‘I could stump up for breakfast by way of thanks. There’s a great greasy spoon down the road.’

‘You must be feeling better.’

‘Want to?’

‘Can I use your shower first?’

‘Sure.’

She went into the bedroom and pulled on her clothes and scraped her hair back into a pony-tail.

From the shower, she could hear Zak whistling ‘Torn Between Two Lovers’. At least, that’s what she thought it was. It was terrible, tuneless, and it made her smile when she had wondered at one point last night whether she’d ever smile again. Then Lauren had a momentary image of Zak’s taut, toned body in her bathroom, covered in soapsuds and rivulets of water.

An involuntary gulp travelled down her throat. Bacon and eggs. That was definitely all that was on the menu.

Chapter 25

Chapter 25

I’m in the office first thing on Monday morning. Greg and I still aren’t speaking. Blake Chadwick’s Lotus Exige roars into the car park and moments later he breezes through the swing doors.

‘Morning, Sexy.’

‘Hello, BC.’

Clearly, he’s on a mission this morning as he’s through the next set of doors before I can say anything else. He looks like a man who wouldn’t mind getting his kit off on a nuddy beach.

I pick up the phone and dial Lauren’s number.

‘Hi, sis,’ she says when she answers. ‘Ringing to fill me in on all the sordid details of your dirty weekend?’

‘The sexy lingerie was a waste of money,’ I tell her with a pained sigh. ‘I didn’t even get it out of the bag. I’m taking it back at lunchtime.’

‘Oh, Annie.’

‘Don’t “Oh, Annie” me,’ I tell her. ‘I was fun. I was spontaneous. I ran into the sea in my bra and knickers.’

‘In Cromer?’ she asks incredulously.

‘In Holkham, to be accurate.’

‘Wow,’ Lauren says with a raucous laugh. ‘Good on you!’

‘Well, Greg didn’t think it was very funny. He stormed off in a huff. He’s still not really talking to me. He thinks it’s either my hormones or another man.’

‘Chance would be a fine thing,’ she chips in.

‘That’s pretty much what I said. Please tell me that you had a better time than me.’

‘Not really,’ Lauren confesses. ‘Jude brought his wife to the office do. I was mortified.’

I bet his wife wasn’t too impressed either, but I say nothing. After all this time, can Mrs Jude really be completely unaware of what’s going on between her husband and one of his employees?

‘Zak took me home and I ending up spending the rest of the weekend with him.’

‘Oh, really?’

‘In a purely platonic way,’ my sister adds hastily.

‘He’s the web-designer guy?’

‘The very same,’ she says. ‘He’s lovely. So kind.’

‘Does he have a wife and two children?’