So are you, sunshine,” Paige replied. “Bad night?”<br />Even though he didn’t take off his sunglasses, I knew he was staring straight at me.<br />“I’ve had better,” he said with an entirely straight face, while I coloured up from head to toe. “I’ve had worse.”<br />…<br />“Now, now children,” Paige intervened, entirely oblivious to the extreme level of bitchy subtext flying across the table. “Let’s not have fisticuffs … Can we kiss and make up?”<br />Nick turned up one corner of his mouth and nodded. “I’m game if you are, Vanessa.”<br />“I think she means figuratively,” I said, adding cream to my coffee. “I’m a professional.”<br />“Really?” He rested his elbows on the table and pushed his glasses up over his eyebrows. “I probably owe you some money then.