“I can tell. You look refreshed.”

I turn a smile onto her and, of course, she swoons. I can’t tell her my freshness has nothing to do with my holiday. “Ask me why I’m here, Zoe.”

“Why are you here?”

“I need a new suit.”

“Just a suit?”

I laugh as I wander to a display, eyeing the mannequin. “Yes, just a suit.”

“And the occasion?” she asks, joining me.

“The reclamation of Jesse Ward,” I murmur quietly, thoughtfully, looking across at her. She looks confused. I smile. “Something navy, I think.”

“I have just the thing. This way.” She’s off and I follow, taking my phone out of my jeans pocket as I go. “Oh, for fuck’s sake,” I mutter, and Zoe turns. I wave her off and answer. “Coral.”

“Sarah’s told me I can’t come to The Manor, Jesse!” The panic in her voice is palpable. I step into the men’s changing room when Zoe moves aside, and she holds her finger up for me to wait. I give her the nod, taking a seat on the chair, one leg crossed over the other. I can see it now. Sarah taking the greatest pleasure delivering the news to Coral. Just like the women of The Manor don’t like Sarah, she’s not all too keen on them either. Especially if they’ve been in my bed.

“You’ve missed your membership payment, Coral,” I say as diplomatically as I can. “Twice. What do you want me to do?”

“Please, Jesse.”

I wince, hating to hear a woman beg. In this instance. “What’s the deal?” I ask. I might regret that.

“Mike. He’s canceled all my direct debits and cleared our joint bank account. Since I told him about us, he’s lost the plot. I’m getting it sorted. Please, just give me time.”

Us? Now is not the time to tell a woman in despair that there is no us. God damn it, how do I end up in these situations? I have a fucking knack for it. I’m not a man to relish adding to a person’s problems, so I’ll probably regret this too, and Sarah will blow her stack, but . . .

“I can give you until the end of the month.” I look up when Zoe enters again, laden down with various suits. I stand and let her start helping me out of my polo shirt, dipping my head so she can pull it off, taking my phone away from my ear briefly. “But you don’t murmur a word to anyone, okay?” I say when my phone’s back at my ear. There will be anarchy. Members missing payments is commonplace. Me allowing them to reap the benefits of The Manor when they haven’t paid for the privilege isn’t. No exceptions.

“Of course,” she breathes. “Thank you. I knew you’d understand.”