The Bedroom Assignment

‘In fact, I shared the flat with her for a few months after college. But then—’ She stopped. ‘Well, stuff happened.’

He was intrigued. But Petros stopped him pursuing that one, too. Next time, Jay thought savagely, he was going to bring his own car.

Zoe leaned forward. ‘Just here, on the left. Leave me on the corner, if you like. It’s only a step.’

‘I always see my dates indoors,’ said Jay firmly.

‘But I’m not—’ She stopped, gave a quick look at the back of Petros’s head, and subsided. ‘Thank you,’ she muttered.

Did she not want to sully his reputation for being irresistible? Jay was touched—and rather annoyed. He had been to a lot of parties with women like Susan Manoir. He knew what the men there were like. He did not want Zoe Brown to think of him as just another high-gloss stud, he found.

The chauffeur parked at the end of the street. Jay leaned forward and touched his shoulder.

‘Wait. I may be a few minutes.’

‘Sure thing.’

Jay walked Zoe to a solid redbrick Edwardian block. She brought out a key, turned to him with her hand out.

‘Thank you for seeing me home.’

He ignored the hand. Instead he took the key from her. ‘Inside the door.’

She raised her eyebrows. ‘I’m not going to be mugged by a mad overnight cleaning lady. That sort of thing doesn’t happen in apartment blocks with carpeted corridors.’

‘It won’t if you’re not on your own,’ he agreed. He unlocked the door and waved her in ahead of him. ‘Go on.’

She hesitated a moment. Then shrugged. ‘You have an over-developed sense of responsibility.’

‘So Susan gives you a key,’ he said as they got into the old brass-studded elevator.

‘She keeps wanting me to move back in.’

He could ask now. ‘Why did you move out in the first place? You obviously still get on well. Didn’t like her boyfriends?’

Zoe looked startled. ‘Of course not.’

‘Well, then?’

The elevator arrived at Suze’s floor. The ceiling lights were dimmed discreetly. They walked down thick-piled carpet. It was all very expensive and absolutely silent. They stopped at the door.

‘Well?’ persisted Jay.

Zoe rubbed her eyes tiredly. There was something about him that was implacable, somehow. She gave a deep sigh, stopped rubbing her eyes, and gave up her attempt at family discretion.

‘There was trouble at home. My young brother was running wild. My mother needed reinforcements.’

She unlocked the door. It led straight into the main room. It was in total darkness, the furniture just ghostly shapes. From the kitchen there was the quiet hum of a fridge defrosting itself. Apart from that the place was silent.

Jay did not wait to be invited in. He pushed the door closed behind him and hunted down a table-lamp without much difficulty.

‘Is Susan in?’ he asked softly, switching it on.

‘Don’t expect so.’

Zoe slid off her strappy sandals and padded over the polished wooden floor into the internal corridor. She was back inside a minute.

‘No. Her bedroom door’s open and there’s no one there. She’s either still clubbing or she’s gone off to meet Hermann somewhere. They were talking about Paris.’

‘Good,’ said Jay. He stopped whispering. ‘You can give me a coffee and tell me the rest of this saga.’

Zoe was genuinely taken aback. ‘You can’t drink coffee at this hour.’

Jay grinned. ‘Watch me.’

She shrugged. ‘Fine, if that’s what you want. But you’ll never sleep.’

Jay’s eyes gleamed. ‘You don’t know me well enough to say that.’

Something flickered in Zoe’s stomach at the careless intimacy of that. It implied that she might—that she could—

She did not want to think about that. She flung up her hands. ‘Okay. Okay. Your choice! Your nightmares! Just don’t blame me.’

‘I won’t.’

She went into the small kitchen area and filled the kettle. Jay followed her, and sat down on one of the pine chairs at the table. He watched her rummage deep in the cupboard under the microwave until she found a small cafetie`re.