‘Um… just Matt checking I got here okay.’ She sighed and rubbed at an ache in her neck where the muscles pulled tight. ‘He wants pictures of the girls I’m supposed to be here with.’

James gave a slow shake of the head. ‘Got you on a tight leash, hasn’t he?’

Sara studied her feet, drew a pattern with her toe in the gravel. ‘We had a terrible row when I said I was coming away, and he accused me of having an affair. Said he has eyes everywhere and if he finds out I’m seeing someone else, that’s it. End of our marriage and he’ll throw me out.’ Just repeating Matt’s threat made her break out in a cold sweat.

She watched James’s feet as he moved his weight from one to the other, hands in his pockets. ‘Well, we’ll just have to make sure he doesn’t find out then, won’t we?’ She nodded, but didn’t dare look up, as then he’d see that tears weren’t far away.

Silently she carried on towards the entrance, James following, her phone still clasped in her hand. A new thought crept into her head. He’ll know where I am. Her phone would have told him her location, if he’d cared to look. Thank goodness we’re actually in a spa hotel, she thought. That was a good idea of James’s, to keep her lie close to the truth, but then he must have had practice with Fiona, given that she was a married woman. Has he been here with her? It seemed quite likely, and she wondered if she was just one of a succession of women; if James was the type who wouldn’t commit, or who got a kick out of being with other men’s wives.

She shook the thought away. We’re not having an affair, she told herself, more forcefully than should have been necessary. Work colleagues, that’s what we are. Her body tensed. What if Matt comes here to check up on me? The idea brought her out in another cold sweat. It was no good, she had to be straight with James about how she felt.

She turned to him as they waited for the lift to arrive. ‘I really don’t like this, you know. I hate all the lies.’

He didn’t answer for a moment, his eyes meeting hers. ‘It’s not too much of a lie when you think about it. The problem is your husband not liking you having friends of the opposite sex. I could be gay for all he knows.’ He gave a snort. ‘What would he think about it then?’

‘It’s not that,’ Sara protested, while the little voice in her head told her that it just might be.