Page 80 of A Night with Damien Spur

‘It’s your choice,’ she said. ‘But let me be clear, if you want to stay, I don’t like to chat in the morning.’

‘I think that it’s best that we call it a night,’ he said. ‘At least you got what you paid for.’

Good onya,added the Voice.What a great comeback. Maybe if you stay till the morning, you can charge her overtime.

‘Have I offended you, Damien?’ she said, standing naked by the bed.

‘No,’ he replied. ‘But I suppose the intimacy of strangers making love at night might not stand up in the cold light of day. Especially before we brush our teeth.’

That was terrific, said the Voice.So elegantly put.

***

But, after that first night Damien was in free fall. Usually, he found that women got boring and weepy over time, but the more he saw Elizabeth the more he missed her. She was a thrilling lover, but impenetrable outside the bedroom, which fired his obsession.

‘How could I not fall for Elizabeth?’ Damien said to Sophie. They were having lunch at Dino’s, a discreet Italian round the corner from his apartment.

‘You mean she appeals to your masochistic tendencies?’

‘Maybe. I just can’t second guess her. She’s such a contradiction.’

Sophie was keen to talk about her own relationship with Horatio, but Damien couldn’t stop.

‘We went to Antibes last week. Had a glorious time. Made love like angels and then, when we arrived back in London, she disappeared for three days. Wouldn’t return my calls. When I finally spoke to her, she said that I needed to give her some space. It was so bloody random.’

‘Damien, you’ve got to cool off if you want to keep Elizabeth’s interest. Needy is not sexy.’

He flagged the waiter. ‘Another bottle of the Merlot, please.’

‘I don’t want any more wine. Why don’t you just order another glass?’ she said.

‘It’s fine, Sophie.’ He wanted to get back on track. To continue talking about Elizabeth.

The wine helped. Made his stream of consciousness more lucid. Or so he thought. But Sophie stopped the flow.

‘You’re rambling. Can we talk about me for a change?’ She patted his hand and took a sip of water.

‘Sorry.’

‘It’s not going to work with Horatio,’ she said.

‘Why the hell not? He’s a catch and he loves you. Talk about me being a masochist.’

‘It’s not so simple.’

‘Don’t tell me he’s married.’

‘No, but he has a sixteen-year-old daughter with Isabel, the woman who runs the vineyard. The girl can’t stand living with her mother and wants to come and live with him in London, which means with us.’

‘So what’s the fuss? You can’t expect an attractive man like Horatio not to have a complicated history.’

‘No, I understand that. However, what really worried me was that when I rang the chateau Isabel answered the phone, which I fully expected as he told me she lived in a wing of the chateau. But here’s the rub: she didn’t know anything about me, let alone that we were getting married.’

‘He must have had his reasons. Maybe she’s still in love with him and he was worried she’d cause trouble – throw the dishes at him. Anyway, at least he’s not a loser like that idiot Nicholas. Look at the way he behaved at the auction with that ring business.’

‘He honoured the debt,’ Sophie said.

‘So, you still see him?’

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