“It sounds like the type of movie I would never watch at all, even if you were in it.”

“That too.”

A horrible thought occurred to her, and she gulped. “Did you—?”

“Sleep with him? No. Not even a flirtation.” Nicole turned her head and gave Milly a slow smile. “But he’s definitely hot. You go, girl.”

“I’m not going anywhere except the restaurant,” Milly said hastily. “I think I might cancel. I wish I’d never said yes.”

Nicole looked at her curiously. “Why did you?”

She was asking herself the same question. “Because he makes me smile. And because Richard said I didn’t know how to have fun and I wanted to prove him wrong. But this doesn’t feel like fun anymore.” She sat down hard on the edge of the bed and breathed. “It feels stressful.”

“Well, you’ve had sex with the same man for a long time, so the prospect of moving to someone new is bound to be a little unnerving, but it will be great.”

“Sex? Who said anything about sex? Do you think that’s what this is?” Her sense of panic grew. Had she mixed up the signals? She had a feeling she was way over her head with this. “I thought we were just going to eat a plate of food together. Now you’re telling me this is about sex?”

“Calm down.” Nicole grinned at her. “Start with the plate of food and see where it goes from there.”

“It’s not going anywhere from there! I’m not ready to take my clothes off in front of a stranger.” The thought made her grow cold. “I can’t do it. I can’t do any of this.”

“Yes, you can.” Nicole delved into the final drawer and pulled out a set of silk underwear Milly had forgotten she’d owned. “I bought you this, and it still has the tags on it.”

Milly was embarrassed. “I know. But it was too pretty to wear. And it cost a fortune. I was afraid I’d ruin it. Also, it’s handwashonly and I don’t live a handwash kind of life.”

Nicole carefully removed the tags. “You’re wearing it tonight. So now all we have to sort out is the bag issue. You are not taking that abomination you cart everywhere during your working day. You’re going to an expensive restaurant, not the supermarket.”

“Then, that leaves the little black clutch. It’s in the back of the cupboard. Probably buried under a decade of dust.”

Nicole pulled a face. “Black isn’t great. Are you sure you don’t have anything else? What do you usually use when you go to restaurants?”

“I don’t really go to restaurants. I take my normal bag, or sometimes I just put my keys and credit cards in my coat pocket.”