The soft kiss on my shoulder was quickly followed by the expected "I've gotta get going." These lunch time liaisons seemed to speed by quicker with every passing day they carried on.

"Hmm…" I murmured, not yet prepared to move from the warmth of the afterglow I was still ensconced in. Not that he had actually made any moves to leave yet; no, his fingers still stroked my chest, his arm draped over my side as he lay, his body pressed close into my back.

"I'm in court this afternoon."

"Did they do it?"

"Do it?"

"I mean, are they guilty?"

"Oh, I dunno."

"Isn't that something you should know?"

"It's best not to," he explained. "It would be difficult to argue with conviction a person's innocence if you know one hundred percent it's a lie."

"Go on, then, go and be all lawyerly" I said, rising to a seated position and, turning to face him, I reached out and ran a finger lightly over his cheek. He took hold of my hand and pressed my palm to his lips, his eyes locked on mine. "I should get back to the factory anyway. The number of times Sarah's reminded me of our very important meeting with Danley's this afternoon, she will kill me if I'm late."

The change was instantaneous. I felt it, the awkwardness, the tension I'd created by breaking our unspoken rule: while we were here, like this, in this bed, I didn't mention Sarah, and he didn't mention Peter.

Sure, they were separated and soon to be divorced, but Sarah was technically still his wife. And she was my colleague. And we both understood that she would feel something of a betrayal if she knew the cause of my sudden extended lunch breaks was because I was in bed with her husband.

"Sorry," I muttered.

For the longest moment he didn't answer, his gaze was lowered, and his hand still clutched mine, albeit absently now.

Finally he spoke.

"It's okay, you are allowed to say my ex-wife's name. That, I can confidently tell you, is not a crime."

"In bed though?"

"Five minutes ago I might've had an issue with it."

We both laughed and he kissed me for good measure, reassuring me.

"I really do need to go though."

A very few minutes later I opened the front door to my flat and peeked outside, making sure the coast was clear before signalling to Adam that it was safe to leave. I enjoyed the fleeting heat of his body for the last time today as he edged closely by me.

"Tomorrow?" he turned to ask expectantly.

"I'll call you."

A quick kiss on my lips and then he was gone. I couldn't help but smile to myself but, as I turned and began to close the door, I caught sight of a horrifyingly familiar figure and my smile faded. Our eyes locked for the briefest of moments and I knew he had seen enough.

"I think that went well," Sarah said, returning to the office for our usual post-pitch debrief after seeing the rep from Danley's out of the factory. "Don't you think?"

I met her expectant gaze with a cautious smile.

"Yeah, I think it did. The basic lines, I think we're guaranteed an order for them. And with a teensy bit of encouragement and some top-notch samples, I reckon they'll go for some of the high-end lines as well."

"Ah hem."

I looked past Sarah to where a not wholly unexpected but definitely unwanted visitor was standing at the office door, clearing his throat nervously.

"Hiya, Ken," I plastered on a smile to greet my ex-father-in-law. Although Peter and I were no longer together, I wanted to retain my relationship with his father, a man I had always respected. "What can I do you for?"

"Can I have a word," he said cautiously, his gaze flickering briefly to Sarah, "in private."

"Oh," Sarah said, pointing awkwardly to the door, "should I…?"

"Sarah, can you get Beth started on those samples? The silk pastels I think would be best." I tried my best to maintain a professional tone in front of Sarah and plastered on a broad smile until she had retreated, wisely closing the door behind her.

"I think you know why I'm here." Ken's voice was grave as he sank into the seat opposite me, watching me intently as my smiling bravado faded.

"With all due respect, Ken, and I do respect you, but frankly it's none of your business."

"You are of course correct, what you do is none of my business. Except Peter is my son. Have you given any thought to what he might feel if he found out about this."

"There's no reason for him to find out. Me and Adam, it's just a bit of fun, nothing serious."

"Nothing serious? You're willing to risk your relationship with Peter-"

"I have no relationship with Peter, not anymore."

"You know that's not true, that will never be true. And what about Adam's relationship with his uncle? Have you thought about that?"

"He's never-"

"Never going to find out?" Ken asked, his eyebrow raised. "You were kissing him on the street for anyone to see."

"I-"

I wanted to protest, but I had no grounds, no defence.

"I'm not just thinking about Peter and Adam. Although your relationship with Peter is over and Adam's relationship with Sarah is over, I still care about both of you. All I'm asking is that you think, you think long and hard about whatever it is you and Adam are doing, and ask yourself, 'is it worth it?' That's all I'm asking."

I sat in silence after Ken had left, all the lingering happiness from my lunchtime diversion and the afternoon's successful meeting having long dissipated. In one fell swoop Ken had transformed something that had been fun and free and sexy and liberating into something bad, something wrong, something that would be used against me, like so many things had been used against me in the past.

Worst of all, he had forced me to make a choice. A choice I was not ready to make.