she propelled herself forward and found herself running straight into the chest of Tex.
Tex wrapped his arms round her as she bundled into him. He couldn’t have planned it better if he had tried. Hugging her tight to his chest, he appreciated the feel of her curves against him. He grinned down at her.
‘We seem to be making a habit of this,’ he said.
‘Maybe. Trouble is, this morning, I thought I had bumped into Tex. Now I seem to have bumped into Nico Garcia.’
‘And which one do you prefer?’ He noticed she hadn’t tried to wriggle free.
‘I’m not sure yet. Although I do know someone who isn’t a contender.’ She jerked her head backwards.
Tex had already spoken to the castle curator earlier in the evening and had also clocked him pestering Anna. In fact, he had just been on his way over to rescue her. Again.
Releasing her from his hold, but catching her hand in his, he smiled politely at the brooding curator. ‘Would you mind excusing us, I need to speak to Anna about the tour guides. Thank you.’
He didn’t wait for an answer, instead plucking a glass of wine from a passing waiter’s tray, he whisked her away through the guests to the back of the hall.
‘I had it all under control there, you know,’ she spoke, after a rather large gulp of her wine.
Tex nodded. ‘Of course you did.’
‘I did!’ She took another sip, trying to hide a small smile of embarrassment behind the glass.
Tex didn’t miss it. ‘Look, I wanted to speak to you anyway,’ he began. ‘About earlier. I didn’t say anything because I was curious to hear an unbiased and honest opinion of what folks were feeling around here. I was going to tell you. Honest!’
She eyed him sceptically. ‘Okay, so what if I tell you I’m not really Anna but my name’s Sheila and I’m the local planning officer? I was just preparing a report to uphold an objection against the development of this building.’
What the…! He felt himself draw back to look at her again through fresh eyes. ‘You serious?’ Jeez, she looked it.
Then she broke into a huge smile and laughed out loud. Tex felt the air expel from his lungs, and found himself laughing too.
‘Oh, your face,’ she said once she had calmed down. ‘Got you going there for a moment. Serves you right.’
Tex shook his head. He was in no position to complain. He deserved that.
‘You two look like you’re having fun,’ came Jamie’s voice as he wandered over with Yvonne.
‘Don’t ask.’
‘Do you and Tex already know each other?’ Yvonne asked Anna, accepting the glass of wine Tex had summoned over.
‘Not really. We did briefly meet this morning. You could say he saved my life.’ Anna gave Tex a grateful smile.
‘Twice,’ Tex added.
Jamie patted Tex's back. ‘The all-American hero.’
Tex shrugged. ‘Hey, what can I say?’
‘So do you work around here?’ Jamie asked.
Anna repeated what she had told Tex that morning, adding, ‘I also do a bit of work from home, translating electronic manuals or legal documents. Nothing particularly exciting, but it's all work.’
‘You’re a busy lady,’ said Tex, surprised. She hadn’t mentioned all that this morning.
‘Just three small jobs, no different to working full-time at one.’
‘So as a tour guide, do you speak any other languages?’ asked Yvonne, exchanging a glance with her husband.
‘German and French.’
Tex gave Anna a little nudge, whispering theatrically in her ear, ‘Watch out, he’ll be trying to employ you next.’
‘Interesting,’ mused Jamie. ‘I run a relocation company, primarily for clients who are moving to the UK from overseas. It's a sort of handholding, fix-it service for foreigners working, visiting or relocating here. I use bilingual staff as some of my clients, especially their spouses, can't speak enough English to deal with things like banking, property purchases, schools for their children etc. We basically help them in any way they need it where the language might prove a barrier.’
‘That sounds interesting. Have you got clients locally then?’ asked Anna.
‘That will be me,’ put in Tex.
‘Oh, I thought you were just friends.’ Anna looked a mixture of confused and embarrassed.
‘We’re both. BFFs, as you girls would say,’ grinned Jamie, putting his arm round Tex and pretending to plant a kiss on his cheek.
‘Sometimes I feel like the gooseberry,’ said Yvonne.
‘A real bromance then.’ A small giggle escaped Anna.
While Jamie and Yvonne laughed at the joke, Tex looked blankly at the three of them, which just made them all laugh even more.
‘Think of it as brotherly love,’ explained Jamie. ‘Bromance. Girls find it highly amusing.’
‘Oh, not amusing,’ teased Anna, ‘more like sweet.’
‘Yes, sweet,’ agreed Yvonne. ‘You two are so cute.’ She gave it her best coochy-coo voice.
‘Hey, don't knock it,’ winked Jamie.
As the four of them chatted easily for a while, discussing the local town of Arundel, nearby Chichester and Goodwood Racecourse, which Jamie had attended recently, Anna seemed relaxed and at ease in their company, Tex thought, aware that he was glancing at her more than was necessary.
He felt the familiar buzz he always got when the chase was on. First though, it looked like he still needed to get rid of the castle curator who had just sidled up to Anna.
‘Apologies to interrupt, but have you finished here now?’ The curator’s hand rested on Anna’s back. Tex felt himself bristle unexpectedly at the gesture. He was about to tell this slimeball to back off when Anna spoke.
‘Is it important, Andy? Can’t it wait until tomorrow? I could call over to the castle in the morning, if you like?’
They were speaking in low tones but Tex could just about make out what was being said. He studied her face. He couldn’t tell from the expression whether she meant it or was just trying to get rid of him. He checked himself and said nothing.
Andy now looked irritated. ‘As I said earlier, I’m sure Howard wouldn’t want to
