He turned back to her with another smirk. ‘Knocked you up and did a runner then, did he? Smart man.’

Anna bit her lip and tried to tamp down on her anger. ‘It’s time you were going,’ she told him. ‘I’ve got to clean down.’

‘We need to start discussing arrangements,’ Geoff said. ‘I’ll need you to sign a contract and an NDA. There’ll be a non-compete clause, so you’ll have to stop serving out there, and—’

‘I won’t be doing any of that,’ Anna said.

Geoff crossed his arms. ‘You’ll have to, or no deal.’

‘No problem. No deal. Goodbye, Geoff.’

He stared at her. ‘What?’

‘I’m saying no to your offer,’ Anna said. ‘You can go now.’

‘You can’t be serious,’ Geoff said. ‘Not even you could be that—’

There was a sudden sound at the door. Geoff had left it open, only bothering to partially close the inner vestibule door as he’d come in. It opened now and Robert MacKenzie backed through it, carrying two buckets that looked heavy and sloshed with water.

‘Sorry to burst in,’ he said, ‘but—’ He looked up and saw Geoff. ‘Damn, sorry. I only wanted to drop the razor clams off for tomorrow.’

Anna went to Robert and took one of the buckets, which was full of both razor clams and seawater. ‘Thank you,’ she said, ‘that’s really good of you.’

Geoff crossed his arms, watching. ‘Delivery straight to the door, eh? That’s service indeed.’

Robert gave him an easy smile as he straightened up. ‘Oh, Anna deserves the best for her kitchen. Have you tried her food? Hands down the best I’ve ever had.’

‘Hmm,’ Geoff said. ‘We’ve been discussing it, actually.’ He seemed to decide something and stuck out a hand for Robert to shake. ‘Geoff Rowcliffe.’

‘Robert MacKenzie,’ Robert glanced at Anna with a smile. ‘You’re one of Anna’s friends from down south? It’s nice to meet you.’

Anna’s heart sank. Robert clearly didn’t know who Geoff was, and from experience she knew there was no surer way to insult her ex than be ignorant of his stardom. Geoff smiled tightly.

‘And I’m guessing you must be the father,’ he said smoothly. ‘Congratulations. Due in January, I believe?’

The smile dropped from Robert’s face.

‘Oh, sorry, did I say something out of turn?’ Geoff asked, with a studied innocence that Anna knew far better than to believe.

‘It’s fine,’ Anna said, refusing to let him see how he’d riled her. ‘No, Robert is not the father of my baby. He’s just a very good friend. He’s the person I bought this place from.’

Geoff nodded, losing interest. ‘Well, I’ve got to go.’ He gave Anna a pointed look. ‘My number hasn’t changed. I’ll be waiting to hear from you.’

Anna ignored that. ‘Goodbye, Geoff.’