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David hadn’t asked her out again and she’d resigned herself to the fact that he was probably now dating Nina.

‘Are you upset about that?’ she asked Jack one evening, when they were curled up in front of the fire. She was writing Christmas cards and he was staring into the flames with a distant look in his eyes.

‘Upset about what?’

‘Nina.’ She said the other woman’s name as lightly as possible. ‘Someone told me that she’s seeing David Armstrong.’

‘Is she?’ Jack suppressed a yawn and stretched long legs out in front of him. ‘Well, good for him.’

‘You never should have sent them home together. I’m amazed you’re not upset.’

He gave her a mocking smile. ‘Come on, Blondie. How long have you known me?’

She stared at him. ‘You engineered it, didn’t you?’ Her pen fell to the floor as she suddenly realised what had happened. ‘You got rid of her.’

His gaze didn’t flicker. ‘I encouraged her to find someone else, yes.’

‘Why?’ Bryony shook her head, puzzled. ‘She was nice. And she seemed crazy about you.’

Jack looked at her steadily. ‘She was.’

Which was why he’d ended it.

It was Jack’s usual pattern.

Bryony sighed. ‘Jack, you’re thirty-four,’ she said softly. ‘You can’t run for ever.’

He gave a funny lopsided grin that made her heart turn over. ‘Watch me.’

‘Listen…’ She put her pen down and gave up on her Christmas cards. They could wait. ‘I know your parents’ divorce was really difficult for you, but you can’t—’

‘Drop it, Blondie. I don’t want to talk about it.’ His eyes glittered ominously and she saw the warning in the blue depths. Taboo subject.

She sighed. ‘But, Jack, you can’t—’

‘Why did the blonde tiptoe past the medicine cabinet?’ he drawled lazily, and she rolled her eyes, exasperated by his refusal to talk about his emotions.

‘I don’t know.’

‘Because she didn’t want to wake the sleeping pills.’ Jack gave a wicked smile that made her heart jump in her chest.

He was so shockingly handsome it was totally unfair, and when he smiled like that she just melted.

‘How many men does it take to change a toilet roll?’ She smiled sweetly. ‘No one knows. It’s never been done. So what did Nina do wrong?’

Jack gave a sardonic smile. ‘Frankly? She said, “I love you”,’ he said dryly, and gave a mock shudder. ‘Which is the same as “goodbye” in my language.’

Bryony rolled her eyes. ‘They always say that if you want to get rid of a man, you should say “I love you, I want to marry you and most of all I want to have your children.” It’s guaranteed to leave skid marks.’

Jack laughed. ‘That’s just about the size of it. Why do you think I bought a Ferrari?’

Bryony sighed. ‘Poor Nina.’

‘She knew the score.’

But Bryony was willing to bet that knowing the score hadn’t made it any easier. On the other hand, Nina seemed to have moved on quite happily to David so she couldn’t have been that broken-hearted.

‘One day you’ll settle down, Jack,’ Bryony predicted, licking another envelope. ‘You’ll be such a great father.’