He nodded, suddenly at ease with himself again, now he had played his trump card. ‘That night when you needed me … in the hotel room … you looked so vulnerable, Connie. I realized then, as I watched you sleep, that it went far deeper.’ He smiled. ‘Although sex like that? Wouldn’t you say it’s a powerful touchstone? One that indicates the absolute strength of our connection?’

Connie tried to control her pounding heart. ‘For God’s sake, Jared, what part of “I’m married” don’t you understand? You talk as if Devan doesn’t exist.’ How can I make him see? she asked herself desperately. How can I make him go away?

He shrugged. ‘He obviously doesn’t make you happy. If he did, you’d never have let me do all those things to your gorgeous body.’ His voice had dropped to an intimate purr.

A sharp, unconscious frisson of desire stirred through her loins at the familiarity of his tone, the reminder of ‘those things’. It shocked her that he still had that power over her. Now, when she feared him, almost hated him for being there. She looked away, tried with all her might to tamp it down.

‘Would you?’ he asked, a smile in his voice, as if he knew exactly the effect his words would have on her.

She shuddered. ‘Stop it.’

There was silence in the stuffy, enclosed space. Through the steamed-up windows, she watched the people from the other car get out – a middle-aged couple in matching purple anoraks – open the gate and walk slowly across the turf to the windmill.

Connie took a deep breath. ‘I told you … we were going through a bad patch. But things are better now.’ She bit her lip, struggling for the right words to convince him. ‘I should never have betrayed him.’ Jared gazed at her but didn’t speak. ‘You dazzled me. I was overwhelmed,’ she added, feeling the need to acknowledge what had happened between them. ‘But this,’ she waved her hands expansively, ‘this village, with my house, my husband, my dog, my friends, is my life.’ She wanted her next words to have the fullest impact. ‘Please, you have to listen to me, Jared. I will never leave Devan. What happened between us is absolutely over.’

He nodded, as if he understood. Then he said, ‘I’ve taken Foxwood for six months. I moved in two days ago.’

Foxwood? The name meant nothing to Connie. She tried to process what he was talking about, but her brain cells were in chaos, compromised by the mass of adrenalin pumping through her veins. Then the penny dropped.

She gaped at him, open-mouthed. ‘You’re the one renting Mr Solomon’s cottage?’

He nodded. ‘They’ve done a good job on the renovations. The kitchen’s a bit small for my liking, but I’ll be nice and cosy over the winter.’ Grinning, he added, ‘Pop round later and see for yourself.’