Hot Surrender. CHARLOTTE LAMB

may laugh. You don’t need a helping hand—some women do! I did myself a year ago, remember.’

      ‘Well, you don’t need one now; you look terrific!’ Zoe said, smiling at her. ‘And I’ll keep my fingers crossed your new venture is a huge success. Is Mark okay about it?’

      ‘Very supportive—in fact, he put up half the money. He insisted. He thinks I’ve had a brilliant idea and he wanted to back me. Mark’s very shrewd, too, so it was very encouraging to know he approved of my concept.’

      ‘Amazing,’ Zoe murmured. ‘The man surprises me sometimes. But then all men give you surprises, not all of them pleasant.’

      ‘Talking about men, where’s yours?’ asked Sancha.

      ‘Who?’ Zoe stared at her in bafflement.

      ‘Whoever you’re seeing at the moment—I told you to bring a guy.’

      Zoe shrugged. ‘I’m not seeing anyone. I’m too busy for a social life.’

      ‘What happened to...was it... Harry? No, Larry? He was the last one I met.’

      ‘He turned out to be a bit weird, so I broke it off.’

      Sighing heavily, Sancha told her, ‘Zoe, if you keep dumping men like this you’ll end up a lonely spinster!’

      ‘I’ve heard that a hundred times! And I’m not lonely, nor do I spin. Or sew, come to that. Women don’t have to marry these days to enjoy life. I’ve got a career that’s more important to me than any man I ever meet. I earn a lot of money and have a lot of fun, and above all I love my work. I enjoy men’s company when I’m in the mood but I don’t need a man to make my life complete.’