Page 40 of Three's a Crowd
‘Nothing else for me, thanks. That was perfect.’
‘Well, in that case, let’s get going,’ he said, motioning to the waiter to bring the bill.
After he’d paid for the meal, he had a rapid conversation in French with the maître d’, who shook his hand warmly, and they exited into the balmy night air.
‘I love the south of France,’ Daisy said. ‘It’s so warm for this time of year here. Why can’t it be like this in England? It would make such a difference to my mood if I could sit out under the stars in the evening without shivering my arse off.’
Zach smiled at her. ‘You could always move here.’
‘You’re kidding me, right? Adam would never go for that,’ she said, regretting it when his expression appeared to darken for a moment.
Or had she just imagined it?
They clambered back into the car and Zach drove east towards the autoroute.
‘So, when are you going to tell me where we’re going?’ Daisy ventured, looking over at his shadowed profile as he drove.
‘I’m not,’ he replied, an enigmatic smile on his lips. ‘You’re just going to have to wait and see.’
‘Hmph,’ Daisy said in mock annoyance, causing Zach to laugh.
‘Want to listen to some music?’ he asked, turning on the sound system on the dash in front of him.
‘Sure. As long as it’s not that appalling techno you used to listen to,’ she added.
‘Okay then, as it’s you, no banging techno,’ he agreed. He tossed her his mobile phone and she connected it, choosing a playlist at random, then settled back and let the music wash over her as the night-darkened scenery alongside the autoroute flashed by.
They listened in companionable silence for a while, Daisy thinking about how strange it was to be here with him, notarguing or angry with him for a change. Perhaps theycouldjust be friends. As long as she was able to keep her attraction to him in check.
He was doing a good job of keeping her at arm’s length too.
Perhaps they’d finally found a comfortable balance between them and this was the beginning of a newfound, happily platonic relationship.
10
After about thirty minutes on the road, Zach signalled to pull off the autoroute and drove under a big sign announcing their destination.
Monaco.
‘What are we doing here?’ Daisy asked, turning to him in amazement.
‘Will you just have some patience, Dizzy!’ he admonished her, but smiled wickedly at her obvious delight.
He drove on, following the main route through the city. The road was quiet by now as it was late and he was able to put his foot down. As they swept past large, elegant buildings and down towards Monte Carlo and the harbour, Daisy had a sudden feeling of déjà vu. She knew she’d never been here before but it all seemed so familiar. Then it struck her; they were driving round the Monaco Grand Prix circuit. Whilst at university, one of her housemates had been mad keen on a computer game that had emulated all the grand prix circuits around the world, allowing the player to virtually drive their car around the tracks. She’d been submitted to this game on a regular basis and so wasau faitwith all of them.
‘Oh my God!’
‘Recognise it?’ he asked.
‘I do,’ she said, ‘how brilliant!’
‘Wahoo!’ they both shouted as they raced through the tunnel, the strip-lights flashing above them, briefly turning to smile at each other in delight, the light throwing wild shadows across their faces.
As the car exited the tunnel, the magnificent vista of the seafront was revealed in all its glory, the water sparkling in the moonlight and huge yachts bobbing gently in the harbour.
Zach turned the car off the road and they drove up a shallow hill, passing beautifully constructed, ancient-looking buildings. As they mounted the brow, then began to descend, Daisy saw a magnificent building rising before them. Its grand, turreted façade gleamed brightly under the spotlights trained on it and a large drive swept around a lush, green island of grass bordered by jazzily coloured flowers.
Zach pulled the car into a parking space next to a red Ferrari and walked swiftly around to open her door for her.
