Page 43 of You Only Live Once
‘If you would be so kind,’ he said, a mischievous smile playing on dangerously sexy lips, ‘at your next social function.’
‘I do have rather a lot of them, as you know.’
‘I do indeed, and I’m glad to be able to have this opportunity to steal your company this evening.’
‘We are old friends. It would be rude of me if I didn’t find a slot somewhere in my heady social calendar for you.’
His eyes twinkled with laughter as he sat down, placing my dish before me as he did so.
‘Lentil and Mediterranean vegetable lasagne. I hope you like it. Bon appetit.’
‘Oh, crikey, now you’re speaking foreign too. I’m not sure my simple education can keep up with Eton and Cambridge.’
He pulled a face that told me not to be a smart-arse.
‘Wow, that’s delicious,’ I said, holding my hand up in front of me as I spoke through a mouthful of food.
The warmth of his smile radiated around me and he appeared genuinely pleased at the compliment. There also seemed a little surprise in his expression, and I wondered how long it had been since he felt he’d received a genuine compliment. That made me a little sad on his behalf, but the smile was there now and something within made me want to ensure it stayed there for a while longer.
‘What are you thinking about?’ he asked, taking a sip of the wine and watching me over the rim of the glass. ‘You look very pensive.’
‘Do I?’
‘You do.’
‘Nothing, really. I was just thinking how nice this is.’
‘The dinner?’
‘All of it. The dinner, the company, and I was hoping that you feel relaxed here.’
His eyes were down now as he took another sip, but he nodded in response. ‘I do,’ he said, now concentrating on loading his fork for the next mouthful. ‘How far did you walk in the end?’
If I didn’t know better, I’d think Jack was changing the subject.
* * *
‘Darling!’ My agent greeted me on the video call, taking a noisy slurp of coffee as she did so. ‘This is just wonderful. Couldn’t be better publicity.’
I gave her a slightly bemused look.
‘Sorry? What couldn’t be better publicity?’
‘You and that gorgeous man of yours, the whole love nest thing. And I just wanted to say,’ her voice lost its theatrical bent for a moment, ‘I really am thrilled for you. No one deserves happiness more than you. God knows you waited long enough for it.’
‘I’m sorry, Zinnia. I really don’t know what you’re talking about.’
She frowned at me for a moment before holding up a newspaper, showing a picture of me at the manor with Jack leaning down towards me, his hand resting at my back. In reality, it been an innocent gesture, him just saying something in conversation over the noise of the chatter surrounding us, but looking at it in black and white, it was easy to see how it could be misconstrued as something with far more meaning. My eyes drifted to the headline:
Is tragic romance author about to finally get happy ending?
‘Oh my God. Is that today’s paper?’
‘It is. Have you not seen it?’
‘I don’t get a paper.’
‘Oh, it’s all over the internet as well. I’m surprised you haven’t seen it.’
