style="font-size:15px;"> ‘I’m honoured. Though I would have been equally happy with the Jeep.’
‘I know.’ He slanted a smile at her. ‘That’s part of what makes the occasion special.’
It was Sarah’s third meal in as many days at the Pheasant Inn, but eating alone with Alex raised the experience to a new level. His kiss earlier had altered things between them, to the point where just his mention of sleeping with the enemy was enough to revive sexual tension, which simmered below the surface while they studied menus and sipped the champagne he’d insisted on ordering.
‘But the celebration was yesterday,’ said Sarah, her colour rising as he looked into her eyes.
‘This is to celebrate something far more important than mere business,’ he said, toasting her. ‘To friendship—among other things.’
‘What other things?’ she asked, raising her glass in response.
‘Future pleasures.’ He gave her the crooked smile that had once irritated her and now had a totally different effect. ‘So, what would you like to eat?’
‘I know it’s a strange choice with champagne—I didn’t dare ask for it at lunch yesterday or Oliver would have had a stroke—but I fancy fish and chips.’
‘You can have whatever you want,’ Alex said, as the waitress arrived to take their order. ‘I’ll have the same.’
The simple, perfectly cooked food tasted wonderful, though Sarah had an idea that eating it in Alex’s company had a lot to do with it. The small arrangement of flowers on the table had a single fat candle at its centre, with a flame which gave his eyes a more pronounced gleam than usual as they talked shop with the ease of old friends rather than recent enemies. Sarah’s barn conversions were the main topic for a while, then she listened, fascinated, as Alex told her about the Merrick Group’s acquisition of a manor house its owner no longer had the money to maintain.
‘How sad,’ said Sarah with compassion. ‘To someone brought up to that kind of world it must be a bitter blow to leave it.’
‘This particular owner grew up in a cottage much like the ones you’ve just developed. Ronnie Higgins, aka Rick Harmon, lead singer and guitarist of the Rampage, bought the house at the height of the group’s success, but soon got too immersed in the good life to write new songs. The result was inevitable. Their records plummeted down the charts and the rainy day Rick never saved for arrived all too soon. He was forced to sell the fast cars, put the house up for sale and auction the contents.’
‘Poor man. What will you do with it?’
‘Convert it—with great sympathy—into luxury apartments. We’ve sold most of them in advance already.’ Alex smiled. ‘Would you like to live in something like that, Sarah?’
‘No way.’ She looked up with a smile as Stephen Hicks arrived to ask how they had enjoyed the meal.
‘First class, as usual, Chef,’ Alex assured him. ‘The lady loves your fish and chips.’
Stephen rolled his eyes. ‘Marvellous! I honed my craft in Paris and London, and all people want is my fish and chips.’
‘I’ll try whatever you recommend next time,’ Sarah promised.
‘You can tell us what to order when I book,’ Alex assured his friend. ‘What’s for pudding?’
Sarah demurred, but gave in when Alex coaxed her to share a dish of sorbet made from blood oranges and pomegranates. She was actually dipping her spoon into their dish before the full intimacy of the process dawned on her. When his eyes held hers as he licked his spoon she felt a tide of red sweep up her face, and she swallowed another spoonful of icy perfection to tone it down.
‘I think,’ said Alex with constraint, ‘that this was a mistake.’
‘You want it all yourself?’
‘No. But sharing it with you is giving me impure thoughts. Don’t worry. I won’t act on them.’
‘Good.’ Sarah laid her spoon down and sat back.
‘You haven’t eaten much!’
‘I pigged on the fish and chips. I’d like some coffee instead, please.’
His eyes held hers. ‘I was hoping for that when I take you home, Sarah.’
‘Of course, but I’d like some right now just the same.’ She smiled. ‘And while we’re waiting for it you can tell me more about Stephen. Is he an old schoolfriend?’
Alex shook his head. ‘We met at Cambridge.’
‘Did you read the same subjects?’
‘No. His was Archaeology, mine Engineering. But we happened to meet on our first day, hit it off from the word go, and in our third year at Trinity we shared a double set—i.e. a communal living room with separate study/bedrooms.’
Sarah smiled, able to picture it only too well. ‘I bet you had a fantastic time with all those clever girls around. Were there lots of parties?’
‘Too many. Towards the end we had to buckle down to more serious stuff. Steve and I both played cricket, but like me he had parents who made sure he worked through vacations unless we were on tour.’
‘Stephen couldn’t have earned much on archaeological digs!’
‘True. His Italian mother sent him off to Piedmont every summer, to work in her family’s renowned cooking school.’ Alex grinned. ‘Steve’s talent meant our dinner parties at Trinity were hot tickets.’
‘So he never did anything with his archaeology?’
‘No. As soon as he graduated he took off to France to cook.’
‘And you went back home to the Merrick Group?’
‘Exactly.’ Alex smiled his thanks up at the waitress, and put a sizeable tip on the tray as she set the coffee pot in front of Sarah.
‘Is it just coincidence that he opened a restaurant in this area?’ she asked.
‘No. After learning his craft in places like the River Café and the Savoy, he decided to open a place of his own. He asked me to keep a look out in this area, so when I heard through the grapevine that the Pheasant was going up for sale I told Steve to hotfoot it down here with Jane and take a look before it went on the open market.’
‘You get on well with his wife?’
He nodded. ‘Jane was at Trinity with us.’
A sort of private club, thought Sarah wistfully. ‘Does she do any cooking?’
Alex laughed. ‘None at all. That girl can burn water. She’s the number-cruncher and takes care of the finances. She sees to the ordering, bullies the suppliers and does front of house. She’s away at the moment, visiting her parents, but you can meet her next time.’
Stephen came out to intercept them as they were leaving. ‘Nice to see you again, Sarah.
