“There you are then. I need somewhere to live and I’m sure I’d be extremely fortunate to live in any of those you’ve selected. So, shall we go and take a look?”
Her hands fluttered over the screen. “I need to make appointments.”
“Later today then?” He smiled. “I’m sure I’ll be your easiestclient. I’ll have one picked by teatime. It is you showing me around, isn’t it?”
She flicked her eyes across him, reassuring herself she hadn’t just encountered a psycho. “Yes,” she said firmly, “it is.”
* * *
This time, he was smarter, she noticed. Since he’d walked into her office this morning, he’d changed into a pair of navy chinos and a light blue shirt. So far, he’d followed her obediently around the first-floor apartment with little comment. She waved a hand toward the ground. “As you can see, there are wooden floors throughout, and one of the benefits of this property is, of course, the hallway.”
He gazed up and down. “What’s so special about it?”
“It’s not so much that it’s special. It’s the fact it’s there.”
He thought: In what world was a hallway considered a perk when you were paying two and a half million pounds? He didn’t want to offend her by saying this, and, after all, he was guilty by association. He was the one looking around it.
“And this is the living room,” she said, indicating the room through a doorway.
He peered in. “Nice sofa. Yellow.”
“Lemon,” she corrected. “Of course, these furnishings will be removed on sale. The owner has left them to present the property.”
“So, it’s vacant?”
“Yes. And there’s no chain.”
“Did the owner not want the sofa at his or her new place?”
Bemused, she looked at him. “I should imagine . . .”
“What?”
“They bought new.”
He smiled, then followed her down the covetable hallway, glancing down to see if there was anything he might be missing, but decided to concentrate on Cherry instead. He liked the way she walked, with purpose, as if she cared about where she was going and the reason for getting there. He had a feeling she might extend this determination to other parts of her life, and hefound himself wanting to know more about what they might be. Just then, she turned and caught him staring at her. She stopped and folded her arms.
“The kitchen is in there.” She pointed and it was obvious he was meant to go first.
“Sorry, I wasn’t staring at your bum.”
She raised her eyebrows at his outspokenness. “Are you really interested in this flat?” As much as there was a certain charm about this man, she couldn’t bear time wasters. And she had a pretty good eye for spotting them, having been one herself, although that was justified as it was a means to an end.
“Yes,” he said quickly, wanting to reassure her. “I’ll take it!”
“But we haven’t seen the others.”
“This is the cheapest of the ones you have available, right?”
“Yes.”
“Why pay more? Even this seems . . .”
“Yes?”
“Obscene?”
She looked at him.
