You could have heard a pin drop in the silence that Beryl left behind. For a few uncomfortable seconds neither of us moved. Then I stood. The suddenness of my action made his gaze skid involuntarily down my body and come to rest on the curve of my hips.

‘How nice of Beryl,’ I commented, and moved towards the couch.

‘Yes, very nice,’ he agreed, dryly. Poor Beryl. She was going to get an earful tomorrow.

I sat with my knees drawn close together in front of the tray and began to pour the tea. He did not immediately join me, but watched from behind his desk. My movements felt clumsy and jerky and I was very relieved when I did not spill anything. I placed the teapot back on the tray and looked up at him.

‘Milk?’

‘Yeah,’ he said and standing up, strolled over to the couch. He had a really sexy walk. More of a prowl than a walk. I dragged my eyes away from him and he lowered his hard male body next to me and leaned back with his legs spread wide. His trouser clad knee was inches away from my leg. Scent: warm man. How extraordinary, I wanted to curl into it. Every brain cell in my head lit up with the knowledge. His nearness in a social context made me feel jittery and out of sorts, like one of those cartoon animals that gets electrocuted and their eyes pop and all their fur stands on end.

‘Sugar?’ My voice was squeaky with nervousness.

‘Two. Thank you.’

I dropped the cubes into his cup and passed it to him. I was mortified to hear the cup rattling on the saucer. My gaze collided with his, and good gracious, up this close, his eyes were the stuff poets write about, molten gold and piercingly intense. He took the offered tea. My gaze dropped to the discreet watch peeking out of his shirt cuff, and his hand; big, the fingers elegant, and the nails cut square. Without taking a sip he put the cup and saucer back on the table.

From the corner of my eyes I could see him rubbing the side of his face reflectively. I leaned forward, my demeanor stiff and awkward, and picking up the plate of cake held it out to him.

He took a slice and bit into it.

I stared. And gulped. Wow! I could hear my pulse throbbing in my ear. All kinds of crazy thoughts were running through my head. I imagined his mouth on the tips of my breast, along the inside of my thighs, between my thighs where I had begun to throb. My reaction to this man was extraordinarily sexual and confusing. I wondered what was beneath all those clothes. I wanted to feel him with my tongue. I frowned. I couldn’t understand where these bold and inappropriate thoughts were coming from. Were they coming from behind the veil? Was I a very sexual being?

‘Are you all right?’ He was staring at me. A single frown line furrowed his forehead.

‘Yes, absolutely,’ I choked, horribly embarrassed. I turned away from him, hastily picked up a slice of cake, and took a bite out of it. It tasted of nothing in my mouth. It could have been sawdust I was chewing. I tried desperately to find something to talk about, but there was not a single thing in my head I could find to say. I swallowed the tasteless lump and reached for my cup. Taking a sip I dared a sideways glance at him.

‘This cake is absolutely delicious,’ I said.

‘Absolutely,’ he agreed quietly, popping the rest of his cake into his mouth.

I put the cup down and licked my lower lip. ‘Do you like being a hypnotherapist?’

The frown was back. ‘It is what I do at the moment,’ he replied.

I was both curious and consumed by an intense curiosity about him. ‘So you don’t like it?’

‘Let’s just say it’s a temporary fix.’ His voice discouraged any further questioning.

I smoothed down the wrinkles in my skirt as if doing so could smoothen out my thoughts. When I looked up he was staring at my hands.

‘What?’ I asked.

‘You have such delicate little hands. I bet all the boys fall over themselves to protect you,’ he said softly.

‘I don’t remember any boys wanting to protect me,’ I said, nervously rolling the buttery orbs on the two-string pearl necklace around my throat between my fingers.

His eyes flashed. He moved forward suddenly and rested his forearms on his thighs. ‘To be honest, I’m not really a tea person. If you don’t mind I’ll have a whiskey.’

‘Not at all.’

He stood and went to his desk. I watched him pour himself a generous measure of whiskey, and while still behind the desk, take a long mouthful. He made his way back to the couch more warily and sat down closer to the arm of the couch, significantly further away from me.

I leaned back and turned my head in his direction. He was looking into his drink and there was only one word to describe his eyelashes—lush. Seen from that angle they undid all his efforts to be taciturn, armored and completely impenetrable. He was like a peeled snail, achingly vulnerable. It made me want to stroke the tanned skin stretched across his cheekbone. He looked up suddenly. The silence stretched, holding within its body more than words we could have said. The air seemed thick with something. Our bodies were talking to each other.

But we both knew. Our politeness and evasion of the unspoken was chilling because it appeared to be set in concrete. As if it was the proper order of things that we were two people who could never be anything but strangers, unable even to carry a normal conversation.

A sense of urgency overtook me. Soon, even this moment would be gone, squandered away. It was already nearly over. I turned toward him, determined not to let it end this way.

‘My sister told me a joke today,’ I said.

His eyebrows rose.

‘A filthy one.’

One side of his lips curved upward, sensual and unbelievably inviting.

‘Want to hear it?’ I asked with a cheeky look.

That beautiful smile widened. ‘Of course.’

‘OK. A German Shepherd and a terrier meet at the vet. The terrier looks so sad that the German Shepherd asks it why it is there. The terrier says, “I’m here because last night after my mistress came out of the bath she bent down to towel dry her feet, and her bum cheeks looked so smooth and inviting I jumped up and bit one of them.” The German Shepherd shakes his head in surprise; “By golly, almost the same thing happened to me. My mistress bent down after her bath, but in my case I jumped up on her back and gave her one.” The terrier is shocked. “Oh my God,” he says. “So you’re here to be put down too.”

Exactly as my sister had done I curled my fingers in towards my palms so they looked like paws, and looked at them while I delivered the punch line. ‘The German Shepherd says, “Oh no, I’m just here to have my nails done.”’

I turned to look at him and he was laughing. Really laughing. Body relaxed. Mouth open. Beautiful straight teeth on show. Warmth and joy flowed out of him. I laughed too. And suddenly I knew it could be so different with us. So different.

Our eyes touched and locked. He stopped laughing. For a few seconds we stared at each other, a current of super-charged energy sizzling through us. His eyes widened slightly. Then he stood, his movement abrupt and final.

‘It’s getting late. I’ll show you out.’