‘Excuse me a moment,’ he said to Zak, and then snatched Lauren by the wrist and pulled her across the office and into the men’s toilets. He spun her round and pushed her up against the wall. Lauren was instantly sober.

‘What exactly do you think you’re doing?’ he asked through gritted teeth.

‘Going home.’

‘With him?’

‘Yes,’ she said again. ‘What’s it got to do with you?’

‘How can you do this to me?’

‘You’re here with your wife.’

‘I had no choice,’ Jude protested. ‘It’s not the same.’ His expression was bleak. ‘Don’t go home with Zak.’

Lauren sagged. ‘It’s not what you think,’ she told him. ‘Zak’s a good friend. He can see that I’m distressed.’ She thumped a fist on her lover’s chest, weakly. She was so weary – weary of this party, weary of this relationship, weary of her life. ‘You brought your wife here, Jude, and you didn’t even think to warn me. Why did you do that?’ She pounded on him again, harder this time. ‘Why?’

Jude grabbed her wrist again and held it tightly. ‘I’m sorry,’ he murmured. ‘So sorry. It was thoughtless of me. Stupid. You see, I thought you’d know the score, that you’d cope with it. You always do.’

Now she was crying. ‘I don’t want to cope any more. I can’t cope. I just want to get out of here. Let me go.’

Jude pulled her to him. ‘I love you,’ he said. ‘I’ll make this up to you. We’ll go away – next weekend. Just the two of us. Somewhere wonderful. We’ll stay in bed for two whole days. I’ll organise it all.’ He stroked her hair as she sobbed against his chest. ‘Say you’ll come.’

‘Jude . . .’ She began to protest but already her resolve was weakening.

‘Say you still love me even though I’m a selfish bastard.’ He kissed her face, tenderly. Tiny hot kisses, all over. ‘Say it.’

‘I still love you,’ she said.

‘And I’ll show you just how much I love you as soon as I possibly can. But now, I have to go back to the party before Georgia misses me.’ He kissed her again. ‘Tell me you’re okay.’

‘I’m okay,’ Lauren said. But she wasn’t, she really wasn’t.

‘Wait a minute before you follow me out.’

Lauren nodded. It was back to business as usual.

Jude kissed her again, straightened his jacket and left.

She splashed her face with water and, a moment later, as instructed, she followed him out.

Zak was sitting on a desk waiting patiently for her.

‘Sorry,’ she said. ‘You shouldn’t have had to witness that.’

‘He said he’d kill me if I laid a hand on you.’