‘Look,’ he said. ‘These things happen. You and Dexter were never right for each other.
You’ll be over him in no time.’
‘Never.’ Misjudging the angle of her glass, Nuala dribbled gin down her chin.
‘You deserve so much better,’ Jake persisted, this being a useful line he often resorted to himself.
‘Oh, do me a favour, I’m not that stupid. Anyway, you have no idea how I feel,’ Nuala said miserably. ‘How can you? You’ve never been rejected in your life.’
Jake smiled briefly to himself as he opened the fridge and pulled out a carton of orange juice. If only she knew.
Aloud he said, ‘That’s absolutely not true. I wrote a love letter to Madonna when I was twelve and did she write back? Never, not one word. I was distraught.’
As he edged towards the door, Nuala looked up fearfully, clearly terrified of being left on her own. ‘Where are you going now?’
Jake indicated the bath towel slung round his hips.
‘Call me old-fashioned, but I thought I might put some clothes on.’
Still wary, she said, ‘And after that?’
‘After that?’ Realising that he really was stuck here for the evening, Jake decided he may as well make the best of it. Ruffling Nuala’s already ruffled hair, he said affectionately, ‘I’m going to help you finish that bottle of gin.’
‘Thanks.’ Nuala’s mouth began to wobble with relief; she couldn’t have handled being abandoned by two men in one night. ‘Just to warn you though, I may get a bit weepy.’
‘Hey, don’t be daft.’ Jake flashed her a grin; he’d had to cope with more than his fair share of weeping females in his time. ‘Shoulder to cry on? I’m your man.’
By eleven o’clock the bottle of Bombay Sapphire was finished.
‘Empty. Bugger.’ Nuala looked bereft. ‘What are we supposed to do now?’
‘Stop drinking?’ said Jake. ‘It’s a miracle you’re still awake.’
‘I’m too depressed to sleep.’ She pulled a suicidal face. ‘OK if I stay here?’
‘Course you can. The bed’s made up in the spare room.’
‘Oh God, what am I going to do?’ Nuala closed her eyes in despair; every so often she forgot what had happened, then the next moment it all came rushing back to her, making her head spin with misery.
‘Everyone’s going to be sniggering behind my back. I feel so humiliated. I’ll be the laughing stock of Ashcombe.’
‘That’s rubbish. Why would anyone laugh?’
‘Because Dexter doesn’t want me any more and that makes me look stupid.’ Nuala only realised her right elbow had been propping her up when she moved it. She promptly slid sideways on the sofa, ending up in Jake’s lap.
‘You don’t have to look stupid.’ He was attempting to haul her upright again but Nuala decided she was happier horizontal. ‘Act like you’re not bothered. Put on a brave face, do yourself up and flirt for England. Isn’t that better than moping around like a wet weekend?’
‘Mmm.’ Nodding, Nuala thought how delicious Jake smelled, and how fantastic the soft cotton of his shirt felt against her cheek. He really was lovely, and — in theory — what he was saying made a lot of sense.
‘Show Dexter what he’s missing.’ Above her, Jake was still carrying on with his pep talk.
‘Make it clear you don’t need him.’
‘Because I can do so much better, you mean? Come on, look at me.’ Nuala groaned. ‘Black eye, bruises, cracked collarbone — oh yes, they’ll really be queueing up for me; Ewan McGregor, George Clooney... How am I ever going to be able to choose?’
‘Don’t put yourself down.’ Jake gave her hip an encouraging squeeze. ‘By this time next week your bruises will be gone.’
‘Big deal,’ Nuala muttered into Jake’s shirt.
‘Stop it. You’re not ugly. And you do deserve better than Dexter.’
Turning her head, Nuala blinked up at him. Jake Harvey was possibly the best-looking male she’d ever encountered in the flesh. You couldn’t look at him and not be bowled over by those cheekbones, that chiselled mouth, those incredible eyelashes of his. And he was still stroking her hi p . . .
‘ You’re better than Dexter,’ said Nuala, suddenly realising what would help her over this.
‘Well, thanks.’ Jake smiled down at her, taking it as a compliment.
Hurriedly, before she lost her nerve, Nuala said, ‘You could cheer me up.’
‘What, tell you a few jokes?’
‘Sleep with me,’ Nuala blurted out. ‘That would make me feel better.’
Jake’s hand stopped stroking her hip. ‘What?’
‘No strings,’ Nuala went on hurriedly, in case he thought she was expecting an engagement ring.
‘Just sex. You sleep with loads of girls, so why not me? A one-night stand, that’s all I’m saying. We could do that, couldn’t we? It’d be fun. And it would piss Dexter right off.’
Crikey, what an offer. Jake tried his hardest not to smile. ‘Nu, thanks for the offer, but I couldn’t.
Really. We’re friends, and I don’t want to spoil that.’
Eagerly Nuala said, ‘But we wouldn’t spoil anything!’
‘You don’t know. It wouldn’t feel right.’ Jake was doing his utmost to be tactful.
‘I’m too ugly!’
‘You’re not too ugly. We’ve just both had a bit to drink. Trust me, when you wake up tomorrow morning you’ll be glad we didn’t do it.’
‘But I want to!’ cried Nuala, clearly taking the rejection personally. ‘This isn’t fair. How many girls have you slept with in the last five years? Why can’t it be my turn now?’
‘Because I’m doing the decent thing for once and behaving like a gentleman.’
‘That’s what men say when they don’t fancy you,’ Nuala grumbled.
It’s what men say when they don’t want to lose a good friend.’ To his immense relief, Jake heard the Saab pulling up outside the cottage. Thank God for that. ‘Maddy’s back,’ he told Nuala, helping her to sit up and this time making sure she stayed up. ‘You can tell her about you and Dexter.’ Actually, it wasn’t eleven thirty yet; now that Maddy was here he could shoot into Bath after all.
He just hoped for Maddy’s sake that she’d finally come to her senses and finished with Kerr McKinnon.
‘Blimey, what’s been going on here?’ Maddy gazed at them, taking in the empty gin bottle and Nuala’s air of dishevelment.
‘Dexter’s dumped me. I’ve never been so miserable in my life. No boyfriend, no job, nowhere to live,’ said Nuala. ‘So anyway, I came over to talk to you about it, but you were out so I talked to Jake instead, and he said not to worry, I could move in with you.’
‘I didn’t say she could move in with us,’ Jake hissed at Maddy in the kitchen. ‘She said she was too depressed to sleep, then she said was it OK if she stayed here, and I said yes, because I thought she meant just for tonight, not forever. You’ll have to tell her.’
‘How can I? She’s my friend.’ Energetically frying bacon for sandwiches, Maddy leaped back as the fat spattered like fireworks in the pan. ‘Anyway, it’s too late now, you’ve already said she can live with us.’
‘But I don’t want her to!’
‘That’s just mean. She needs somewhere to stay.’ Maddy frowned. ‘What have you got against Nuala?’
Exasperated, Jake said, ‘She fancies me. It’s not exactly relaxing, sharing a house with a girl who just wants to jump on you and rip all your clothes off.’
‘Oh, don’t talk such rubbish. She’s upset about Dexter,’ Maddy scoffed. ‘Just because you flirt with every girl you meet doesn’t automatically mean they fancy you back.’