The phone rang, making her jump. She wanted it to be Drew’s voice telling her that he’d missed her. It was her mother.

‘Maddy, love. I won’t keep you a minute. Did Suzy tell you I’d called earlier?’

‘No, I don’t think so.’

‘Well, we’ve got everything sorted out. Carl and Marcie are angels. They said of course they’d stand in. Isn’t that wonderful?’

‘Wonderful,’ Maddy echoed without understanding.

‘Yes, so we’ll be down tomorrow evening, then we can all make our way to Epsom together, can’t we? I mean, I know our Suzy’s not actually riding in The Derby, but as good as. We’re so excited. Do you want me to bring anything?’

‘N-no,’ Maddy stammered. ‘That’ll be lovely, Mum. I’ll see you tomorrow. Give my love to Dad.’

Bugger! She dropped the phone back into place. Tomorrow was when Luke was staying. She’d end up sleeping on the sofa again. If she could even sleep. She’d probably never sleep again. She’d just lie awake and think of Drew.

She wandered into the bedroom and pulled on clean underwear and the black trousers, then dived across the hall and fished beneath Suzy’s bed until she found a suitable top. For good measure she used Suzy’s make-up, and was in the middle of drawing black lines under her eyes when Drew once again rattled the letter box.

Pulling the door open she slid into his arms.

He kissed her hungrily. ‘You look lovely. I can’t stand being away from you.’

‘Fool.’ She stroked the silky hair at the nape of his neck. ‘Anyway, it looks as though we’ll have loads of guardians of our virtue from now on. My mother phoned. She and Dad are coming down for Epsom tomorrow and Luke is staying too.’

‘I’m going to have a houseful as well,’ Drew groaned into her neck. ‘Kit had left a message on the answerphone. He and Rosa are flying into Southampton at midday. They’re bringing Caroline with them.’

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Nineteen

Maddy stared at Drew. She had been a mistress for merely hours. It seemed like a career that was destined never to get off the ground.

‘I could put her off.’

‘Of course you couldn’t. She’d know then, or at least suspect. And I like her. Oh, God.’

She turned back into the hall. Drew kicked the door shut and pulled her against him. This was awful, she thought, as she snuggled into the soft flying jacket that smelled evocatively of Drew and horses and damp meadows. She had always known she wasn’t cut out for infidelity.

‘It doesn’t matter,’ Maddy sniffed into his shoulder. ‘Maybe we should just forget what happened and behave as we were doing before.’