As he left this morning, he did say, ‘See you tonight.’ And then he winked at me. My stomach swirls with nerves at the thought of it.

What will I do if he wants to . . . progress . . . things this evening? Is that his ulterior motive for inviting me? I guess that I’ll have my sister there to look out for me and prevent any mischief from happening. I don’t even know how I can be thinking like this. Greg and I have been happy for so many years. I’ve never looked at another man in this way before. I’ve never looked at another man and thought, What if? What if I wasn’t married, what if he wants me to kiss him, what if he wants us to be together?

I realise that Minny is talking to me and pull myself back to the present.

‘How’s the fundraising going, Annie?’

‘Great,’ I say. ‘My sister and I have been washing cars at the weekend dressed as Bunny Girls.’

‘Fabulous,’ she cries. ‘And at your age!’

‘Yes.’ Has Minny been talking to my husband? I wonder.

Relations are still very strained between Greg and me, and I wonder if we’ll ever get back to the way we were. Then I wonder if I would ever want to.

Chapter 66

Chapter 66

Zak had been cool with her for a couple of days. And it bothered her. Lauren didn’t want to lose his friendship. He’d been really good to her, particularly over the last few months, and she realised that you could push a friendship too far – even a good one.

She vowed to make amends, so at lunchtime she wandered over to Zak’s desk. ‘Come for a sandwich with me?’ she said. ‘My treat.’

Zak looked up from his computer. ‘Jude not available?’

Her lover was busy in his office.

‘That’s not the only reason I wanted to see you, Zak,’ she said, stung. Although he’d had every right to bowl a low one at her. ‘I felt bad about Sunday and I wanted to hear how it went.’

Her friend sighed. ‘One of the reasons I’m cranky is that I still have a monumental hangover.’

‘Three days later?’

‘The Monopoly board is a lot bigger than you think.’

She laughed at that and Zak managed a smile. ‘And the other reason you’re cranky?’ she asked.

‘You missed a monumental event,’ Zak said. ‘And I nearly did too.’ He ran his hand through his hair in an exasperated way. ‘When you decided not to come, I thought about not going either. Then I realised that I was doing exactly what you do with Jude. I was going to hang around and wait to see if you called again, had changed your mind. I don’t want to be like that, Lauren. I don’t want to miss out on life while I wait around for the pleasure of your company.’