A Second Chance For The Millionaire. Nicola Marsh

handing it to her. Suddenly it was important to escape him, above all to escape his knowing look that said he would tease her if he wanted to, and what was she going to do about it?

      There was nothing to be done, except get back home—a place of safety, where she knew what was what.

      When she got there safety greeted her in the form of Phantom. As they snuggled down under the covers she discussed the matter with him, as she discussed everything.

      ‘What a night! Him of all people. And it seems he’s not like… Well, I don’t know what he’s like any more. He was nice to Kate, I’ll admit that. Maybe we were wrong about him. No, not we. Just me. You always liked him, didn’t you?

      ‘If you could have seen him getting undressed tonight. It was an honest accident—at least, I think it was. But what I saw was impressive and maybe he meant me to see and maybe he didn’t.

      ‘He ticks the boxes—great thighs, narrow hips and the rest—well, never mind. But Brad also ticked the boxes, and he knew he ticked them. A man like that wasn’t going to confine himself to me, was he? And he didn’t. So if His Majesty Falcon is expecting me to be impressed he can just think again.

      ‘You agree with me, don’t you? Well, you do if you want that new stuff I bought for your breakfast tomorrow. Yes—yes—that’s a lovely lick. Can I have another? Thank you. Now, let’s go to sleep. And move over. Give me some room.’

CHAPTER FOUR

      HARRIET spent the next morning at her shop, which was doing well. She’d recently taken on a new assistant who was good at the job, something she was glad of when Kate rang, sounding frantic. ‘Darius is driving me crazy wanting to do all sorts of daft things.’

      ‘Hah! Surprise me.’

      ‘He’s got a nasty cold, but he insists on getting up. He says he’s got to go out and buy another cellphone. He’s ordered a fancy one online but it’ll take a few days to arrive so he’s determined to get something basic to fill in. And then he wants to come and see you.’

      ‘All right, I’m on my way. Don’t let him out. Tie him to the bed if you have to.’

      Distantly, she heard Kate say, ‘She says I’m to tie you to the bed,’ followed by a sound that might have been a snort of laughter, followed by coughing.

      ‘You hear that?’ Kate demanded into the phone. ‘If you—’

      Her voice vanished, replaced by a loud burr. Harriet hung up, very thoughtful.

      Before leaving, she took out an object that until then she’d kept hidden away and looked at it for a long time. At last she sighed and replaced it. But then, heading for the door, she stopped, returned and retrieved it from its hiding place. Again, she gazed at it for several moments, a yearning expression haunting her eyes. Her hand tightened on it and for a moment she seemed resolute. But then she returned it firmly to its hiding place, ran out of the room and downstairs, where she got into her car and began the journey to Giant’s Beacon.

      Halfway there she stopped, turned the car and swiftly headed back to streak up the stairs, snatch the precious object, ram it into her pocket and flee.

      She’d done it now, the thing she’d vowed never to do, and that was that. She told herself it was time to be sensible, but she made the journey with her face set as though resisting pain

      Kate was waiting for her on the doorstep, calling, ‘Thank goodness you’re here!’

      ‘Kate, is that her?’ cried a hoarse voice from the back of the house.

      ‘I’m coming,’ she called, hurrying into the room he’d turned into an office.

      At first she was bewildered by the array of machinery, all of it obviously state-of-the-art. Kate had spoken of wonderful things, but still the variety and magnificence came as a surprise. And one man could control all this?

      Darius, in his dressing gown, was sitting at a large screen, his fingers hovering over a keyboard.

      ‘Don’t come near me,’ he croaked. ‘I’m full of germs.’

      ‘You shouldn’t be up at all,’ she scolded him, sitting down at a distance. ‘And Kate says you want to go out. That’s madness. It’s far too cold.’

      ‘I thought summer was supposed to be coming. Is it always like this in May?’

      ‘The weather can be a bit temperamental. It’s been colder than usual the last few days. It’ll warm up soon, and then we’ll be flooded with tourists. In the meantime, take care.’

      ‘I just need a new cellphone to replace the one I lost last night. I have a thousand calls to make, and the house phone keeps going dead.’

      ‘Yes, the line’s faulty and they don’t seem able to repair it. You were lucky it held out last night when you were calling your children. All right, you need one to tide you over. Try this.’

      Reaching into her pocket, she handed over the object that had given her such anguish earlier.

      ‘You’re lending me yours?’ he asked.

      ‘No, it’s not mine, it…belonged to my husband.’

      He took it from her left hand, realising for the first time that she wore a wedding ring.

      ‘Husband?’ he echoed.

      ‘He died a year ago. He hadn’t used this for some time because he’d replaced it with a better one. But it might get you through the next few days.’

      He seemed uncertain what to say.

      ‘That’s very kind of you,’ he murmured at last. ‘But—are you sure?’

      ‘Quite sure. You’ll find it blank. I’ve wiped off every trace of him.’

      Something in her voice made him glance at her quickly, but she was looking out of the window.

      ‘I appreciate this,’ he said. ‘Now I can call my children again. I’ll be in touch as soon as I’m a bit more normal. I still have to thank you properly for saving me. Perhaps we could have dinner.’

      ‘You don’t need to thank me. I was just doing what I do and I wasn’t alone. What about all the others on the lifeboat?’

      ‘I’ll show my gratitude by making a donation. But I think you can tell me a lot about Herringdean that I need to know, so I’d appreciate it if you’d agree to dinner.’

      ‘All right, I’ll look forward to it.’

      ‘By the way,’ he added as she reached the door, ‘how’s my ghostly friend?’

      ‘Who?’

      ‘His name is Phantom, isn’t it?’

      She gave an uncertain laugh. ‘You call him your friend?’

      ‘You assured me he was only being friendly. Tell him I look forward to our next meeting. What kind of bones does he like?’

      ‘Any kind.’

      ‘I’ll remember.’

      As she left the house Harriet was saying to herself, ‘I don’t believe it. I imagined that conversation. I must have done.’

      That evening she poured out her thoughts again to the one friend she knew she could always trust.

      ‘I don’t know what to think any more. He’s different—well, all right, he nearly died and that changes people—but they change back. In a few days he’ll be talking about showing no mercy again. Hey, don’t do that! Phantom, put that down!—oh, all right, just this once.’

      Three days later she looked up from serving in the shop to find Darius standing there.

      ‘It’s