Page 65 of All I Want for Christmas

She grimaced. ‘I wish you hadn’t asked that. At least, not before I’ve had a few drinks.’

‘Why not?’

‘Because it doesn’t reflect well on me.’

‘No?’ Aksel frowned, waiting.

She sighed and held up a hand, beginning to count off her fingers. ‘Uni guy – cheated on me. Master’s guy – turned out to bemarried. Yeah, that was great! Year-long guy – decidedhe was bi, with a strong preference for men. Copenhagen guy – cheated on me.’

‘Oh.’

‘Yep, I know how to pick ’em.’

‘Well, it does sound like your radar might be off a little,’ he said falteringly. ‘Although you’re sitting here with me now, so you obviously havesometaste.’

She grinned.

‘You do know, them cheating only reflects on them, not you?’

‘Well, thanks for saying that. But when it keeps happening, you can’t help but feel that you’re the one doing something wrong.’

‘It’s not you, Darcy.’

They held eye contact again. It was so easy to look at him. He was unguarded, direct, safe.

‘And so you’ve been in Copenhagen since the summer?’

‘Yes, five months now, I can’t believe it.’

‘Do you like it here?

‘I love it. I just wish time would slow down a little. I feel like I’m going to be back in London before I’m ready.’

‘Can you extend your stay?’

‘Possibly. I’ve been diverted onto a special project, which means I can’t actually get on with my thesis at the moment, so it will probably mean an extension to my deadline.’

‘Oh, that’s right. You mentioned it – the hidden painting that’s been in the news?’

‘Yeah, it’s down to me to discover the identity of the woman in the portrait. There’s this big Johan Trier retrospective coming up at the National Gallery in the new year, so they’re throwing everything at it to have the big reveal then.’ She pulled a face. ‘Nothing like a deadline to deliver to the Danish general public to sharpen the mind.’

He winced. ‘How’s it going?’

‘Oh, it’s not.’ She rolled her eyes. ‘But it’s early days still; I’m trying not to be impatient. Such is the life of an art historian. The dead can be reluctant to reveal their secrets.’

‘It sounds so different to my job. I deal with what’s on the table. Right there, in the moment.’

‘Is it what you hoped it’d be, being a vet?’

‘It definitely involves more client management than I’d reckoned on. It’s not the animals that are tricky, it’s their owners.’

‘Are you ever scared? You must have dangerous animals coming in?’

‘Frequently. And even the most docile pet can become unpredictable and aggressive if they’re in pain or scared. I probably get bitten a few times a week.’

‘Wow.’

He shrugged. ‘There’s tricks of the trade that can help; the senior partners are especially helpful there, that’s where the experience shows. But I really don’t like snakes, so my heart sinks whenever I see that on the log sheet.’

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