It had been the eye contact that had sent her melting and throbbing when she’d first met him. That, and his outrageous good looks. He was dark and chiselled, tall and muscular – everything a good romance demanded. And now he had added a neat beard, trimmed to a quarter of an inch all over, which looked soft enough to stroke. He also had a rich voice and impeccable manners. Except, she reminded herself, that her first conversation with him, on the phone, had consisted of him making loud and intemperate accusations and threats. Clovis Biddulph could be dangerous in more ways than one.

But as she kept his gaze, she found that almost nothing was responding inside her. She could not help thinking about Drew, as well as Barnsley and the builders, with Clovis dropping rapidly down the list. He was so sleek, so flawlessly handsome, that he scarcely seemed real. She thought of the effort he must go to every morning to ensure that his image remained immaculate. The danger was receding, the longer she looked at him. After several seconds, she realised that the change was in him, not her. He wasn’t activating charm mode at all. Instead he seemed to be waiting for her to get past the initial inspection and move on to the important stuff.

‘You said you wanted to pick my brains,’ she said. ‘I can’t imagine what I can possibly have to offer, on any conceivable subject.’

‘Marriage,’ he said succinctly. ‘I’m thinking of getting married, and I thought you might have some words of advice for me.’175

She sat back in utter astonishment. Wasn’t this rather a cliché? Didn’t it happen in old movies and popular romances? How could he sit here and say those words to a woman he had so shamelessly treated to all his charismatic wiles, only a few months before? ‘Oh!’ she said. ‘I didn’t see that coming.’

‘Listen,’ he said urgently. ‘I know how I came across last time, and I admit I did it deliberately. There you were, so pretty and confident and intriguing. I just couldn’t resist. But you have to admit I didn’t keep it up. When it all got so serious with the murder and everything, we simmered down, didn’t we? Your husband’s such a decent bloke, for a start. And you’re so well matched and happy together. Anyone can see that. I don’t want you to think … well, you know. I can’t help how I look, but I can’t pretend I haven’t exploited it. After a bit, it gets to be a curse. You must know what I mean – you’re quite an oil painting yourself, after all.’

She felt her shoulders loosen, and gave a relaxed little laugh. ‘That’s an original way of putting it.’

He drank half his beer and turned towards the bar. ‘We should order the food before it gets busy. If it ever does get busy, of course.’

‘I’ll have the steak and mushroom pie,’ she said. ‘I need something substantial. There’s no proper cooking facilities at the house.’ She had a thought. ‘Although, now they’ve got the new cooker in, maybe I can start using it.’