Chapter 19

The next day Clara cried off our plans. She'd had a better offer of course. Robert the only man in two years who'd managed to last more than five dates had booked them a weekend away and who was I to stand in the way of a rare opportunity for Clara to learn more about a guy than just his surname, his salary and what size underwear he wore. "Wow, Clara," I had smiled when she had appeared on my doorstep to break the news. "You must really like this guy." A frown crossed her pretty face and she self-consciously twirled a blonde lock of hair around her finger, avoiding my eyes. "Yeah, he's pretty special." I looked at her in surprise, almost spilling the coffee on the counter as I poured us both a large mug. "Special? I think I need to meet this guy. I'm not sure I've heard you call anyone special since Jonathan." She wrinkled up her nose in distaste. Jonathan had been one of Brandon's work friends and for a while it had loo