Flo shook her head. ‘Never seen him before.’ She shivered as a blast of icy wind curled around her too-thin coat. ‘Quite hoping I never see him again.’ A glance in the direction of the taxi rank showed that Giles had disappeared from view – had a cab taken him away, or was he lurking in a darkened side street?
‘Are you on your way home?’ Having followed the line of her gaze, Zander was evidently thinking the same thing. ‘Come on, I’ll walk you back to the flat.’
Chapter 13
Within minutes, they’d reached Caledonia Place. The fact that it was still only five thirty in the afternoon for some reason made it easier for Flo to say, ‘If you’d like to come in for a coffee . . .?’
It seemed equally natural for Zander to say, ‘Thanks, that’d be great.’
And now, several cups of coffee and a packet of biscuits later, it was nine o’clock. Flo shook her head in disbelief. They’d been talking non-stop about pretty much everything, and her and Jeremy’s planned quiet evening à deux had somehow, instead, turned into a jolly ménage à trois.
Not that kind of ménage, obviously. But the ease with which they’d connected had taken her by surprise. The atmosphere between them was completely comfortable. Zander was on the sofa and Jeremy was stretched out on the rug at his feet, which for Jeremy was high praise indeed.
She’d learned about Zander and he was learning about her. They’d both lost their parents in their twenties. He’d since found himself in charge of his sister, older than him by two years but less able to look after herself. Lena, she now understood, was a tricky mixture of bossy but needy, helpless but opinionated.
‘I used to wish I had a sister.’ Flo pulled a sympathetic face. ‘Maybe being an only child isn’t so bad after all.’
‘Luck of the draw.’ Zander broke the last biscuit in half. ‘Did your mum and dad want you to go to university?’
‘Yes, they did.’
‘Why didn’t you go?’
‘I did go.’
‘Really?’ He looked surprised. ‘What did you study?’
‘French.’
‘You have a French degree? But you work as a care assistant in a retirement home?’ Now he sounded downright astonished.
‘I was living in Normandy, working for a pharmaceutical company in Rouen, when my mum was taken ill. I gave up my job and came back to look after her. After she died, it wasn’t so easy to land another job in France. I started temping at Nairn House just to tide me over, then discovered I really liked it.’ She tilted her head. ‘Seven years later, I’m still there.’
‘But it must pay peanuts.’
‘Does your job pay peanuts?’ He worked for an international property lettings company.
‘No, of course not.’
‘And do you absolutely totally love your work, every minute of every day?’
‘Well, no . . .’
‘See?’ said Flo. ‘There you go. I do, which means I win.’
Zander nodded and accepted defeat. ‘Touché. Maybe you do.’
At that moment, Jeremy stretched, jumped up on to the sofa and settled himself on their visitor’s lap.
‘Well that’s a first,’ Zander commented. ‘I’m honoured.’
‘You should be. It’s the equivalent of winning an Oscar.’
He left at ten fifteen, returning half an hour later with takeaway from the Chinese on Regent Street. Flo felt her heart skip a beat as she pressed the buzzer and let him back into the flat. And he’d brought wine, too. Was it her imagination, or was he actually far nicer than she’d expected?
Or was he only pretending to be nice? Maybe the plan was to get her drunk, then subtly persuade her to sign guardianship of Jeremy over to him.
Special fried rice. Szechuan king prawns. Tom Yum squid. Singapore noodles. Beef with cashews in yellow bean sauce. And prawn crackers.
Flo raised her eyebrows. ‘Sure you got enough?’
‘Sorry.’ He shrugged good-naturedly. ‘I didn’t know what you’d want. So I ordered a few things. Take your pick.’
‘I love all of it. Can I have some of everything?’
Zander gave a nod of approval. ‘Help yourself.’
Together they piled food from the foil containers on to their plates. Carrying everything through to the living room, he said, ‘I went out with a girl last year who only liked chicken. She had it every day. In all the restaurants we ever went to.’
‘And she didn’t get bored? I’m too greedy,’ said Flo. ‘I like too many different kinds of food. I’d panic if I had to narrow it down. This squid is amazing, by the way.’