She reached over to open the money drawer. ‘A fifty-quid fine for making me reformat my hard drive. You’re lucky I’m a computer whiz.’ She watched him sort through his remaining notes. ‘On second thoughts, you can make it a hundred. I hardly had any sleep over the weekend because I had to reinstall my own data afterwards.’
Acland placed five twenties on the stash that was already there. He didn’t think the drawer had been emptied since the last time he’d paid a fine. ‘Who are you planning to give it to?’
‘I’m a businesswoman. What makes you think I hand out gifts?’
‘Intuition,’ he said with a gleam of a smile. ‘I’ve discovered I have a feminine side.’
‘You’re making progress, then.’ She watched him sling his kitbag across his shoulder. ‘Do you want me to come to the door and wave you off?’
Acland shook his head. ‘You’ll only pester me about whether I’m going to keep in touch.’
‘Not my style,’ she said firmly. ‘Either you will or you won’t . . . but I’m damned if I’ll massage your ego by asking.’
His smile deepened, pulling his scar into something approaching a laughter line. ‘According to Daisy, you’ll worry if you don’t hear from me occasionally.’
Jackson placed his five-pound note in the money drawer. ‘You’d better believe it,’ she said.