‘No! I don’t two-time,’ she said sharply, staring at him intently.

Flustered, he lowered his gaze and took a swig of brandy.

‘Goodnight, Marc. Have a good Christmas. Best of luck with New York and the expansion plans. Thanks for the fun times.’ Marie-Claire stood up, picked up her bag and walked away, leaving him speechless.

She collected her cape, wrapped it around herself and walked out of the restaurant into the glacial night, and out of Marc Bouchard’s life, with her head held high.

CHAPTER SEVEN

‘He’s banging Amelia? You’re kidding me!’ Lizzie Ross almost spluttered her tea in surprise. When Marie-Claire had phoned to tell her closest friend and colleague that she wouldn’t be returning to work at Bouchard and Clay’s Sound and Post Facilities, Lizzie had told her to come over to her place immediately and spill.

‘Yep – and buying her gifts in Tiffany’s and bringing her to Niagara Falls when I was scheduled to be in New York,’ Marie-Claire revealed half an hour later, sitting in Lizzie’s kitchen.

‘What a shit!’ Lizzie scowled. ‘And with that little weasel-faced pipe cleaner . . .’

Marie-Claire laughed at that, despite her heartache.

‘Well she is, all bones and angles, and fried eggs for boobs,’ Lizzie exclaimed loyally. ‘What does he see in her when he has you?’

‘I have asked myself that question,’ Marie-Claire said drily. ‘I’ve questioned everything about our relationship.’ She took a glug of the chilled Chardonnay Lizzie had poured for her and nibbled unhappily on a cracker smeared with pâté.

‘He’s crazy! I don’t get it.’ Lizzie paced up and down the wooden floor of her light-filled kitchen. ‘He respects you—’

‘But he doesn’t love me. Clearly, if he’s shagging Minnie Mouse, I’m not enough for him.’

‘Don’t you dare blame yourself for his bad behaviour,’ Lizzie retorted. ‘It’s not a lacking in you. It’s a lacking in him. He’s been a bit of a ladies’ man as long as I’ve known him, but he really did change with you. He seemed so happy – I thought you’d tamed him. I was expecting an announcement, to be honest.’

‘I thought we were heading in that direction myself. In fact, part of his Christmas present to me was a key to a two-bed condo in his building. He wanted me to move in with him.’

‘Are you serious?’ Lizzie stared at her.

‘I am. Hasn’t he got some nerve, expecting me to move in with him while he’s cheating on me behind my back?’

‘And what did he say when you confronted him?’ Lizzie refilled their glasses, before checking on the chicken dish she’d put in the oven for supper.