She hoped the subject of his ex-fiancée would be enough of a mood-killer to get him off the subject of her non-existent love-life.
‘You really didn’t like her.’ Seb twisted his lips. ‘Was it a general dislike or something more specific?’
There wouldn’t be any harm in telling him now, Rowan thought. ‘She was seriously mean to Callie. I mean, off the scale malicious.’
Seb’s eyes narrowed. ‘I thought they got along well.’
‘That’s what she wanted you to think. She was a nasty piece of work,’ Rowan said, staring at the bank of dials on the dashboard. ‘I really didn’t like her.’
‘I would never have guessed,’ Seb said dryly.
‘My “money-grabbing” comment didn’t clue you in?’
‘It was a bit restrained.’ Seb’s tone was equally sarcastic. ‘Your efforts to sabotage our engagement party were a bit subtle too.’
‘What did I do?’ she demanded, thinking that attack was the best form of defence. ‘And why would I do it since I was looking forward to you being miserable for the rest of your life?’
Seb slid her an ironic glance. ‘Apart from spiking the punch with rum? And turning the pool that violent green that totally clashed with the puke-orange colour scheme? And placing a condom on every side plate? Anything I’ve missed?’
Rowan dropped her head back on the headrest. ‘You knew about that?’
‘I had a good idea it was you.’ Seb’s lips twitched. ‘Okay, hit me. What else did you do?’
‘Nothing,’ Rowan replied, far too quickly.
‘Come on, ’fess up.’
Well, he couldn’t kill her now. She didn’t think...
‘I put itching powder in your bed.’
Rowan felt as if she wanted to dance to the sound of Seb’s laughter. Despite her now overwhelming fatigue, she noticed the scar bisecting his eyebrow, the length of his blond eyelashes. Man, she wanted to link her arms around him, curl up against him and drift off.
‘Ro, I knew about that too.’
He spoke softly and Rowan felt both warm and chilled, her nerve-endings on fire.
‘Luckily we had a fight after the party and I chose to sleep in the spare room...she itched for days.’
‘Good.’ Rowan grinned and fought an enormous yawn. ‘You had really bad taste in women, Seb.’
‘She wasn’t so bad. And if I didn’t know any better I’d say you sound like a jealous shrew.’
‘You really should give up whatever you’re smoking.’
Rowan lifted her nose. As if she’d be jealous of that waste of a womb. Seb might be a thorn in her side but he was her thorn in the side—and Callie’s, obviously. Nobody else was allowed to treat him badly. Especially not some lazy, stupid... Oh, dear God, the old oak tree was still on the corner of their road.
And there¸ through the trees, she could see the redbrick corner of Awelfor.
‘No, don’t panic. Just breathe. It’s only a house, Ro.’
His house. And next door was her old home. And a life she didn’t want to go back to—a life she’d outgrown a long time ago.
Seb turned into his driveway and parked in front of a new rectangular automated gate. While he waited for the gate to slide open he looked at Rowan, his blue eyes serious. ‘Stay the three weeks, spend some time with your parents, and then I’ll loan you the money to fly anywhere in the world.’
‘Why?’
‘Because I think it’s long overdue.’
Rowan shook her head, suspicious. ‘How much time, exactly, must I spend with them?’
Seb looked frustrated. ‘I don’t know! Make an effort to see them—have dinner with them—talk to them and we’ll have a deal.’
It was too good an offer to pass up. It wasn’t ideal but it was a solid plan of action. If she got some money together before that she’d go sooner... No, she couldn’t do that. She was here. She had to see them. To leave without saying hello would be cruel, and she wasn’t by nature cruel. Three weeks. What was twenty-one days in the scheme of things?
Twenty days too long in this city, her sarcastic twin said from her shoulder.
‘I’ll pay you back.’
Seb grinned. ‘Yeah, you will. Yasmeen is on holiday and we’re short of a housekeeper. You can start tomorrow: shopping, cleaning, laundry, cooking. You know what Yas does.’
‘Are you mad? I’m not going to housekeep for you!’ Rowan protested.
It wasn’t that she couldn’t—she’d worked as a maid before—but she wasn’t going to pick up after Seb and his ‘we’.
‘We’re? You said we’re short of a housekeeper? Who else lives here?’ Rowan demanded. If he had a live in lover/partner/girlfriend then she’d just go and sleep on the beach.