She gives me a confused look. “I’m in The Diamond Babes.”
The Diamond Babes?
“I’m sorry. I don’t know what that is.” I give an awkward smile.
I hear a covered laugh, and I’m pretty sure it comes from Carrick, but it’s hard to be sure as I can only see the back of his head because he’s faced away, talking to Robbie.
Sienna makes a sound of total disgust, her face screwing up. “You don’t know who we are? How is that even possible?”
I’m kind of feeling stupid right now, like I should know who these Diamond Babes are.
“The Diamond Babes are a girl band from the UK,” Ben kindly informs me. “They’re quite popular.”
“We’re not ‘quite’ popular.” She air quotes.
I really hate air quotes.
“We’re the biggest girl band in the UK,” she corrects him very loudly.
“Right…” Ben utters before sipping on his drink.
I give an awkward smile. “I’m sorry I didn’t know who you—the band are. I only recently moved back to the UK. I’ve lived in Brazil for the last fourteen years. And I’m not very up on your kind of music.”
“My kind of music?” She lifts a perfectly plucked brow. “I’m assuming you mean the good kind.”
“Yeah, something like that,” I mutter before picking up my beer and taking a drink.
I hear another catch of laughter, and from the tell of Carrick’s shaking shoulders, I definitely know it’s coming from him. Sienna seems oblivious to the fact. And I know it’s wrong, but I like that I can still make him smile even if it was through a dig at his girlfriend.
But then, I just feel mean. So, I say, “I’ll have to check your music out. I’m sure it’s great.” When I actually mean, I’d rather poke my eyes out with needles than listen to your music.
The compliment works, and her face relaxes. “You said you work for Carrick. What exactly is it that you do? Are you, like, his maid or something?”
Maid? Do we live in the nineteenth century?
Ben splutters out a laugh from beside me. I have to hold back a shock of laughter myself.
I expect Carrick to laugh, too, but surprisingly, he doesn’t.
“No, I bloody well am not his maid!” I exclaim, injecting humor into my voice.
Carrick turns his face in my direction, and he catches my eye. He’s looking at me liked he used to—like I’m his friend, like I matter—and it hurts like a mother because I know he no longer feels that way.
Ignoring the ache in my chest, I force my eyes back to Sienna. “I’m a mechanic,” I tell her.
“You’re a mechanic?” She screws her face up with what can only be described as total disgust.
Seriously, you’d think I’d just told her I was a serial killer. That, or I wipe Carrick’s arse for a living.
“But isn’t that a man’s job?”
“Depends on who you’re asking.”
“Hmm…well, yes, I suppose…looking at you now, I can see that you are well suited to men’s work.” Her eyes give me the up and down. “You have the right build and a very”—she waves a hand at me—“masculine vibe about you.”
Masculine vibe? The right build? What the fuck? I’m the same size as her!
Seriously, who is this chick?
I couldn’t care less if she is in the UK’s biggest pop band. She’s mean. She might be pretty on the outside, but she’s plain ugly on the inside, and I’m getting that from just spending less than ten minutes with her.
I’ve met mean girls before, but she is a bitch through and through. I have never met someone so confrontational in all my life.
My body tenses, my hands balling into fists, and I’m just about to open my mouth and let the pop princess know exactly what I think of her when Ben slings his arm around my shoulder, pulling me close to him.
“Take it easy,” he whispers in my ear.
I flicker a glance at him, and he gives me a calming smile.
“She’s not worth it.”
“Yeah…” I exhale. “You’re right.”
Loosening his hold but keeping his arm around me, he leans forward and says loudly, “Actually, Sienna, Andi is our best mechanic. She’s better than all of us put together. She’s the most talented mechanic I’ve ever worked with. Honestly, I don’t know what the team would do without her.”
I know he’s just saying it to be kind and to stick up for me, but irrespective of why, it works because I feel a hundred times better than I did a moment ago. And I kind of love Ben in this moment,
Grinning up into his face, I say, “Are you drunk? Because it’s not like you to give me a compliment.”
His eyes smile at me. “I give you compliments all the time. You just never listen.”
“Aw.” I grin at him, and then I lean in and whisper, “You’re a good friend, Ben.”
He shrugs, and then he says quietly, “I can’t have our best mechanic getting sacked because she knocked out Carrick’s latest squeeze.”
Laughing softly, I pat his arm, which is still around me.
Ben lifts his arm from my shoulders, and I turn to the table to get my drink, but I freeze at the sight of Carrick’s angry eyes on me. His jaw is set so tight that it looks like it might shatter.
Then, without warning, the anger in his eyes flames into something else entirely, setting my body on fire. I have to press my thighs together to contain the sudden ache, and I can feel my body quickly stirring to life as memories of our one night together flicker through my mind.