more.
“What made you decide to come and
settle here, Sam, so far away from London?” I asked.
“Are we really going there again, Rose?” he
smiled playfully as he put the plate down in front of me.
“No, I just mean why here specifically, there are lots of places you could go if you
want to be low profile, ” I grinned,
dragging out my last two words and popping the pasta into my mouth.
“Harry told me about the place
and when I came to see it I loved the views, the house and the peace and quiet.
I wanted somewhere bigger initially, but it’s got everything I need and Alice
was a wonderful neighbour. Much less inquisitive than the one that’s just moved
in,” he grinned back.
“She didn’t need to be inquisitive.
You told her everything there was to know,” I pouted. “Did you have a
girlfriend in London?” I asked quickly, pulling the most innocent looking face
I could manage. So much for playing it cool I thought to myself, but trying to
get to the bottom of his ‘situation’ tonight was keeping my mind from other
more carnal thoughts. Coming here to get over a relationship seemed highly
plausible and at one time I’d even considered it myself.
He raised his eyebrows, fixing
his gaze directly on mine, his eyes darkening. “No, Rose I didn’t” he said
firmly and I tried to hide my pleasure at that admission before blurting out,
“And do you have one here?”
He eyeballed me as my cheeks
flared. “No, I don’t,” he said quietly, clearly enjoying the discomfort I had
caused myself by not switching on my brain to mouth filter.
OK, I was a little embarrassed but the direct
approach had been easier than I thought and got one of my major questions
answered. So there was no girlfriend either here or back in London. I was on a
roll and decided to stretch my luck a bit further. “No crazy ex hunting you
down and baying for your blood?” I giggled as he hooked my gaze, a small smile
tickling the side of his lips.
“No crazy ex,” he said dryly as I scrubbed
‘relationship gone sour’ off my mental checklist of things relating to Sam’s
‘situation’.
I needed to get off the subject and quick. No
doubt he would mistake my search for clues for something else entirely. “So
what exactly do you do in finance?” I continued, his eyebrows raising again,
black eyes twinkling.
“Hedge fund manager,” was all he
offered, loading another fork full of pasta into his mouth.
“It’s really delicious, Sam, you
did good ,” I said before taking another mouthful myself.
“Did I now?” he said slowly, a
small smile etched on his lips. This meal might be turning into the Spanish
inquisition, but I was getting some answers and wasn’t about to stop now.
“Do you have a family?” I quizzed, enjoying
the pasta as he rolled his eyes. I couldn’t suppress a small giggle at that
reaction. My constant questions were beginning to irk him but that was fine.
Friends should know about one another and if he wouldn’t volunteer information
as to why he was here, I was sure as hell going to find out as much as I could.
For all I knew I could be having dinner with an escaped prisoner, a psycho, a
fugitive on the run from God knows what, and they were actually some of the
less weird and most plausible explanations that had run through my mind in the
last two days.
“Yes, Rose. I have a mother and a father who
is a retired GP and a sister named Jenny who works in fashion. The family dog
is a staffy called Rex and they all live in Surrey in
a five bedroom house. They holiday at their villa in Spain twice a year and I
see them at Christmas”. His answer made me laugh out loud but his smile didn’t
crack.
“Rex? Not very original,” I quipped.
“No but Dart is though, where did
that come from?” he asked, a small smile curving his mouth.
“It’s short for D’artagnan .
Alice and I used to call ourselves the two musketeers. He was the third,” I
smiled, and the memory
“What made you decide to come and
settle here, Sam, so far away from London?” I asked.
“Are we really going there again, Rose?” he
smiled playfully as he put the plate down in front of me.
“No, I just mean why here specifically, there are lots of places you could go if you
want to be low profile, ” I grinned,
dragging out my last two words and popping the pasta into my mouth.
“Harry told me about the place
and when I came to see it I loved the views, the house and the peace and quiet.
I wanted somewhere bigger initially, but it’s got everything I need and Alice
was a wonderful neighbour. Much less inquisitive than the one that’s just moved
in,” he grinned back.
“She didn’t need to be inquisitive.
You told her everything there was to know,” I pouted. “Did you have a
girlfriend in London?” I asked quickly, pulling the most innocent looking face
I could manage. So much for playing it cool I thought to myself, but trying to
get to the bottom of his ‘situation’ tonight was keeping my mind from other
more carnal thoughts. Coming here to get over a relationship seemed highly
plausible and at one time I’d even considered it myself.
He raised his eyebrows, fixing
his gaze directly on mine, his eyes darkening. “No, Rose I didn’t” he said
firmly and I tried to hide my pleasure at that admission before blurting out,
“And do you have one here?”
He eyeballed me as my cheeks
flared. “No, I don’t,” he said quietly, clearly enjoying the discomfort I had
caused myself by not switching on my brain to mouth filter.
OK, I was a little embarrassed but the direct
approach had been easier than I thought and got one of my major questions
answered. So there was no girlfriend either here or back in London. I was on a
roll and decided to stretch my luck a bit further. “No crazy ex hunting you
down and baying for your blood?” I giggled as he hooked my gaze, a small smile
tickling the side of his lips.
“No crazy ex,” he said dryly as I scrubbed
‘relationship gone sour’ off my mental checklist of things relating to Sam’s
‘situation’.
I needed to get off the subject and quick. No
doubt he would mistake my search for clues for something else entirely. “So
what exactly do you do in finance?” I continued, his eyebrows raising again,
black eyes twinkling.
“Hedge fund manager,” was all he
offered, loading another fork full of pasta into his mouth.
“It’s really delicious, Sam, you
did good ,” I said before taking another mouthful myself.
“Did I now?” he said slowly, a
small smile etched on his lips. This meal might be turning into the Spanish
inquisition, but I was getting some answers and wasn’t about to stop now.
“Do you have a family?” I quizzed, enjoying
the pasta as he rolled his eyes. I couldn’t suppress a small giggle at that
reaction. My constant questions were beginning to irk him but that was fine.
Friends should know about one another and if he wouldn’t volunteer information
as to why he was here, I was sure as hell going to find out as much as I could.
For all I knew I could be having dinner with an escaped prisoner, a psycho, a
fugitive on the run from God knows what, and they were actually some of the
less weird and most plausible explanations that had run through my mind in the
last two days.
“Yes, Rose. I have a mother and a father who
is a retired GP and a sister named Jenny who works in fashion. The family dog
is a staffy called Rex and they all live in Surrey in
a five bedroom house. They holiday at their villa in Spain twice a year and I
see them at Christmas”. His answer made me laugh out loud but his smile didn’t
crack.
“Rex? Not very original,” I quipped.
“No but Dart is though, where did
that come from?” he asked, a small smile curving his mouth.
“It’s short for D’artagnan .
Alice and I used to call ourselves the two musketeers. He was the third,” I
smiled, and the memory
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