Bittersweet Love - Cathy Williams [22]
Anna answered with a smug smile, ‘Oh, nothing quite as adventurous as the theatre. I’m thinking of some-thing altogether more intimate.’ Laughter gurgled in her throat.
‘Well, have a good time,’ Natalie said, without flinching. She looked at Kane blandly. ‘I’ll see you on Monday. Have a nice weekend.’
And that, she thought as she strolled out of the office with Eric, was handled very nicely indeed. No stupid blushing. She had been cool, confident and highly secretarial. If only she could control herself with such aplomb all of the time.
She glanced across at Eric, suddenly grateful for his undemanding maleness. He met her eyes and smiled.
‘Do you know something, Natalie?’ he asked, and she shook her head, puzzled. ‘I think you and I are going to become very friendly indeed. I think that fate was definitely at work when I accepted my sister’s invitation to dinner with the two of you the other evening.’
Natalie laughed slightly. ‘Fate?’ she said drily. ‘My experiences with fate don’t have much of a track record, but who knows? Maybe the tide is turning.’
Remember, she told herself, give yourself a chance. It’ s the only way to purge Kane Marshall from your system.
CHAPTER FOUR
WASN’T it funny the way everyone had their own story to tell?
From the outside, Eric was the height of staidness. He gave the impression of a man who always thought before he acted, who never did anything rashly or in the heat of the moment. Even his choice of play had been slightly unadventurous. A popular West End musical rather than a lesser known production being staged at one of the fringe theatres.
But over the meal, a pleasant Italian restaurant which obviously catered for theatre-goers and adjusted their prices accordingly, Eric had confided in her, a little at first, then much more as the bottle of wine lowered both their inhibitions and made them more comfortable with each other.
Natalie had listened with interest. She had no desire to pry into his personal life, but he had clearly wanted to talk to her about it, and she was adept at being a sympathetic ear. She listened while he told her about his two-year infatuation with a model. He had only just begun his accountancy training course and his parents had been appalled by his choice of girlfriend, but he had adored her. There had been something larger than life about her, maybe because she was so physically exquisite.
‘Isn’t it weird,’ he had told her over dinner, ‘how easy it is to lose your heart to someone totally unsuitable?’ and Natalie had nodded with heartfelt agreement. Wasn’t she a victim of the same mistake? At least Eric had emerged from his.
It transpired, over coffee, that his dream woman had walked out on him without so much as a note after their two-year affair. His disillusionment somehow made Natalie warm towards him, maybe because it created an intangible bond between them, even though she told him nothing about her own foolish love for Kane.
At any rate, they had parted company shortly after midnight having arranged to see each other again the following weekend.
‘Just friends,’ Natalie had reminded him at her front door.
‘Just friends,’ he had agreed, and they had looked at each other with mutual, unspoken understanding. He had no love to give her, and that suited her just fine because she had none to give him. But on a platonic level they had ignited from the word go, and she had no misgivings about seeing him again.
She was still feeling pleasantly content as she let herself into her office the following Monday morning. Kane was already in, and rummaging around her desk. He looked up as she entered.
‘Had a good weekend, I take it?’ he drawled. ‘You look as though you’re about to burst forth into song any minute now.’
‘Good morning,’ Natalie replied. She approached her desk, doing her best not to be overawed by his presence there. ‘What are you looking for? Perhaps I can help you?’
‘The Mallory