‘Don’t get me wrong. I like it. I just don’t think it’s ever happened to me before. But there’s this bloody great elephant in the room and you’re refusing to see it.’
‘What?’
He leaned forward. His voice was low and intense when he answered. ‘OK. Tonight’s an ordinary date for you. Do you know how much management and sheer fucking ingenuity went into delivering it?’
She shook her head, open-mouthed.
He ticked off the points on his fingers. ‘Rented car. Not rented by me, obviously. A friend of my security guy is the name on the ticket. I left wearing his jacket and flat cap.’
Suddenly Bella remembered the man in the park, with his all-weather coat and cap, standing in the cold sun.
‘You brought him to Battersea Park with you, didn’t you?’
‘Strictly speaking, he brought me. Drove me there and back. Kept an eye out for the paparazzi all the time we were there.’
‘Oh.’
‘You wanted to know why I was togged up like a Hollywood assassin on Monday. Well, that’s the answer. So there wouldn’t be any pictorial evidence.’
Suddenly she felt completely out of her depth.
‘Look, Bella, people recognise me. They take photos of me on their cellphones. I don’t have a private life.
And if you and I try to have a let’s-see-where-this-takes-us deal, you won’t either.’
The waiter brought their drinks.
At once Richard sat back, smiling again and talking about a movie.
But the moment the waiter had gone, he said in a low voice. ‘I could only take you out this evening because there was nothing in the diary. I’ve given the staff the night off. Ian is sitting in my flat, watching my television and pretending he’s me. But if anything blows up and someone comes to find me, he’s toast. His career’s gone. And the Press and possibly the security forces will start looking for the woman I spent the evening with. Do you see?’
‘I – never thought,’ she answered in a small voice.
‘Well, think now.’
Bella stared at him, all the lovely laughter and intimacy gone. She didn’t know what to say.
He gave a tired smile. ‘It’s OK. You don’t have to say anything. I can see you’re not a paparazzi sort of girl. I always knew it really. Don’t worry about it. No harm done.’
She could have cried.
He drove her home in silence.
When they got there she said, ‘Why don’t I just jump out here? You’ll never find a parking place and—’
‘I took you out, I’ll see you home.’
Bella recognised finality when she heard it. She didn’t argue.
It was chilly now, with autumn taking hold. She was shaking so much, she couldn’t get the key in the lock. For a while he stood beside her on the front steps, hands in the pockets of his coat. But eventually he took the keys from her gently and unlocked the door himself.
She thought he would say goodbye then. She even turned to him for a good-night kiss. But he held on to the keys and they both went upstairs.
The flat had that indefinable air of being deserted. It was silent and not quite in darkness. There was a low light from the sitting room and, when they went in, they found the fire glowing and a tray of unlit candles on the mantelpiece.
‘Oh, Lottie!’ said Bella.
But Richard knelt and lit the candles, then put the tray on the table beside the armchair. He added another log to the fire, for good measure. Bella took his coat and discarded her own jacket.
‘A drink? More coffee?’
He shook his head. ‘I’m fine.’
But he didn’t go. And Bella didn’t want him to. She went over and put her arms round his waist, leaning her head against his shoulder. He put his arms round her.
She did not know how long they stood there in the semi-darkness, just holding each other. How could it hurt this much to say goodbye, when they’d only just met? It was ridiculous. But Bella still didn’t let him go.
It was he who moved first.
‘Bella—’
‘Don’t go.’
She was nearly voiceless but he heard.
‘Oh, love.’ He sounded shaken.
She kissed him with a sort of fury. For a moment, just a moment, he responded totally. Then he let her go and stepped away.
She could not believe it. Reached for him. ‘Why not? What does it matter, one night, in the scheme of things …’
‘Don’t.’ It came out like a pistol shot.
And stopped her dead
He ran a hand through his hair. He was breathing like a marathon runner, she saw.