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“I’m with people, actually,” the woman said, starting to shift from her position.

For fuck’s sake. All in then. “Feel like going to my place when you’re done then?” Definitely sounding desperate now. But there was something about her, something about those dark eyes, those hips, that messy hair, that made Jem really want this one.

The woman didn’t even hesitate. “No, thank you. I’m reallynot that sort of girl.”

She slid off into the crowd until Jem’s eyes lost sight of her.

Huh.

That didn’t happen often.

Jem shook herself. Jesus, she needed another drink. There’d be a hundred other women here that she could make a move on. But she found herself comparing everyone else to the dark-haired woman at the bar. Until eventually, she let Rolly pour her into a taxi alone.

Hardly a successful evening.

Chapter Six

The not-mold in the bathroom was starting to look suspiciously furry and Ellie thought she’d better pick up some kind of product to deal with it. Yet another thing to add to her shopping list. She’d practically crawled into the shower and now she practically crawled back out of it. Lack of sleep did not agree with her.

“Okay, okay, I’m coming,” she told a meowing Constable as she hurriedly toweled off. “You’re not starving yet.”

Constable meowed his disagreement with this statement and didn’t start purring until she’d opened a can of malodorous tuna cat food.

She poured boiling water from the kettle over instant coffee in a to-go cup. Not as good as Costa, but a tenth of the price, so she’d deal with it.

“You’re excited,” she said aloud. “You’re a go-getter. You can do this.”

She picked up her cup and walked out the door, forcing herself to walk energetically even though she didn’t particularly feel like it. Honestly, tonight she was going to bed at seven and getting a decent night’s sleep. All this going out to bars was not conducive to running a successful business.

“Bye, Con,” she said as she closed the front door.

A light spattering of rain greeted her when she stepped outside, so she decided not to walk to the office. The tube joltedand smelled of unwashed people and got stuck in a tunnel for five minutes, but otherwise got her there dryer than she might have been.

Reaching the office door she heard… nothing. Not a peep. When she left the bar last night, Carys and Mo had both been busy signing up for their next karaoke song and had barely noticed her going. It looked like they were both hungover enough this morning not to be early birds.

So she squeaked a little in surprise when she opened the door and both were there. Mo was standing by their desk, arms held away from their body like they didn’t know what to do with their hands. Carys was as far as possible from them, her face pink and half her spiked hair flat.

“Jesus,” Ellie said. “I can smell the alcohol wafting off you. Did the two of you sleep in here?”

“No,” they both said at once.

“Right,” said Ellie, eyeing them. They both looked guilty and she suspected that they might have just crawled back here and crashed on the rug, which she’d expressly forbidden them from doing after finding a half-eaten kebab in her rubbish bin one morning.

“We didn’t, honest,” Mo said, wiping their hands on their kilt and walking back behind their desk.

“Good,” said Ellie. “We’ve got a busy day ahead, lots of planning to do before I report back to Darlington’s in the morning. I’ll need a full, clean brochure.”

“Big stack of them in the filing cabinet,” Mo said.

“And I’d like some fresh ideas that we can offer. I know he likes minimalism but that he also likes to flaunt his cash, so we’re walking a thin line there.”

“Have we thought about entertainment options?” Mo said, getting a notepad out of their drawer. They picked up a pen with a clutch of feathers at the end.

“He hasn’t mentioned them, but I’m assuming we’re going to need at least music. But let’s come up with a few ideas for walk-arounds just in case. I’m thinking acrobats, dancers morethan magicians. Classy, Cirque de Soleil types, you know what I mean.”

Mo was scribbling on their pad. “Got it, I’ve got a few people I can call. I was thinking maybe a sculptor?”

“A sculptor?” Ellie asked, intrigued. She pulled off her jacket and threw it over the back of her chair.