It’s like a dream come true, Janey realized hazily. Tears were beginning to roll down her cheeks and she thought how stupid, to cry now. This is the happiest night of my life.

‘Of course we can carry on,’ she said, rising unsteadily to her feet. The tears fell faster as Alan came towards her, his expression one of joy mingled with relief.

‘You don’t know how much this means to me,’ he murmured, his mouth grazing her wet cheek. ‘I wouldn’t have been able to bear it if you’d said no. The scariest part was not knowing whether you’d met someone else.’

Janey, breathing in the wonderful familiarity of him, closed her eyes. ‘There’s no one else,’

she whispered, stroking his hair and revelling in the sensation of his warm hands against her back. ‘There’s never been anybody else. Only you.’

Chapter 39

‘Oh good!’ said Maxine, when Cindy finally picked up the phone. ‘You’re there.’

‘It’s four o’clock in the morning,’ Cindy replied in arch tones. ‘Of course I’m here. The question is, where are you? More to the point, who is that man lying stark naked in the bed next to you?’

Maxine grinned. ‘That’s two questions.’

‘And that’s no answer,’ said Cindy briskly. ‘Besides, I haven’t finished yet. You were seen tiptoeing away from the party at midnight, sweetie, and that was four long hours ago. The thing is, what on earth could you possibly have been doing since then that’s kept you so busy you couldn’t call your oldest and dearest friend to let her know about it?’

‘Gosh.’ Maxine sounded deeply impressed. ‘You mean you were worried about me?’

‘Worried? Of course I wasn’t worried. I was jealous!’ Abandoning all self-control, Cindy screeched down the phone. ‘So stop buggering about and tell me who he is before I explode!’

‘OK, OK,’ sighed Maxine. ‘His name’s Jim Berenger and he’s an actor. We’re here at his flat in Belsize Park and I just rang to let you know that I’ll be back tomorrow morning. Well, this morning,’ she amended, glancing up at the clock. ‘If you’re good, I’ll give you all the girly gossip then.’

Cindy was still screaming, ‘Oh my God, is he spectacular in bed?’ when Bruno leaned across and seized the phone.

‘Hi,’ he said, lying hack against the pillows and daring Maxine to stop him. ‘Actually, my name is Bruno Parry-Brent; I’m a restaurateur and we’re in my hotel room at the Royal Lancaster. And yes, since you ask, I am most definitely spectacular in b—’

‘Stop it!’ hissed Maxine. Struggling to her knees, she wrenched the receiver back from him and slammed it down, cutting Cindy off in mid-shriek. ‘How could you do that?’

‘Relax darling.’ Effortlessly, Bruno fended her off. ‘We have nothing to hide. We’re going legit.’

‘I don’t want to go legit,’ Maxine howled. ‘This is a one-off, an aberration, a never-to-be-repeated—’

‘It’s been a two-off already,’ Bruno reminded her, his green eyes glittering with amusement as he surveyed her in all her naked glory. ‘Play your cards right and we can make it three.’

‘Bastard.’ She threw a pillow at his head.

‘And it isn’t an aberration, either. I thought it was rather nice.’

‘This is stupid, cried Maxine, wrapping a sheet around herself and debating whether to risk tipping the contents of the ice bucket over him. Somehow, she didn’t quite dare. The prospect of retaliation was too awful. ‘Cindy’s the biggest gossip in the world, she’s got a mouth like a megaphone ... and you think it’s funny!’

‘Not at all. I’m quite serious.’

‘So am I bloody serious.’ Maxine looked fierce. ‘I have a sister who will probably never speak to me again if she ever hears about this. Even more to the point,’ she added heavily, ‘you have Nina.’

Bruno said nothing for a while. No longer smiling, he studied Maxine’s face for several seconds, his own expression oddly intense. Then, reaching out, he traced the line of her cheek with a warm forefinger.

‘I told you I was serious,’ he said eventually. ‘This is it, Max. We were always meant to be together. I love you.’ He paused, then added, ‘I’m going to leave Nina.’

‘Go on,’ persisted Bruno, pinning Maxine down on the bed and expertly avoiding her flailing limbs. ‘Say it. You won’t get any breakfast until you do.’

The tray was outside the door, tantalizingly out of reach. Maxine, who was starving, made another hopeless bid for freedom before falling back, exhausted, against the pillows. She ached too much to put up a decent fight and it was all Bruno’s fault. He was the most insatiable man she had ever known.

‘Say what?’

‘Tell me that you love me.’ He enunciated the words slowly and clearly, as if addressing a dim child. Maxine’s brown eyes narrowed. ‘Why?’

‘Because I’ve said I love you, and it’s only fair. And if you don’t,’ he added with an air of triumph, ‘well, no breakfast. I shall just have to seduce you all over again.’

Desperate to eat, Maxine said in a small voice, ‘I love you.’

‘Louder.’

‘I love you.’

‘Come on, don’t be shy,’ Bruno persisted. ‘Much louder than that.’

She sighed. Then, at the top of her voice, screamed, ‘I LOVE YOU!’

‘Tell us something we don’t know,’ came the shouted reply from the room adjoining theirs.

‘You’ve been proving it all bloody night. Bloody honeymooners!’

Maxine burst out laughing.

‘Honeymooners,’ Bruno mused. ‘Now there’s an idea.’

‘I think you have to be married to come into that category.’ Still grinning, Maxine ruffled her hair and glanced at her reflection in the mirror. Not bad, considering the excesses of the past nine hours. Thank goodness for smudge-proof mascara.

But Bruno was giving her an odd look. For the first time he no longer seemed entirely sure of himself, ‘That’s what I mean.’

‘Oh,’ she mocked. ‘So now you think we should get married?’

‘That’s exactly what I mean.’

Maxine’s eyebrows shot up. The next moment she started to laugh once more, so uncontrollably that the bed shook.

‘Don’t do that,’ Bruno retaliated crossly. Jesus, would she ever take anything he said at face value? ‘I’m serious.’

It was a while before she could manage to speak again. ‘Oh please! Bruno, you just aren’t the marrying kind.’

He looked offended. ‘Nobody is, until they meet the person they want to marry. Think about it, Max, you and me, together.’

‘How can I think about it?’ she gurgled. ‘It’s the most ridiculous idea I ever heard. Look at our track records; we were born to cheat! Can you imagine the chaos it would cause if we ever tried to stay faithful to each other?’

He watched her fling back the bedclothes, and make her way to the door. Naked, she briefly checked that the coast was clear before reaching for the breakfast tray.

‘But that’s just it,’ Bruno protested, meaning every word and willing her to take him seriously. ‘We’re the same, so we understand each other. God, you’re such a pig,’ he added, as Maxine tore into a croissant. Within seconds it was gone and she was starting on the toast, slathering it with butter and honey and sprinkling brown sugar on top before stuffing it greedily into her mouth.

‘There, you see?’ she countered between mouthfuls. ‘You’re going off me already.’

He watched her set to work on the second slice; she looked like a bricklayer on speed, and the butter was going on thicker than cement. It didn’t stop him loving her, but it was a miracle she wasn’t the size of a Sherman tank.

‘I’m a restaurateur,’ he reminded her. ‘I like to see people enjoying their food, not shovelling it down like porridge.’

‘I am enjoying it.’ With immense satisfaction, Maxine licked her fingers one by one. Then, with a determined smile she added, ‘And there’s another good reason why you can’t leave Nina.

You love that restaurant. Imagine how she’d react if you told her about us — she’d have you out of there like a shot.’ She fired an imaginary pistol into the air for emphasis. ‘Boom. And then what would you be? An ex-restaurateur.’

Bruno shrugged. It wasn’t a welcome forecast, but it was fairly accurate, given the circumstances. The restaurant belonged to Nina; giving her up would mean giving up his livelihood. Until now, such an action had been unthinkable.

It was a measure of his feelings towards Maxine that it no longer even seemed to matter.

‘Sacrifices have to be made,’ he said lightly. ‘I can always get another job. The lifestyle may take a bit of a dive, but ... well, I happen to think you’re worth it.’

‘Don’t.’ Maxine felt suddenly afraid. This was so unlike Bruno, so totally out of character for him. ‘In five minutes you could be telling me it’s all a joke.’

But when Bruno reached for her, the expression in his eyes was deadly serious. ‘No joke.

I’ve waited nearly twenty years for this. ‘I don’t even know if I like it, yet. I love you more than you love me, and that makes me the vulnerable one. This has never happened to me before.’

More moved than she dared admit, Maxine said briskly, ‘Evidently not. Rule number one is never tell people you love them more than they love you. It’s asking to get kicked in the teeth.’

‘I know.’ Bruno kissed her collarbone. ‘But it’s the only way I can think of to convince you I’m not bullshitting.’

A shudder of sheer longing snaked its way down her spine. ‘OK,’ she said simply. ‘I believe you. But it still isn’t going to be easy.’

‘And I’m going to be poor. Well,’ he amended with a forced smile, ‘relatively poor, anyway. Is that a major problem for you?’

To her absolute horror, Maxine realized she was in danger of bursting into tears. Staring hard at the tops of the trees outlined against a pale grey sky, which was all she could see from their third-floor window overlooking Hyde Park, she willed the lump in her throat to subside.

Nobody made her cry and got away with it. Least of all, she thought crossly, a bloody man.

But Bruno, misinterpreting her silence, was growing impatient. ‘Is it?’ he persisted. ‘Are you only interested in men with money? Is that what you’re trying to tell me?’

Maxine hit him with a pillow.

‘You bastard,’ she howled. ‘What do you think I am, some kind of bimbo gold-digger?

How dare you!’

‘Ouch.’ Bruno dodged out of reach as she lunged at him again. Overcome with relief, he broke into a grin. ‘Look, I wasn’t accusing, I was asking. And it’s a perfectly reasonable question, anyway. Lots of people are attracted to money. What about that ex-fiancé of yours?’ he added in ultra-reasonable tones. ‘Janey told me about him. He was loaded, and you can’t tell me you didn’t enjoy it.’

Just for a second, Maxine experienced a pang of longing for those lost luxuries. Of course she had loved living in a splendid house, swanning around in smart cars, flashing a diamond ring the size of a beech nut at anyone who came within a two-mile radius, never having to worry about the next gas bill ... But it hadn’t been enough. And, having left that life behind her, she had never even for a moment regretted doing so.

‘Oh yes, it was nice,’ she said. ‘But I gave it all up, didn’t I? And I gave the engagement ring back to him, in case you were wondering. It cost nine thousand pounds but I still did it.’

‘Pity,’ murmured Bruno. ‘That’s one noble gesture you might live to regret.’

‘Yes, well.’ Maxine couldn’t help agreeing with him there, but a girl had to have some scruples. Brown eyes flashing, she said proudly, ‘At least it proves I’m not a fortune hunter.’

Unable to resist making the dig, he countered, ‘What about Guy Cassidy? Would you have lusted after him if he’d been penniless and unknown?’

‘Guy doesn’t count,’ Maxine declared flatly. ‘I wanted to work for him because he could have boosted my career. Not that it did the slightest bit of good,’ she grumbled. ‘Do you know, in all the time I’ve been there he hasn’t taken so much as a single photograph of me? I’m sure that’s out of spite.’

‘Don’t worry.’ Bruno gave her a hug. ‘I’ve got a Kodak Instamatic. I’ll take thousands of photos of you.’

‘You aren’t influential and famous.’

‘I’m not rich either.’

She smiled. ‘I don’t care. Really.’

‘So what’s the verdict?’ Bruno realized that he was holding his breath. There are only a few moments in a lifetime when real decisions have to be made. This was one of those moments. ‘Do we give it a whirl?’

Maxine, both exhilarated and afraid, said in a low voice, ‘It isn’t going to be easy, you know. Being poor is the least of our worries. We’re going to upset quite a few people. You have Nina to deal with. I have Janey.’