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Joss was glad of it. The last thing she wanted right now was solitude.
‘I’ve respected the veto on names,’ he went on, ‘but is it against the rules to ask what you do with your life?’
Joss decided against telling him she was a journalist. That might give too much away. For tonight she would just be romantic, mysterious Eve. ‘I’m—in publishing.’
‘Fiction?’
‘No. Fact.’ Joss settled herself more comfortably. ‘How about you?’
‘Construction.’
Joss was struck by a mental picture of suntanned muscles and heavy loads of bricks. ‘It obviously pays,’ she commented, eyeing his clothes.
‘If you mean the suit,’ he said, straight-faced. ‘It’s the one I keep for parties and funerals. My Sunday best.’
‘Is it really?’
‘Absolutely.’ His eyes roved over her tawny blonde bob, the wide-spaced eyes, the faint suggestion of tilt to the nose. His gaze lingered for a moment on the full curves of her mouth, then continued down until it reached her black silk pumps. ‘I don’t think you bought any of that in a chainstore, either.’
‘True. I felt Anna’s engagement party deserved something special.’ Her eyes clouded. ‘And when I bought it I was in belligerent mood.’
‘Is this something to do with the dinner date that fell through?’
Joss smiled bleakly. ‘In a way.’
‘But there’s a lot more.’
‘Oh, yes.’ Her eyes glittered angrily. ‘A whole lot more.’
‘Would it help to tell me about it?’
Joss frowned, taken aback.
‘It’s easier to confide in strangers,’ he pointed out.
‘I see. I confide my pathetic little story, you offer me a shoulder to cry on, then off you go into the night and we never meet again?’ She smiled. ‘I think I saw the movie.’
‘I’d prefer to alter the script a little,’ he said, chuckling. ‘But whatever you tell me will be in strictest confidence.’
‘Like confessing to a priest?’
Adam shook his head. ‘Wrong casting.’
She nodded, looking at him objectively. ‘You’re right. You don’t suit the role.’
‘But I’m a superb listener,’ he assured her.
‘And you’re curious?’
‘Interested, certainly.’
Joss gazed at him for a moment, weakening by the second in her need to talk to someone. Anna would have been her normal choice, but that, like staying away from the engagement party, had been out of the question. At least until Anna’s celebrations were over and the new, yawning gap in Joscelyn Hunter’s life could no longer be hidden.
‘Are you sure about this?’ she asked.
Adam nodded decisively. ‘I want to know what was behind the Oscar-winning performance tonight.’
Joss gave him a wry little smile and took the plunge. ‘I used to share this flat with my fiancé. A few weeks ago he walked out on me.’
CHAPTER TWO
JOSS had made an all-out effort to get home early for once. She’d rushed through the door, laden down with groceries for a celebration dinner. And almost fallen over the luggage in the hall.
As she’d stared Peter Sadler had rushed from the bedroom, his face the picture of guilt. ‘You’re home early!’ he accused.
Joss nodded coolly. ‘And you’re obviously not pleased to see me. Is there a problem?’
‘Yes, you could say that.’ He took the grocery bag from her. ‘I’ll put this in the kitchen. Would you like some tea?’
Joss stood tense with foreboding, watching as Peter filled a kettle and put teabags in a pot. ‘So what is the problem? And why the suitcases? Are you going somewhere for the firm?’
‘No.’ He turned to look at her, a truculent look on his fair, good-looking face. ‘I’ve resigned.’
She stared incredulously. ‘Resigned? Why?’
‘I got in first, before they could fire me.’
Joss shook her head in disbelief. ‘This is terribly sudden, Peter! If you were that worried they’d fire you why didn’t you talk to me about it?’
‘When?’ he threw at her in sudden anger. ‘You’re never here.’
‘That’s an exaggeration,’ she snapped. ‘We share a bed, remember? You could have given me a hint on one of the rare occasions you stayed awake long enough to say goodnight.’
‘You know I need my sleep,’ he said sullenly. ‘And lately there’s been precious little to stay awake for. We haven’t made love for weeks. You lust for your job more than you ever did for me.’
Joss felt as though her entire world was disintegrating. ‘You’ve obviously been building up to this for a long time. I’ve been blind.’ She thrust an unsteady hand through her hair. ‘I know you’ve been very quiet lately, but I thought that was for a different reason.’
‘What other reason?’ he said blankly, adding salt to the wound. ‘All I could think of lately were my plans for the new riverside complex.’ His mouth twisted. ‘In case you’re interested, Athena turned them down.’
Joss stared at him in horrified sympathy. ‘Peter—I’m so sorry! I know how hard you worked.’ She frowned. ‘But it isn’t the end of the world, surely?’
‘Of mine, with this particular firm of architects, it most definitely is.’ Peter shrugged his shoulders moodily. ‘Not that it matters. I was never cut out for corporate cut and thrust, Joss. I only took the job in the first place because you pushed me into it. I’m going back to the family firm. Where I belong,’ he added as the crowning touch. He glanced at his watch, then caught her eye and flushed. ‘I’m in no rush, Joss,’ he said quickly. ‘I can catch a later train.’
‘Don’t alter your arrangements on my account!’ She stood with arms folded. ‘I assume this means it’s all over between us?’
Peter swallowed convulsively. ‘I suppose it does.’
‘You suppose?’
‘I left you a letter, Joss,’ he said hurriedly. ‘It explains everything.’
‘How thoughtful.’ She eyed him with scorn. ‘So if I’d come home at the usual time I would have found the bird flown?’
‘I thought it would be easier that way,’ he muttered, and handed her a cup of tea.
Joss slammed it down on a shelf. ‘Easier for you, certainly, Peter.’
He shrugged sulkily. ‘All right. Easier for me. Look, Joss, things haven’t been right between us for a long time.’ He squared his slim shoulders and looked her in the eye. ‘If you want the truth, I’m just not happy with you anymore. You’re older than me, more ambitious, you earn more money—hell, you’re even taller than me. You—you diminish me, Joss. I can’t take it any longer.’
‘I see.’ Joss’s eyes burned angrily in her pale face. ‘So that’s it? The past year means nothing at all to you?’
‘Is it only a year?’ he said with unconscious cruelty. ‘I thought it was longer than that. Anyway, I’m sorry it had to end like this. A pity you came home before I could—’
‘Sneak away?’ she said scathingly.
‘Don’t Joss! Let’s part friends—please,’ he pleaded, and put his hand on her arm.
She flung it away, suddenly unable to bear his touch. ‘Just take your things and go, Peter. A pity my timing was wrong. You could have got away scot-free.’
He stepped back in quick offence. ‘So why were you early?’
Joss clenched her teeth. ‘I just felt like it. Goodbye, Peter.’
He moved towards her, arms outstretched, but backed away in a hurry as he met the look in her eyes. ‘Goodbye, then, Joss. I—I wish things could have been different. If I’d won the Athena job—’
‘I would still be older than you—and taller.’ Her mouth twisted. ‘I never dreamed it mattered so much.’
‘In the beginning it didn’t,’ he muttered.
Joss locked militant eyes with his. ‘Peter, tell me the truth. You owe me that much.’
He frowned. ‘I have told the truth. Hell, I thought I’d even been a bit over the top with it. I never meant to come out with all that stuff about your age—and the height and so on.’
She shrugged impatiently. ‘Never mind all that. Just tell me if there’s someone else.’
‘Another woman? Lord, no,’ said Peter, with unmistakable candour. ‘You’ve always been more woman than I can really handle, Joss. Never had any time—or energy—for anyone else.’
Joss looked across at Adam, taking comfort from the fierce look of distaste in his eyes. ‘Oddly enough, that was the last straw. I lost it completely, made a terrible scene, threw my ring at him and sent him packing. Then I rang a removal firm and arranged to ship most of his belongings to his parents.’ Her mouth twisted. ‘Which is why I’m a bit lacking in home comforts. All the furniture was Peter’s, but I’ve kept the sofa and the bed until—until I buy replacements.’
Adam gave her a probing look. ‘You’ve kept all this secret?’
‘Yes. No one knows yet, other than you.’
‘Not even your parents?’
‘I don’t have any now. And I just couldn’t spoil things for Anna before the party. I told her Peter was away on a course and couldn’t come. She lives in Warwickshire, so it was easy to keep it from her for a while.’
‘No wonder you weren’t in party mood,’ he said dryly.
She pulled a face. ‘One way and another the party was a bit hard to take. Eventually the effort to sparkle was too much, so I spotted that deserted little balcony and vanished for a bit.’
Adam smiled a little. ‘In the circumstances I’m surprised you were so polite when I joined you.’
Joss smiled back guiltily. ‘My first reaction was to snarl and tell you to get lost. But after a while I was glad of your company. It kept me from wallowing in self-pity. It was gallant of you to come to my rescue.’
Adam shook his head. ‘I’m no knight in shining armour, Eve. If the damsel in distress had been less pleasing to the eye I might have felt the same sympathy, but I doubt I’d have done anything about it.’
‘An honest man!’
‘I try to be. I watched your every move from the moment I first saw you. When you did your vanishing trick I seized the moment, grabbed two glasses of champagne and followed you outside.’
Her eyes danced. ‘What would you have done if a vengeful husband had come after you?’
‘Beaten a hasty retreat.’ He grinned. ‘I steer clear of husbands, vengeful or otherwise. I prefer my women unattached.’
‘Your women?’ Joss repeated.
‘A figure of speech.’
Her eyes narrowed suddenly. ‘Are you unattached, by the way?’
‘Yes,’ he said with emphasis. ‘Otherwise this wouldn’t be happening.’
‘Would you like some coffee?’ she said unevenly, very much aware that something was happening.
‘Is that a polite way of asking me to go?’
Joss gave him a long, considering look. ‘No,’ she said quietly. ‘Not if you’d like to stay awhile.’
‘You know I would. And I don’t want any more coffee,’ he said deliberately. ‘Shall I tell you what I do want?’
‘No—please,’ said Joss swiftly. ‘Before Peter and I began to live together we’d been exclusive to each other for a fair time. I’m out of practice at this sort of thing.’
‘What “sort of thing” do you think this is?’ he asked, amused.
‘More to the point, what do you think it is?’
‘A simple desire to get to know you. How about you?’
Joss thought about it, fairly sure that ‘simple’ was the last word to describe her guest. ‘I asked you here for a meal because I was depressed and angry, and you were kind and—’
‘A lot taller than you,’ he finished for her, and Joss laughed, suddenly more at ease.
‘You’re taller than most people!’
‘I’ve never had more cause to be thankful for it than right now,’ he assured her. ‘So, mysterious Eve, come and sit beside me and hold my hand.’
‘Ah, but if I give you my hand will you want more than that?’
