Her chest squeezed. Her mouth went dry. Oh, God. If he did come over she wouldn’t just have to deal with him. She’d also have to deal with Kate, whose razor-sharp instinct would instantly pick up on the atmosphere, and who’d wring out every tiny detail and then hammer Laura with a barrage of ‘what were you thinking?’s and ‘but it’s so unlike you’s.
Laura took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down before her head exploded. It would be fine. She was a mature sensible adult who’d been through far worse. She’d simply channel the inner Amazon she was sure was lurking somewhere inside her, and be strong.
Nevertheless when all six foot plus of him got to his feet she caught and held her breath. Her pulse thundered. The blood rushed to her feet. He turned. Gave her a glimpse of his face.
And disappointment walloped her in the stomach.
It wasn’t Matt.
Letting her breath out before she fainted, Laura blinked and turned her attention back to the menu. Of course it wouldn’t have been Matt, she told herself sternly. That would have been too much of a coincidence and she didn’t believe in coincidences.
She frowned and scanned the dishes. The weird sensation whirling around inside her wasn’t disappointment. It was relief. That was all.
‘Quiet?’ said Kate. ‘Hah! I knew it. So who is he?’
Laura froze and glanced up. The gleam in her friend’s eye looked far too knowing for her liking. ‘Who is who?’ she said deliberately vaguely.
‘The man that’s put the weird look on your face.’
Laura’s heart lurched. ‘That’s not a man,’ she muttered. ‘That’s the dim lighting.’ She squinted at the menu. ‘In fact I can barely read this. Maybe I need glasses.’ She held it up to the beautiful but fairly useless light that hung above the table.
‘Rubbish,’ said Kate.
‘I definitely need a dictionary.’
‘You look as if you’ve just had the fright of your life.’
‘Well, I haven’t.’ Except perhaps at the prices. ‘Whatever you’re thinking you’re wrong.’
‘No, I’m not. I’m a lawyer. I’m known for my tenacity and trained to notice things.’
But not, apparently, the waiter who, with exquisite timing, was hovering at their table ready to take their order.
Laura looked up at him and gave her saviour a wide smile. ‘I was wondering … what is the rouget?’
‘Red mullet, madam.’
‘Thank you. And the poêlée de châtaignes?’
‘Pan-fried chestnuts.’
There were two pages of dishes. With any luck by the time she’d got to the bottom of the second page, Kate might have got bored and moved on.
Hmm. Or perhaps not, she thought as Kate swiped the menu out of her hands and beamed up at the waiter. ‘I’ll have the lamb and she’ll have the sea bass.’
Huh. Laura waited until he’d melted away before scowling at her friend.
‘What?’ said Kate, arching an eyebrow.
‘I’m perfectly capable of ordering for myself.’
‘I know, but I have a feeling there’s a story to be told and we don’t have all night. Besides you always have sea bass’
Laura stiffened. ‘Maybe I was thinking about trying something different.’
Kate gave a little snort of disbelief. ‘You were stalling. And when have you ever tried something different?’
Laura bristled. Was she really so boringly predictable? ‘That’s not fair. I do try different things.’
‘Like what?’ Kate’s eyes zoomed in on her.
Like jumping into bed with scorchingly hot neighbours. Not that she intended to use that as an example. ‘Fine.’ She shrugged as if she couldn’t be less bothered, and took a sip of her drink. ‘I don’t. Boring and predictable, that’s me.’
Kate’s blue gaze turned piercing. ‘I think you lie.’
‘Think what you like.’
‘Come on,’ said Kate, adding a wheedling smile to the penetrating stare. ‘I know something’s up and it’s got “man” written all over it. I’m not going to give up until you tell me so you might as well give in now and get it over with.’
Not for the first time, Laura could see why Kate was so successful at what she did. Dogs and bones sprang to mind. Stifling a sigh, she weighed up her options. Denial and a battle with Kate’s formidable persistence, which would last all evening, or half an hour of interrogation, which would be sharp but probably short and would allow her to enjoy the rest of her sea bass.
Hmm. If she wanted to be on top form for tomorrow she didn’t have much of a choice. ‘OK,’ she said, bracing herself, ‘you’re right.’
‘Aha.’ Kate grinned in triumph. ‘I knew it.’ She signalled for two more drinks and sat back. ‘You’d better tell me everything.’
Ten minutes and two cocktails later, Laura had finished her rundown of almost everything, and was now watching her friend with faint amusement. She didn’t think she’d ever seen Kate lost for words before. She was sitting there, her eyes wide and her jaw almost on the floor. Even the arrival of their food didn’t snap Kate out of her state of shock.
Laura decided to leave her to it and tucked in. Popping a forkful of fish in her mouth, she sighed in appreciation. As annoyingly hip as the restaurant was, the food was spectacular.
‘Well,’ said Kate, eventually pulling herself together and regaining the ability to speak.
‘Your lamb is getting cold,’ Laura pointed out.
‘Sod the lamb,’ Kate said, still looking on utterly shell-shocked. ‘Let me get this straight. You ogle. You engage in confrontation. You stand your ground. And then you have sex with a man you’ve only just met.’
‘Yes.’ Laura took another mouthful and decided that for all the benefits of the countryside, it didn’t do food like this.
Kate’s mouth opened then closed. ‘To be honest I don’t know which part of the whole thing I’m more shocked by.’
‘I thought it was time for a change.’ Hah. Who was predictable now?
‘Have you seen him since?’
‘No.’ She’d known he’d stayed the rest of the weekend but he’d kept himself to himself. Not that she’d been keeping a special eye out or anything.
‘Do you intend to?’
‘Absolutely not. It was a one-night—afternoon—stand. Non-repetition is kind of the point.’
There was another long silence as Kate absorbed this information. ‘Who are you and what have you done with my friend?’
‘Ha-ha.’
‘I knew moving to the country was dangerous,’ Kate muttered, picking up her knife and fork and attacking her lamb. ‘You’re unhinged.’
Undoubtedly. But that had happened long before she’d met Matt. ‘If I am,’ said Laura darkly as the image of her ex-boyfriend in bed with his secretary flashed into her head, ‘it has nothing to do with geography.’
Kate gave her a sympathetic smile. ‘No, well, I suppose I can see why