Chapter Six

Barring their altercation on the way to the pub – and how upsetting had that been, hearing Nick talk about this Sally woman. The one he appeared to be seeing for a quick shag when he felt in the mood, and then in the next breath criticising her own choice of companion. Apart from that though, it had been a good day. In fact Lizzie wondered if it might even go down in her diary as one of the best she’d had in recent memory. What it had lacked in sparkle and glitz, had been amply made up with fresh air, laughter and blessed peace. Back at the barn now, and having eaten Nick’s excellent steak and chips, washed down with half a bottle of very nice Merlot, she lay on the sofa, pleasantly exhausted. Nick had disappeared off to his study a while ago and she was summoning up the energy to climb the stairs to bed. It made her laugh to see it was only ten o’clock. In LA the evening would only just be getting started. Here, in the English countryside, all she was fit for was curling up and going to sleep.

Reluctantly she tore her body from the too comfortable sofa and climbed up the stairs. Nick’s deep voice echoed from his study as he talked to someone on the phone. She came to an abrupt halt when she realised he was talking about her.

‘Dan, I don’t have to remind you how much we need to sort this out, for Lizzie’s sake. Are you really going to tell me you haven’t found anything on this guy?’

Her hackles rose. Why hadn’t Nick told her he was going to be discussing her situation with his attorney friend tonight? Not only that, why hadn’t he let her join in? Angrily she pushed open the door. Nick acknowledged her with a frown before turning his attention back to the person on the phone.

‘Sorry, mate, I know you’re trying your best. I’ll mull it over again this end and call you back later.’ With a hiss of frustration he ended the call and turned to face her. ‘Dan’s been following up on some leads, but it doesn’t look as if any have been successful so far.’

‘And when, exactly, were you going to tell me about this?’ Her voice sounded horribly shrill, but she was cross.

‘I’m not sure, exactly, but some time tomorrow morning.’

‘Don’t you think you should have consulted me before discussing my private life with one of your friends?’

‘Hey, that’s not fair.’ He leapt to his feet and moved to touch her shoulder but she shrugged off his hand. ‘That’s not how it was,’ he replied stiffly. ‘You agreed to let Dan be your attorney. All I’m trying to do is help. Can’t you see that?’

‘Yes, I can. What I can’t understand is why you think you can do this without talking to me. It’s my mess, my life.’

He sighed deeply and turned to look out of the window, leaving her with a view of the rigid set of his shoulders. ‘Today you looked happy. The torment had disappeared from your eyes. I didn’t want to bring it back again so soon.’

Oh God, what could she say to that? The sincerity of his quietly spoken words knocked the anger from her. But it didn’t mean he was right.

‘Nick.’

He glanced back over his shoulder, his dark eyes watchful.

‘I understand you were trying to protect me, and I thank you for it. But I’m no longer a little girl who needs you to look after her. I’m a grown woman. I don’t need wrapping in cotton wool and cosseting.’

‘Message understood.’ Slowly he moved to sit back at his desk. ‘I guess it was naive of me to think you might need rescuing. You’ve always been strong, not to mention fiercely independent.’ Once seated, he smiled, though his eyes were … sad? That was it. Why on earth was he sad? ‘I promise not to exclude you from now on.’

The last thing she wanted to do was upset him, but he looked so drained, defeated almost, she knew she had. Maybe one day she’d understand what was going on in that super brain of his, but clearly it wasn’t going to be today. ‘I didn’t mean to sound so mean. You know how grateful I am for everything you’re doing.’

Nick tried to smile at her, but his face was so tight he couldn’t manage it, so instead he turned his attention to his computer. Gratitude. That was all she was ever going to feel towards him, and it was about time he got the bloody message. He’d been trying to come to her rescue like a flaming superhero – erase the bad man, win the girl. He should have known better. All Lizzie needed was a friend to advise her. Not Superman to take over. He had to stop morphing into this moping, lovesick fool every time he saw her. It was really starting to piss him off – God knows what it was doing to her.

‘Why don’t you go to bed, Lizzie,’ he replied finally, aware she was still hovering. ‘I promise I’ll run through everything with you tomorrow morning.’

She gave him a curt nod and left the room. To give her space – give them both space – he took a few minutes to go through his emails. Just as he was gearing up to go to bed, his mobile rang. He looked at the caller ID and sighed.

Then sucked in a breath and shoved a smile on his face. ‘Sally.’

‘Well, hello stranger. You’re answering your phone so you can’t have totally disappeared off the planet.’

This time his smile was more genuine. ‘Yes, sorry. Something came up.’ He cringed at his awful phrasing.

‘Something?’

And yes, he deserved that question. Time he had the conversation with her he should have done the moment he’d brought Lizzie here. ‘A friend of mine is in trouble. She’s staying with me at the barn for a while until we can sort it out.’

‘She?’

Damn, why was he feeling so guilty? ‘Yes. She.’

There was a brief pause before Sally replied. ‘I’m sorry to hear that.’ Another pause. ‘Is this friend the same one you once mentioned to me? The one who headed off to the States and broke your heart?’

He’d spilled his feelings to Sally one drunken evening, not long after Lizzie had returned home following the funeral. What had started out as a quick drink after work had ended with them both having too much to drink, and going back to his flat. Sally had listened, made sympathetic noises, then told him she’d just had her own heart broken by a guy who’d cheated on her. Drowning in their shared misery, they’d gone on to have sloppy, drunken, consolation sex. After that it had become an unspoken agreement that when one of them needed cheering up, or someone to share something with, they’d hook up. ‘Yes,’ he admitted. ‘It’s the same friend.’

‘Ah. Is she okay?’

Nick had never told Sally exactly who his ‘friend’ was, and he certainly wasn’t going to start now. ‘She will be,’ he said firmly.

There was another silence and Nick guessed Sally was put out that he was being so tight-lipped, but even if he hadn’t wanted to protect Lizzie’s privacy, he still wouldn’t have wanted to talk to his sometime lover about the woman he loved.

‘So, I guess me popping over this weekend is a bad idea then?’

Nick shut his eyes, leaning back on his chair. ‘It would be better if you didn’t come over, yes.’ Christ, this was awkward. He felt like he was cheating on her, and in effect he was, even if just with his mind. It didn’t matter that Sally knew the score. She was a great woman. She deserved more than being someone’s occasional shag. ‘Look, Sally—’

‘It’s fine,’ she interrupted. ‘Whatever spiel you were going to give me about this not being fair on me, you can forget it. I went into this with my eyes wide open. I hope you manage to help your friend. I’ll still be here when she goes back to the States.’

‘That’s not right.’ He let out a long, deep sigh. ‘You deserve more than this.’

‘I think you’ve forgotten what I said at the beginning. I’m not after any more than this. I’ll see you in the office?’

‘Yes. I’ll be in next week.’

When he put down the phone he felt sadder than he had in a long, long while. What was wrong with him that he was pining after a woman who didn’t want him, not like that, when he should be out there looking for someone who did? And why, instead of doing that, was he making do with some half-baked relationship where they were both using each other, rather than supporting each other, protecting each other? Loving each other?

Lizzie wished she hadn’t listened to all that. Wished instead she’d walked away as soon as she’d heard Nick talking on the phone again. She’d only come back to his office to apologise again for being such a bitch to him.

She turned to move, and the damn floorboard creaked.

‘Lizzie?’

Forcing a smile on her face, she opened the door. ‘Sorry. I just came back to apologise again, and then I heard you on the phone, so …’ I listened in, like a nosy cow, and now wished I hadn’t. ‘I didn’t want to intrude.’ She twisted her hands, feeling stupid. Not only was she putting on him in terms of his hospitality, his work, now she was getting in the way of his love life. ‘Look, I can go away for the weekend. Give you and Sally some privacy.’

He exhaled harshly, shoving a hand through his hair. ‘I don’t know how much you overheard, but I have no interest in seeing Sally while you’re here.’ His dark eyes rested on hers. ‘You are far more important to me.’

Inside her chest her heart stuttered, then did a long, slow flip. Funny how none of the men she’d ever slept with had told her that. Determined not to think about how important she would remain when she went back home, and he picked up his affair again, Lizzie went up to him and kissed his cheek. ‘Thank you.’