'How's the job?' he asked with a faint sneer, looking at Cass again. Did he expect Cass to resent her career the way he did? Or was he hinting that she was using Cass to further her career?
'Terrific,' she said coolly, aware of Cass watching them both, his grey eyes frozen but observant. He hadn't said a word, and she hadn't tried to introduce Louis. She didn't think Cass wanted to meet him.
'We ought to get together again soon,' Louis said, unbelievably, and she just looked at him, her green eyes wide with derision. Why had he said that?
'I'll give you a buzz,' he said. 'See you.'
She stared after him, still baffled, then the waiter came to take her plate away and looked reproachfully at her uneaten food.
'Sorry, I'm not as hungry as I thought,' she apologised, and he removed her plate with an offended smile.
'So, who was that?' Cass asked while they waited for their next course. 'A fellow scribe?'
'Sorry, I'd have introduced you if I thought you wanted to meet him,' she lied, and was given a dry, disbelieving look.
'What made you think I didn't want to?'
She made flustered noises. 'Well… I…'
'I got the idea he was more than just a colleague, though,' said Cass, and her eyes slid away, her skin burnt.
'I can't think why you should…'
'I thought he was jealous,' Cass coolly continued over her stammering.
'Jealous?' she laughed, a little wildly and unconvincingly. 'Good heavens, no! Jealous of what?'
'Of me,' said Cass, and she laughed some more.
'Of you
? Of course not.'
'He certainly didn't like finding us together,' he said, watching her closely.
Sian shot him a look, then away. 'I haven't seen him for ages,' she volunteered in the hope of stopping the discussion there. A hope misplaced.
'Why not?' enquired Cass, and she opened her mouth and closed it again, daunted by the prospect of explaining.
'Oh, you know the way it goes,' she offered.
'No, tell me,' he invited softly.
Sian shrugged helplessly. 'Well, it didn't…'
'Work out?' suggested Cass, and she jumped at the words.
'Work out—exactly.'
'Why not?'
'Why not?' she repeated, floundering again. 'Well, it just didn't.'
'He's not bad-looking,' he thought aloud, his tone tolerant.
'He's very good-looking,' corrected Sian, to be fair to Louis.
'Hmm,' Cass said, frowning. 'And he obviously still fancies you. So why did you split up? A quarrel?'