One Summer Night At the Ritz by Jenny Oliver Page B

number?’ he asked, reluctant.
    ‘Well, well, well, what have we here?’eZeph took his sunglasses off as he sauntered into the room and tucked them into the pocket of his leather jacket.
    Will had just managed to pull on his damp suit trousers and almost-dry shirt but he hadn’t had time to put his shoes on.
    When he’d said his brother was popping in, Jane had looked confused and said, ‘How did he know you were here?’
    ‘There’s this stupid app where your friends can track where you are. He put it on my phone ages ago because he thought it was funny. I’ve never deleted it.’
    She’d raised a brow as if it sounded like the stupidest thing in the world to have on your phone and got up to make a cup of coffee.
    Will had watched her deciding between which colour pod to put in the coffee machine, the cuffs on her sweater pulled down over her hands and one arm crossed in front of her body, and found himself furious with an earlier version of himself for not bothering to clean up his phone. He’d wanted to go and stand next to her, but the bang on the door had stopped him.
    ‘Zeph, this is Jane Williams, she’s the one who sent the diary pages – with the stuff about James Blackwell.’
    Zeph stalked the room like some big cat in a safari park. ‘I bet she is. Very cosy,’ was all he said as he took in the room service, the wet towels, Will’s bare feet and Jane’s set
en garde expression
.
    Will rubbed his eyes. ‘So how much money do you need?’
    ‘What, no friendly hello?’hZeph smirked, obviously enjoying the look of discomfort on his brother’s face. ‘There’s no hurry, Will. I’d be forgiven for thinking you were trying to rush me out. I mean, I could have a coffee,’ he said to Jane, who was now cradling a tiny white cup of espresso in her hands.
    Will was about to say that he couldn’t when Jane just handed Zeph her cup – no messing about or getting riled by his attitude as Will always did. ‘Here, have this one. I don’t know why I made it, the caffeine’ll keep me up all night.’
    ‘And that’s not a good thing? Will, you’re losing your touch!’hZeph said with a sly half-smile. Jane looked at him as if he was a child.
    Zeph tipped his head back at her, his eyes assessing her as he rolled his gum around in his mouth. ‘Mind if I take a seat?’ he asked.
    Jane shrugged as if she couldn’t stop him, then started to clear away the room service plates.
    Zeph flumped down on one of the big chairs, taking out a cigarette that was tucked behind his ear and toyed with it as he sipped the coffee. ‘Don’t you have people who’ll do that for you in The Ritz?’
    ‘I don’t need people clearing up after me,’ Jane said without looking up.
    Will stepped forward, ‘Look, Zeph, come on. It’s late, what do you need?’
    Zeph shrugged. ‘What have you got?’
    Will got his wallet out and pulled out four fifties. ‘Two hundred cover you?’
    ‘That’ll do nicely,’lZeph said, reaching forward to take the proffered notes, folding them between the fingers of one hand and tucking them in the top pocket of his jacket.
    Jane had paused in her clearing to watch the exchange. Will could just tell that she didn’t approve but he just wanted Zeph gone. When he glanced over she was putting the glasses back on the tray with a bemused shake of her head.
    ‘It’s interesting. This…’ Zeph said, pointing from Will to Jane. ‘You’re not my brother’s usual type.’
    Jane straightened up with a sigh, ran her hand through her hair and kept it there, holding her fringe back. ‘I never get that phrase. Isn’t it just really rude? Like some roundabout way of saying that the person’s not good-looking enough?’
    Zeph paused, seemed to think about what Jane had said and then narrowed his eyes at her. ‘Not at all,’ he said, downing the rest of the coffee, sliding the cup and saucer onto the table and standing up. ‘I really just meant you seemed quite bright. Like you have half a