Grace opened her mouth and then faltered, unsure if she should do as he was suggesting or stick to her own plan. And why had it got so hot on the train all of a sudden? Had the air con gone off or something, as Grace could now feel the cotton fabric of her sundress sticking to her skin and the backs of her bare legs sweating on the PVC seat. She attempted to shift position and cross her legs, then instantly wished she hadn’t when a hideously embarrassing squelching noise practically ricocheted around the whole carriage when the train got a bit of a lick on, causing her thigh to suddenly lift and then unceremoniously thwack back down.

‘Oh God, kill me,’ she groaned inwardly, or so she thought, but the words must have come out as Ellis laughed and said, ‘Now why would you want him to do that?’

‘Pardon?’ she said, momentarily befuddled.

‘Want God to kill you!’ Ellis said. ‘I hate it when that happens too – my old leather lazy boy sure knows how to near rip the skin off my bare back when I’m crashed in a waist towel after a shower, but you can’t blame God. It’s not his fault.’ And he laughed some more, making Grace smile too as she tried ever so hard to shove the image from her head of Ellis, sprawled half-naked on a leather armchair, with just a fluffy white towel tied around his abdomen.

‘Um, well, I guess if you put it like that,’ Grace attempted, closing her laptop screen because it would be near on impossible to concentrate on Connie’s diary in any case, with him sitting in such close proximity. His citrusy scent was all around her and that solid thigh was brushing against hers again. Sorry, Jennifer, but I honestly didn’t do anything to make him sit next to me, not that it means anything anyway, of course not, and I promise from now on to imagine him covered in disgusting Marmite or something instead of semi-naked in a towel. Grace turned to face the window, determined to keep her eyes on the view and very definitely away from Ellis, who was about to become engaged to Jennifer.

Chapter 16