How much do we owe this guy?""Oh, give him a couple of hundred.""Are you sure?""Don't worry. It'll get written off as damaged.""You lot are worse than army quartermasters."Sophie swung the keys of the Audi from a slender forefinger."My place?"In the flat overlooking Sloane Street they heated up a Sainsbury's Prawn Vindaloo, drank Kronenbourg beer from bottles and watched Goodness Gracious Me.For Alex, after weeks of rations consumed in exclusively male company, the evening was heaven.When she saw that he had unwound a few notches, Sophie settled herself against him on the sofa."Is it good news that you're back?" she asked him tentatively."Does it mean that you've got some time off?""Yes and no," he said."I'm here to .. . chase something up."Anything you can tell me about?"He shook his head."I'm sorry."Dangerous?"He shrugged."Doubt it. I've got to find someone, that's all. Brain work, not bullets. So I'm going to be around, yeah, but I'm also going to be coming and going."She nodded."Is it always going to be like this?" she asked."Me asking, you not telling?""For as long as I'm in, yes," he said."You mustn't take it personally.""I don't take it personally," she said, with a flash of irritation, quickly suppressed."It's just that we've been together for a year now, on and off, and I'd like to feel that I had some.." access to your life.""You have full access to my life," he told her gently."It's just my work that's off limits.
