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everything a girl could wish for, good looks, a charming manner and the ability to please. Add that to his wealth and experience and what girl would resist him?
    Sue knew that she could not, but she had to if she was not to be hurt. She was not the kind to play around like Jay did. He was too much man, and the playing would become too dangerous for her.
    She was aware of Jay emptying his glass and consulting his watch, so she finished her drink. He took both glasses and with loose-limbed grace rose to his feet and put them on the table.
    Sue was on her feet when he turned towards her again. He placed his hands on her shoulders and looked down at her whimsically.
    ‘I have some business to attend to before this evening and I’d like to take you out afterwards to dine,’ he said with the hint of a smile. ‘Pretty persistent, aren’t I?’
    She smiled, loving the little boy look of tousled hair and thinking how thick his eyelashes were for a man. She was vanquished.
    She said demurely, ‘I trust you won’t take this as a climb-down. I’ll accept. After all, Daddy might want me to celebrate with him, and Connie and I don’t care to play gooseberry.’
    ‘You were never meant to play gooseberry,’ Jay murmured. ‘It would be such a waste. Let’s go a little farther and suggest us spending tomorrow together as well. I’ll tell you about it later. Come on, I’ll take you home.’
    Arriving at the Villa Repose, Jay brushed her lips lightly with his.
    ‘Well,’ he said, ‘until this evening.’
    The touch of his lips set all manner of emotions inside her. But Sue managed to give him a cool little smile before waving him off.
    The villa seemed very quiet as she went to her room. It was four-thirty and Connie usually ordered tea for four o’clock for her father. Sue paused, wondering whether to go along to the lounge, then decided against it in case her father was resting. She sighed as she continued on her way to her room.
    It was amazing what a difference another woman made to her life with her father. Normally she would have been able to run in to him wherever he was to see if he had had his tea which he loved. Now it was some other woman’s place to look to his needs. Sue wished she could feel happier about his marriage. If only Connie had been different! Somehow Sue felt that her father had made a mistake in choosing a woman who was not of his world at all.
    She found the other photographs and put them in a large envelope to take to Bob Lilley. She hoped he would like them. Impulsively, she decided to telephone him and ask what kind of pictures he had in mind for her next assignment.
    ‘Do a feature of some kind,’ he told her. ‘You’re new to the locality so I can expect some really good shots. Now what have you there in pictures?’
    She told him and he seemed pleased. ‘Drop them off tomorrow, I can use them. Damned good camera you have there.’
    Sue dressed for dinner with Jay that evening with a lighthearted feeling that she had not had for a long time. Her dress was a camisole top of exquisite lace in deep cream with a long slinky skirt. She brushed her bright hair into a glittering mass and let it fall naturally on her creamy shoulders.
    With a hip jacket of matching material trimmed with nylon fur and a little evening bag in the same lace as the top, Sue went in search of her father.
    Connie met her at the door of their sitting room. ‘Bill is dressing,’ she said with a half-smile. ‘You’re looking very nice. Have you got a date?’
    Sue nodded. ‘With Jay.’
    Connie gave a secretive smile. ‘Good work,’ she commented. ‘Bill says you’ve landed a job on a magazine. Good for you!’
    Sue sensed a withdrawal and tried to keep an open mind about her lukewarm attitude.
    She said warily, ‘I don’t know how it will go. I have to see what happens.’
    ‘You’re thinking of settling down here, then?’ Connie asked, walking to a drinks cabinet and pouring herself out a drink.
    ‘Not