‘You told me point blank I didn’t know how to talk dirty.’
‘You make it sound like I questioned your skill as a surgeon.’
He looks at me. ‘I didn’t want to fall short of your expectations.’
I shake my head in bewilderment. ‘Do you not know how exceptionally gifted you are in the sack? I mean, at school you were sort of famous for it …’
That vulnerable expression drifts across his face again, and I want to slap myself. If you’re known for your sexual prowess, it doesn’t matter how good you are, or how well equipped. There’s a lot to live up to.
I hold his eye. ‘My expectations weremorethan met.’
He nods and turns his attention back to the salad. ‘The dirty talk – it’s not usually my thing, but you seemed to like it.’
I swallow. ‘It was very …effective.’
He offers me wine, but when I decline, he pours us two full glasses of water. Got to stay hydrated, the unspoken subtext.
‘Do you want to eat at the table?’ he asks.
‘You must be joking! I’ll never be able to eat here again.’
He grins. He knewexactlyhow I’d react to that.
We end up eating in the living room. I’m on the sofa with my plate on my lap, while Mark is opposite me on the floor, his plate on the coffee table. Both of us paranoid about staining Yan’s cream carpet.
I’m about to suggest we treat ourselves to somegalatobourekowhen there’s a noise from the front door.
We both freeze.
‘That can’t be Yan?’ I whisper.
Mark stands, his body on high alert. I glance around the room. I don’tthinkthere’s anything that screams illicit sex. Although I’m not entirely sure where my bra is.
I stand, too, holding my breath, waiting for the heavy footsteps of my brother up the stairs.
But there’s nothing but silence.
‘I think we’re in the clear,’ says Mark quietly. He goes to check and returns holding a flyer. ‘Just a pizza menu. If that had been Yan, I’d be hobbling out of here with two broken legs.’
‘Don’t be so melodramatic,’ I say. ‘He’d only break one.’ He doesn’t look reassured. ‘He knows about what happened at his black-out party.’
‘When did he find out?’
‘I went to the food tasting yesterday. Jamie the caterer is the one who burst in on us that night. He saw us together at Ally Pally.’
‘And he recognised me all these years later?’
‘You’ve got a memorable face.’
He rubs the back of his neck. ‘Yan knows? And you’resurehe doesn’t want to kneecap me?’
‘He was fine about it. Shocked, but not angry.’ I don’t mention the bit about the cheese cutter. ‘I don’t think he’d be angry about this, either.’
‘There’s a difference between learning about something years later and walking in on his sister being ravished in his own flat.’
I raise an eyebrow. ‘There’s ravishment on the menu tonight, is there?’
‘You think I’m about to kick you out so I can get an early night?’
