‘But you still have strong feelings for him, I know you do.’

‘That’s all in the past now, the relationship is over.’

‘What about me?’

‘What about you?’ Imogen said.

‘Do you have feelings for me?’

‘You know I do. I don’t know what they are yet, but yes, I do.’

‘I don’t think I can just pretend I don’t feel the way I do.’ Adrian looked up. ‘At first, I thought that I was just hurting and didn’t want to be alone, but it stopped being about Lucy a while ago. I don’t think this is going to go away.’

‘What are you saying?’ Imogen asked.

‘I’m saying I want more.’

Flustered, Imogen wasn’t expecting it to go this way. ‘You’ve been drinking, maybe we should talk about this when you’re sober.’

Adrian reached his hand across the table and put it on hers. ‘It won’t change anything. Cards on the table, I’ve thought about this, about you, for a while – well, more to the point, I have avoided thinking about it, but in the back of my mind this has been coming for a long time. But, like you say, I would rather nothing happened if it means it’s going to mess up what we already have. You’re too important to me.’

‘I thought maybe talking about it would make it clearer, but it hasn’t.’

‘I know. I want to wait until it does. Now that we have talked, maybe it will change, maybe the feelings were a manifestation of all the secrecy, maybe now that it’s out in the open the idea will lose its shine.’

Imogen hesitated. ‘What if it doesn’t?’

Chapter Twenty-Five

Imogen woke up early at home, alone. She had left Adrian’s with her head swimming. If she couldn’t sleep before their chat, she certainly struggled last night. The last time they had met Parker she had almost died; maybe his return had made her feel vulnerable again. Perhaps that was what was bringing those feelings for Adrian to the surface. Imogen had seen enough of his behaviour around women to know that he was treating her differently, he usually jumped in and out of relationships without thinking, if you could even call them relationships. Until Lucy, of course, but she was gone now. Then there was the small matter of Dean, a man Imogen wouldn’t be able to resist if he turned up on her doorstep. The only reason they weren’t together was because he was strong enough to stay away for now.

After her morning run, Imogen showered and dressed for work. She paused when she realised she was looking through the chest of drawers and actually considering what suited her most. In an act of defiance against no one but herself, she pulled on a dark blue hoodie and a pair of cords. She hadn’t cared yesterday, why should she suddenly care today? She pulled her wet hair up into a ponytail and checked her face. She looked fine. Imogen locked her flat up and got in the car; it took her a minute to compose herself before driving to the station. Normally she would swing by and pick Adrian up, but he had expressly told her that he would meet her at work after ushering her out of his house at one in the morning.