw, were brown and very, very amused.
‘I think you should lie back and—’
‘If you tell me to lie back and think of England, I shall deck you,’ snarled Bella, finding herself a lot deeper among the cushions than she had expected.
He smiled. ‘No, you won’t.’
And kissed her.
And there was a yell as the front door opened and Lottie skidded on spilled tea and the ruins of her forget-me-not-mug.
Richard let Bella go rather slowly. ‘There.’
She swallowed. ‘You took advantage of me.’
‘Yup.’
‘Oh, God. And now Lottie’s home.’
‘Charlotte thing? Good.’ He stood up.
‘Good? Good? Have you no sense of timing?’
But he was already in the small hall. Bella heard him say, ‘Charlotte Hendred? You won’t remember me, but we met at the Hamiltons’ several months ago. I wonder if you would do me the immense kindness of introducing me to your friend, Miss Greenwood.’
There were glugging sounds from the hallway. Bella sympathised. The man was a swine, with a very nasty sense of humour.
She struggled off the sofa and limped over to the door of the sitting room. She was very much afraid that her hair was a mess and her cheeks were pink. Lottie would recognise the signs of a woman who had just been comprehensively kissed. But there wasn’t a thing Bella could do about it.
‘Um … hi, Lottie. Richard –’ she glared at him ‘– is teasing you. We met on Saturday.’
‘But we weren’t properly introduced,’ he said imperturbably. ‘Miss Hendred?’
Lottie looked from one to the other of them, and shrugged.
‘Your Royal Highness, may I present Miss Isabella Greenwood, a childhood friend and currently my flat-mate.’
Bella’s chin rose. ‘I told you. No curtseying.’
His eyes laughed. ‘OK. What about a date? A proper date, where I pick you up, take you to dinner and bring you home again?’
Bella was so taken aback she could only mouth, like a goldfish, but no words came out.
He stood there, all courteous attention, waiting for an answer.
Eventually she managed a wordless ‘squee’ noise, like a demented dentist’s drill, and he inclined his head.
‘Thank you. Tomorrow? Eight o’clock?’
She squeaked again.
He clicked his fingers. ‘Phone number. You wanted me to give it to you. But I think you have it on your phone already. Lots and lots of times, in fact. Call me if you want to change the plans. Otherwise I’ll see you here tomorrow at eight.’
He came over and looked down at her, half laughing and wholly purposeful. Bella swallowed. But he didn’t kiss her. Instead he touched one hand to her scarlet cheek. Which was worse, somehow; wonderful but worse.
‘Take care of that foot,’ he said softly. ‘I’ll see you tomorrow.’
‘Um, yes.’
He inclined his head to Lottie. ‘Miss Hendred. A great pleasure.’
He left.
The front door closed gently behind him. The two friends stared at each other, Bella hot and confused, Lottie looking as if she’d been sandbagged.
Lottie recovered first. She gave a huge grin and punched the air.
‘Woo-hoo! You pulled the Prince!’
5
‘Are First Dates Always Difficult?’ – Tube Talk
It was just as well, Bella thought, that she was starting a new job or she would have spent the day in a fever of ‘what ifs’ and ‘should-I-have-saids’. As it was, she had her first trial of strength with the bullying dentist and forgot for at least an hour that she was going out on a first date with the most unlikely man in the world.
When she arrived, early as she always did, the harassed woman of the day before was waiting for her in the cubby hole they called an office. She presented Bella with notes in a range of handwriting and legibility. And fled.
It did not take her long to work out that the appointments system was a mess, the staff roster worse, and the outstanding queries on bills, orders and even lost property went back months. The filing was laughable. But Bella had not spent the best part of a year counting fish for nothing. If there was one thing she knew how to do, it was organise data. She made a