I nodded and mumbled, heading for the door. My mind and body were going nuts. First, we were enemies, and then I thought we’d started to become friends. And by the frazzled expression in Fliss’s eyes, she was feeling the same way.
* * *
Felicity
I hadn’t got a clue what was going on between Luke and me. It was bad enough that he came here in tight black jeans, a white shirt, and smelling like a delicious aftershave ad, but then we almost kissed.
Kissed. That never happened to me.
He almost undid me when he asked about being discarded. Oh, if only he knew the full extent of that comment, the one I didn’t think he’d heard. If being abandoned, left alone, and ignored was a university degree course, I’d have come out with first class honours. No, that was something I never told anyone about. Only Aunt Doll knew. It would spell total humiliation for me if it ever became public knowledge. Hence the reason I lived like a nerdy recluse. It was safer that way.
With the tray loaded up with coffee, and the After Eight mints my aunt loved so much, I headed for the sitting room. Luke had put the poster on the coffee table and was kneeling on the floor, whilst my aunt and Toby sat on the sofa poring over my poster and the list of things for our little shindig.
“This is stunning,” my aunt exclaimed, waving the poster at me.
“It didn’t take too long. And I love designing things. It was fun.” I shrugged.
I handed out the coffee and knelt beside Luke, trying not to ogle the way his arms filled out his shirt or the scent of his cologne tickling my senses.
“I heard that awful Stella was prowling after you.”
Luke grimaced at Aunt Doll’s comment. “I don’t think the phrase, leave me alone is in that woman’s vocabulary.”
Aunt Doll tutted. “That woman causes nothing but trouble. She’s only kept that plot because she… well, you know.”
“What?” I asked as the three of them murmured their agreement. “How did she get it?”
“By sleeping with the Sergeant Major. It was her husband’s plot, and when they divorced, it should have been given to someone else.”
I shuddered. “Oh, God. That’s just plain gross. I wonder if he had a tick list of demands for her on his clipboard.”
At my last comment, everyone laughed. And for the first time in a very long while, I laughed too. I laughed so much that I cried. It felt so good. This had me wondering if I was finally going to be anywhere near normal. I’d spent so much time alone that I’d forgotten how to behave when mixing with others. Perhaps this was the beginning of a new era for me.
* * *
Luke
When I got home, I poured myself a shot of brandy. For a long while, I sat and nursed the glass in between my hands. That evening had been the most fun I’d had since before my ex had dumped me. And Fliss, well, she was the gift that kept on giving. Witty, creative, intelligent, and sexy as hell. Why was she not dating? I began to wonder if she’d had an experience like my own. One that had ripped my trust straight out of my chest, along with my battered heart.
My phone rang. Marcus. Oh, God. What did he want now? He’d tried to call me earlier, but my phone had been on silent. I hadn’t bothered to return his calls because I’d been thinking way too much about Fliss.
“What’s up, bro? Do you need rescuing from another clingy woman?”
He laughed. “No. I just wondered if you wanted a few beers, but I guess it’s a bit late now.”
“I haven’t been in long. You can come over if you like. The spare bed is always made up. You know that.”
“Have you been out on a date?”
“Nah, just a meeting about a little get-together at the lottie.”
“Don’t tell me over the phone. I’ll be there in ten.”
When Marcus arrived, I grabbed a couple of beers from the fridge, and we headed for the lounge.
“So,” he said after taking a long slug of beer. “Who was at this meeting?”
“It was at Dolly’s. I took Toby and…”