Well, he’d just have to take her as he found her, she thought as she directed him along the maze of tracks to her van. He might not even want to come in. This could be as simple as a gentleman giving her a lift home. But who was she kidding? They both knew what was going on here. The real question was, how did she want to play it? Melissa didn’t know yet. One step at a time. That was best whilst she worked out the lay of the land.

‘This is me,’ she said when they finally reached her front door. ‘Thanks for the lift.’

She paused, taking in his body language. Would he be happy to accept just driving all this way and getting nothing in return? That was a pretty big test, but something told her that he had no expectations. She might be horribly wrong, but if she just got out and let herself in without inviting him, she thought he would accept that. That wasn’t what she wanted, though, she realised.

‘Nice spot,’ said Ray appreciatively, although it was hard to see much in the dots of light thrown down by the lamps along the lanes of the site. ‘Have you lived here long?’

‘About a year,’ Melissa replied. ‘I had a room in a shared flat in town before, but I prefer it on my own.’

‘Me too,’ he said, nodding in agreement.

He was single, then, Melissa thought, her antennae tuned in to any clue.

‘Going to show me around?’ he added.

So he was expecting to come in. Melissa hoped her face didn’t give away how pleased she was at this. It wasn’t really that surprising, though – he was a man, after all.

‘If you like,’ she said, trying to sound as if she wasn’t bothered one way or the other. She dug her key out of her bag and walked up the little gravel path to her front door, the stones crunching beneath her feet as she went. Ray seemed to hold back, as if he were waiting for an invitation to cross her threshold. He really was a cut above her usual fellas. ‘Come on then,’ she added, and he got out of the car and locked the doors behind him.

‘You can hear the sea,’ he said, surprised as he turned his head towards the sound of the waves hitting the beach below. Even in the dark a plaintive seagull called out over the water.

‘It’s just down there,’ she said, pointing into the darkness beyond. ‘I love it. It changes all the time. That’s one of the reasons why I moved up here.’

Melissa turned the key and the door creaked open. That pizza box was in the middle of the floor. Damn.

‘It’s a bit of a mess,’ she said, cringing. ‘Sorry. I wasn’t expecting visitors.’