‘She left you?’ Well, good on you, Melanie. The worm had finally turned and she couldn’t be more pleased.
He nodded, flicking back the quiff that fell over his forehead. ‘In the autumn. Of course, the marriage was never right to begin with. Melanie was so difficult and possessive.’ He did the wistful little-boy look that had once charmed her but now made her feel slightly sick as he said, ‘I never got over you, I guess that was partly the trouble. Can I take you out to dinner, Rachel? Please? I need to tell you how sorry I am.’
When hell froze over. ‘You’ve told me, Giles.’
‘Not properly.’ He moved closer. ‘We had something good, didn’t we? And I know you loved me. We can be like that again, but it will be better this time. I can give you all of me.’
Ugh, over her dead body.
Her face must have spoken for itself because his changed, the winsome smile disappearing. ‘I know you’re still hurt and angry and I can understand that, but give me a chance to make it up to you. Please, Rachel. I wanted to tell you about Melanie, I swear it, but I was terrified of losing you.’
In the first devastating days after Melanie had come to see her, she had imagined Giles coming crawling one day and the satisfaction she’d feel when she sent him packing. Funnily enough, all she felt now was an overwhelming sense of relief she was rid of this man. Quietly, aware of the odd surreptitious glance her way from colleagues who knew what had happened, she said, ‘I’m not hurt or angry, Giles. That only lasted a short time. I’ve moved on, that’s all.’
As she turned to move away he swung her back with a hard hand at her elbow. ‘What’s his name?’ he hissed.
‘I beg your pardon?’ Aware of where they were, she couldn’t do what she wanted to do, which was probably a good thing. She’d never indulged in physical violence before. As it was, she jerked her arm free and glared at him. ‘Don’t touch me, Giles.’
‘There’s someone else, isn’t there?’
It was for all the world as though he was the injured party. Freshly amazed at the sheer cheek of him, she took a moment to calm down before she said, ‘If you’re asking if I’m in love with the most fabulous man on the planet, the answer’s yes. But even before I met him I was well and truly over you, Giles. It didn’t take long. Now, please leave me alone.’
‘You little—’
As Giles went to reach out to her again, one of her colleagues—a six-foot-four rugby player with a body like a barn door—grasped his wrist none too gently. Liam was a devoted family man with two children and a dog, and he’d been outraged on her behalf when the truth about Giles had become known. Now he smiled pleasantly as he said, ‘If you’re not out of here in two minutes flat, I’ll take great pleasure in kicking your butt all the way down the stairs. OK?’ He placed Giles’s arm by his side, patting his suit jacket and continuing to smile into the pale face, which had gone a shade paler. Giles was clearly scared to death.
‘How—how dare you? I’m a client here, I pay your wages.’
Liam cut across the spluttering by the simple expedient of glancing at his watch. ‘Thirty seconds gone already. Goodbye, Mr Hammond. And merry Christmas.’
For a moment Rachel thought Giles was going to protest further, but after a furious glare at them both, he marched across the room and disappeared out of the door. Her body relaxed and she breathed out shakily. Liam grabbed a glass of wine from a passing waiter and handed it to her. ‘The second option would have been more fun,’ he murmured with a sly grin.
She smiled. ‘Not if we’d both ended up getting the sack.’
‘True.’ He indicated the glass. ‘Drink, it’ll soothe the jangled nerves. And I don’t think that creep will be back.’
‘Thanks, Liam. Not for the wine, for stepping in when needed.’ She shook her head. ‘I can’t believe I was stupid enough to get mixed up with him and believe he was on the level.’
‘It happens to the best of us, and while we’re on the subject, I’d just like you to know that none of us here knew he was married when you started seeing him. We’d have told you if we’d known because you’re not that type of girl, we’re all aware of that.’
Touched, she patted the big, brawny arm under the smart suit. ‘Thanks again.’ People could be so nice. Now, if Zac could just walk in the door and take her in his arms and tell her he had realised he couldn’t do without her, this little scenario would be rounded off nicely.
He didn’t, of course.
CHAPTER TWELVE
ON CHRISTMAS EVE the cold weather from the north, which had blown in over the last days, promised snow. When Rachel awoke that morning she stretched lazily, glancing across at Jennie who was still buried under her covers like a dormouse. They’d both broken up for the holidays the day before and intended to travel to Kent later that morning in Jennie’s trusty little Fiesta, which was ancient but which ran like a dream.
Climbing out of bed and padding across to the window, Rachel drew back the curtains and peered out, to the accompaniment of loud snores from Susan’s room. Fleeting wisps of silver tinged the grey-white winter sky and at the end of the mews the main road was already jammed with traffic.
Susan and Henry were flying to Edinburgh just before lunch to spend Christmas with Susan’s family, and Rachel and Jennie fully expected he
r to come back engaged to Henry. Jennie had just applied for a job at a different fashion house and gained an interview after Christmas. If she succeeded in securing the post, it would mean she would be travelling three weeks out of every four and rarely be home.
Everything was changing.
Rachel sat looking out for some time, her heart aching and her mind grappling with what the new year was sure to bring. Hard work mostly, she told herself wryly. She needed to prove she could do the manager’s job from day one and that meant long hours and total commitment. But she didn’t mind that. If nothing else, work would be a welcome panacea for the emptiness of her personal life.
Unbidden, Zac suddenly thrust himself onto the screen of her mind. She closed her eyes as her heart lurched and then raced.