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He turned back to the young desk clerk ‘A taxi sounds fine’

‘Very good, sir And will you be dining in the hotel restaurant?’

Beside him Fliss stiffened; evidently she preferred the structure of a known location Yet another reason to change things up and see if he could get past those prickly defences of hers

‘No,’ Ash decided ‘Thank you but I think we’ll wing it and enjoy the festival atmosphere Major, I’ll be over by the lifts when you’ve concluded here’

Before she could object to the change in evening plans he hoisted up the rucksacks, ignoring her atte her with only a s his way to the seating area, he watched her raht back as she controlled her frustration, insteadsmile for the clerk whilst she concluded her check-in

By the ti a lift for her and she stepped inside and pivoted stiffly around, opening her mouth

‘Which floor, Major?’ he enquired politely, effectively cutting her off

‘Oh’ She halted, flipping the keycard over to check her room number ‘Fifth Please’

She waited for the lift doors to close before turning on him

‘Why did you do that?’

‘Do what?’ he asked innocently

‘Decide we should go to the parade?’

‘Don’t you want to?’ He kept his voice deliberately even ‘It sounded like a bit of fun after the last six months you’ve had out there Is there any reason you wouldn’t want to go?’

She hesitated a fraction too long ‘No’

‘Okay’ He smiled carefully ‘So, what’s the issue?’