Page 37 of All I Want for Christmas

‘She’s another model,’ Darcy said quickly, anticipating the questions before they came. ‘Angelina or something. Stunning. Exactly what you’d expect for him. Anyway, they went out and left me to it, and I just worked until about six and then went back home, and that’s it.’

She drew a breath.

‘Wait, wait, wait – just back it up,’ Freja said bossily, holding up her hands. ‘He left youalonein his house,all day?’

Darcy felt relief that she wasn’t the only one to have found it odd. ‘Yes. Working.’

‘But not eating.’

‘He did actually say I could help myself to whatever. But obviously I wasn’t going to do that.’

‘So what, you just starved for seven hours?’

‘I had a glass of water. Two glasses, actually.’ The coffee machine had looked too expensive to use. What if she did something wrong and broke it?

Freja stared at her, analysing her every breath. ‘What’s his house like?’

‘Stunning. It’s a townhouse on Stockholmsgade.’

‘Oh, I’ve got some friends who live along there,’ Tristan said, interested.

Of course he did, Darcy thought. Millionaire’s Row.

‘There are some special properties on that road.’

‘Yes. His is definitely one of them. Ivy-clad, windows overlooking the park; antiques. A few Picasso and Matisse sketches in the downstairs loo.’

‘You went to the loo?’ Freja gasped.

‘Obviously.’ Darcy rolled her eyes. ‘I just told you, I had two glasses of water and was there all day.’

‘Where else did you go?’

‘Nowhere. That was it.’

‘That was it? You didn’t have a quick sneak peek at his bedroom?’

‘Of course not!’

‘The sitting room, then?’

‘Freja! I wasn’t going to go snooping around the place!’ She shot a sideways look at Tristan, who was listening interestedly.

Freja’s eyes narrowed. ‘You think he has cameras?’

‘I mean, maybe,’ Darcy shrugged. She dropped her voice. ‘I couldn’t take the risk, you know?’

‘Yeah,’ Freja agreed, sitting back in the chair and tapping her fingernails thoughtfully on the table.

Tristan chuckled, as if amused by them both.

‘I don’t know how you could bear it, all those hours sitting there...alone,’ Freja commiserated. ‘The temptation to justseehis stuff – his life, his world – you know?’

‘Are you getting this?’ Darcy asked Tristan.

‘Oh yeah.’ He nodded. ‘This is why women are terrifying.’

Darcy laughed, but Freja was still on her riff. ‘It could have told you so much about him, though. Homes are so revealing.’

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