Patently in Love (7 page)

Jane tried to carry on with the shouted conversation, but her heart wasn't in it. All she
could think about was that Marsh had left. Clearly he wasn't interested in her.

After a few moments, Keith suggested they move on to a quieter pub.

Jane checked her watch. "Oh no. I have to go. I promised my housemate I'd... do
some stuff for her." She moved away before he could object.

He followed her out. "I'll walk you to the tube."

Jane didn't really want to spend any more time with him. The magnitude of her
disappointment when Marsh left had surprised and upset her. She had thought she just had a
small crush on him, but now she felt there was more to her feelings than that. Surely, she
couldn't be falling for someone so soon after her breakup with Ashby? A four-year
relationship must take longer than a few months to get over.

"Actually, I'm going the other way. I'll see you tomorrow." She turned and walked
back towards the office. After a few yards, she turned to see if he was following and was
relieved to see he wasn't.

The city was eerie at that time of night. Aside from the odd person hurrying home
and the islands of light and sound around the pubs, the streets were empty. The little alleys
and byways between buildings that made London such a joy to explore in the daytime became
black holes along which the cold wind blew.

As she passed her office building, Jane paused and looked up at the floor she worked
on. There were lights still on. She wondered if Marsh was still in there, getting his things and
changing into his running gear. She could go up and speak to him. But then, what would she
say? What excuse would she have for returning? Shaking her head, she walked on.

She was acting like a schoolgirl with a crush. This wasn't like her. Without thinking
about it, she turned into the small alleyway next to the pub that led out into Fleet Street.

Her footsteps echoed in the dark alleyway. She caught a waft of something smoky
and acrid. More than just tobacco. Her senses snapped back to the present. Ahead of her a
bright spark glowed, expanded to show a shadowed face.

"Hello, darlin'."

She stumbled backward, heard a snigger behind her. A quick glance over her
shoulder showed a dark silhouette against the mouth of the alley.

Fear tightened her throat so that the scream hovering there came out little more than a
squeak.

"There now," the man with the cigarette said. "No one's about to hear you."

He stepped toward her.

Jane frantically tried to remember what she'd learned in a long-ago self-defense class.
She shrank back, into the hands of the man behind her.

"Hey!" The shout was accompanied by running footsteps. The man holding Jane
swore. He shoved her to the ground and the other one snatched her handbag. They fled as the
footsteps came closer.

Jane huddled on the icy ground, unable to move.

Her saviour came to a stop beside her, panting. She stole a peek and saw a dark,
hooded figure, barely visible in the weak light. It bent toward her.

"Are you okay?"

His voice was familiar. Her terrified mind refused to put a label on it.

Jane attempted to sit up. "I think so. Just a bit...shaken." He helped her get to her
feet. "They took my bag," she said, still dazed.

"Can you walk? It might be wise to get into the light."

The unspoken words 'in case they come back' sprang to the forefront of her mind. She
followed him towards the end of the alley, walking slowly, still too dazed to think
properly.

"Are you sure you're all right?"

She looked up and this time she recognised his voice. "Marsh?"

"Jane?"

"Marsh." She went limp with relief. "Thank goodness."

He led her to the main road and along to a bus stop, his arm half-supporting her. Her
legs were still too wobbly to support her entirely, so she sank onto a prop seat. Only then did
she really see Marsh. He was dressed in a hoodie and running shorts. He must have been on
his way home.

He pushed back his hood. "Did they do anything to you?"

Jane shook her head. "They stole my bag."

"That's no big deal. So long as you're not hurt."

"Thank you. I'm glad you came along."

Marsh made a small sound. "I was leaving the office when I saw you go into the
alley. I came this way, to make sure you were okay. If I had known it was you, I'd have
caught up sooner. What on earth were you doing down a dark alley anyway? It's safer going
the long way round."

"I guess I wasn't concentrating." She couldn't very well say she had been thinking
about him. She knew she had been very lucky. If Marsh hadn't been leaving the office at
exactly the right time... The realization of what could have happened hit her and she started
to shake.

Marsh put a hand on her arm. "I think you're in shock. Let's get you somewhere
warm." He looked around. "There's nowhere near here...apart from work."

"No. Not work."

"I'll call a taxi. I'll take you home."

Jane thought of the flat, with Polly and Andy and the millions of questions she'd have
to face. "No," she said weakly. "Not there either."

Jane thought of her flat that she'd had to give up. She thought of the photographer
that had waited outside to catch her when she and Ashby had split up. She wanted to go home.
Not to Polly's flat, but home. Somewhere where she could just hide from the world and sleep.
Tears filled her eyes.

"Tell you what," said Marsh after a moment's silence. "Why don't we go to my place?
I'll make you a nice cup of tea and you can phone the police from there."

That wasn't home either, but the idea appealed. Jane wiped her eyes with the back of
her hand and looked up at him.

"No funny business," he said, putting his hands up in front of him. "I promise."

She didn't doubt that he meant it. So she nodded.

He pulled a mobile out of his hoodie pocket and made the call.

Marsh was still in his running shorts. Even bundled up in several layers of clothing,
Jane was still feeling cold. He must have been freezing. The taxi pulled up at what looked like
an old school in a quiet side street.

Marsh led her into the house and up what seemed like endless stairs. On the third
floor, he opened one of the doors leading off the landing and stepped aside to let Jane
enter.

As he went round, flicking on lights, Jane stared. Despite the building's Victorian
exterior, the flat was very modern. The room had a high ceiling and enormous windows down
one side. The décor was warm reds and creamy yellows. Marsh hurried around the
room, scooping up items that had been left lying around.

Jane watched him, bemused.

"I wasn't expecting visitors." He dropped everything into a drawer under the coffee
table. "Take a seat. I'll put the kettle on."

The flat didn't look like a bachelor pad. There were photos on the walls and floral
cushions on the sofa. She did see evidence of Marsh living there, though. A pile of paper and
patent books was stacked on the dining table, a jumper was thrown over the back of a chair
and a full set of
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
DVDs sat on a shelf.

Jane pulled a bar stool up to the small breakfast bar that separated the kitchen area
from the dining table. Against the wall were one haphazardly balanced stack of mountain
biking and running magazines and, behind it, a neat pile of Cosmo. Jane stared at it. What
kind of a man read Cosmo?

Marsh saw her looking at them. "Oh, they're not mine. They're Stevie's. You should
report your mugging to the police. You'll need a crime number for cancelling your credit
cards."

She would need to remember what had been in her bag. "Have you got a piece of
paper? And a pen?"

He went back to making tea whilst she tried to remember all her purse had
contained.

"Here you go." He set a mug of tea in front of her. "I'm sure I had some biscuits," he
said, as he opened one cupboard after another. "Ah, here we are." He pulled down a packet of
digestives and put them in front of her as well. "Now, will you be okay for a few
minutes?"

"Yes, sure." She wrapped her hands round the mug of tea, immediately feeling a little
better. She smiled at him.

"In that case, I'll just go and get changed into something warmer."

"Would it be okay if I phoned my flatmate. She'll be wondering where I am."

"Of course. Phone whoever you want to." He gave a quick smile and left the
room.

Jane waited until she heard another door close and quickly punched in Polly's
number, thankful that she knew it by heart. "Hi Pol, it's me," she said when Polly
answered.

"Jane, where are you? I've been trying to call you, but you didn't answer your phone.
I was starting to get worried."

"I'm fine," said Jane. "My phone got nicked..."

"What? How?"

"I...er...I got mugged." It seemed too weird to say that. Until now, muggings were
something that happened to other people, like winning the lottery. It seemed strange to be the
victim of one.

"Oh my God! Are you okay? Where are you?"

"I'm fine," Jane repeated. "Marsh rescued me."

"Marsh?" said Pol. "Is that the one with the nice arse?"

Jane couldn't help but smile. Trust Polly to remember that one fact above all else.
"Yes, that's the one."

There was some murmuring in the background and Polly said, "Shut up Andy." Then,
"So where are you now?"

"I'm in his flat..." Jane felt a strong urge to giggle.

"
What?
Jane, what's going on?"

Suddenly, it was all too funny. "He's in the shower," she said, giggling. "He made me
a cup of tea."

"Jane?
Jane
, you're scaring me. Tell me where you are and we'll come and
get you."

"No, no," Jane wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and tried to stop the
laughter. "I'm fine. Honestly. Marsh has been a total gentleman. He brought me in here into
the warm and made me a cup of tea. He even gave me his phone to call the police and report
the mugging."

There was silence from the other end, and then Polly said, "Let me get this straight.
You got mugged. This guy with the nice arse rescued you and took you back to his flat?"

"Yes."

"Why didn't he bring you to
your
flat?"

"I asked him not to," said Jane, suddenly feeling bad. Polly would have looked after
her.

"Why?"

Jane didn't want to hurt Polly's feelings by telling her that she didn't really feel at
home in Polly's flat. She felt like she was in the way. "I... He was wearing running shorts,"
she said finally.

Now it was Polly's turn to laugh. "Okay, I see what you mean. Well, if he tries
anything funny, just call me and Andy will come and pick you up, okay?"

"Okay."

"What's the number there, just in case?"

Jane turned the phone round and read the number that was printed on it in neat
feminine handwriting. She had seen Marsh's scrawl before. It wasn't his.

She heard the bathroom door open. "He's coming back. I've got to go," she said and
quickly hung up. She dialled the police and was busy giving the policewoman a list of what
was stolen when Marsh came back in. She didn't look up, but concentrated on what she was
saying. She could hear him moving around, making himself a drink.

She heaved a sigh of relief when she'd finished.

Marsh leaned on the other side of the breakfast bar. "Sorted?"

"I think so." He was barely a foot away from her. His hair was still damp from his
shower and stood in unruly ridges where he'd run his fingers through it. She could smell his
shampoo. She looked down, afraid to look into his eyes in case he noticed that she fancied
him.

"You should cancel your credit cards," he said, finally.

"Yes, I should."

"Would you like some food? I could do us some pasta."

Suddenly her stomach reminded her that she hadn't eaten since lunchtime. "That
would be lovely."

As she made her phone calls, she watched Marsh cook. If anything, he looked even
more sexy in jeans and a long-sleeved t-shirt. He moved confidently round the kitchen, slicing
garlic and chopping vegetables.

When he said he'd make pasta, she had assumed he would just open a jar of sauce.
She hadn't expected him to cook a proper meal from scratch. She tried to remember the last
time a man had cooked for her. Ashby's idea of cooking was making a sandwich.

By the time Jane had finished her calls, the kitchen smelled wonderful. He got plates
out. "Would you like a glass of wine? I'm having one."

"Yes, please."

He placed two glasses of red wine and a big dish of pasta with a tomatoey sauce in
front of her and pulled up a stool opposite her. "Cheers," he said, raising his glass.

Now that the food was in front of her, she found she was really hungry. Jane tried a
bit of her pasta. "This is delicious," she said. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"To be honest, I was surprised to see you made it from scratch," said Jane, when
she'd eaten a bit. "Do you cook a lot?"

Marsh thought for a moment. "I guess I do," he said, looking surprised. "I never
really thought about it before. I had to make sure Stevie had a healthy diet so, I started to cook
for us. I guess I've just got used to it now."

Stevie. Jane's felt her heart sink. Why had she assumed that a man like that would be
single? Of course, no one at work had mentioned that he had a girlfriend, only about
Dominique, but then, perhaps he kept it quiet. He seemed like a fairly private person and the
office was full of gossip. "Your girlfriend is a really lucky woman."

Marsh coloured slightly. "Oh, Stevie's not my girlfriend. I don't have a girlfriend.
Stevie's my sister. She lives with me." He pointed to a framed photo on the wall behind her.
"That's her there."

It was a photo of a family. Marsh was there, looking a lot younger and, standing next
to him, was a small girl.