‘No time. Thank goodness,’ she joked and then shrugged. ‘I’ll grab a snack in the bar.’
He nodded and they quietly watched the rest of the skaters for a minute. ‘So, how is the acting going?’
‘Down the drain,’ Ash found herself replying.
‘It’s a hard business to be in.’ Olivier’s hazel eyes glinted green as the fairy lights from the bar twinkled in front of them. ‘So much competition.’
Ashleigh scrunched up her nose. ‘It’s not that really. It’s just…my heart isn’t in it. I haven’t been on an audition in months and I don’t even care.’ She gave a small laugh. ‘But I don’t know what to do instead yet.’
He nodded slightly, as though this was a perfectly reasonable thing for a twenty-seven year old to admit to, and then he tilted his head. ‘What brings you joy?’
‘That’s a very Marie Kondo question.’
‘Well, she has a point.’ He smiled; that easy smile he gave so freely, his dimple deepening. ‘But I was thinking more of what you lose yourself in. What activity takes you to that place where you get completely focused on that one thing and lose all track of time?’
Staring into your eyes,a soppy part of Ashleigh’s brain whispered. She contained a rather pathetic sigh and forced herself to look away. Romesh and James were heading their way, moving swiftly, and she could feel Ro studying them. Taking notes so he could grill her later probably. ‘I’m not sure. Is that what cooking is like for you? Is that why you chose to become a chef?’
‘I do get like that when I’m cooking but…not so much in the restaurant. That’s a very different kind of zone than when I’m doing it for myself, just experimenting, or cooking for friends.’
‘Ah, that’s why you said “I enjoy cooking” rather than “yes, I enjoy my job” the other day.’
‘Busted. I’m at a fork in the road with my career myself.’
‘You are?’
‘Oui, but we were talking about you. I think you find joy designing and making clothes. You were very skilled the other night when you took my shirt off.’
Her eyes widened and she burst out laughing at the way he’d said it. She had to laugh or she’d be melting into a puddle on the ice-rink floor thinking about it.
‘Pardon. Pardon. I meant when youfixedmy shirt.’ He lifted his hand and pressed it to his forehead.
‘It’s okay. You’re right. I do enjoy it. But I’m not trained. I went to drama college, not design school. I’m happy to mend things for friends or make my own clothes but I’ve never done anything bigger than that for anyone else. Well, until recently…’ She bit her lip. He raised his eyebrows in question. ‘Imighthave offered to design and make my friend’s wedding dress yesterday.’
‘That’s brilliant. A first commission.’
‘It’s more of a wedding present. I couldn’t sell my work.’ Her belly started flipping with something very different to butterflies as she thought about everything that was involved with making Beth’s dress and the short timeframe she had to get it done. She pushed away from the side. ‘Come on, we should probably get moving again before we run out of time.’
Ash forced her tired legs back into a more sedate rhythm and caught up with Romesh and James, Olivier just behind her.
‘Oh, wonderful. You can babysit him now.’ James untangled himself from Ro and skated off swiftly. ‘Come on, Olivier, I’ll teach you some more moves.’
‘That’s okay, darling, you go have fun. Don’t let me hold you back,’ Romesh called after his husband sarcastically and James spun around to blow him a kiss, skating backwards for a moment, until Olivier overtook them and joined him. ‘Bloody show-offs.’ He grabbed on to Ashleigh’s arm. ‘These are not the pairings I had in mind. Olivier told me he’d never skated before.’
‘Me too. Guess he’s a fast learner.’
Romesh gave a dirty chuckle, then cleared his throat. ‘You were having fun though?’
‘Yeah. Of course.’
‘Nice getting to know him again?’ Ro gave her a side-eyed glance and wobbled again as it disrupted his concentration. ‘Are we moving past the shallow lust phase and back into crush phase?
‘Well, I don’t know about you—’
‘I was using the Royal “we”, as you well know. Answer the question please.’
‘Yes. I believe I am moving into the reinstated crush phase, okay, but—’
‘Say no more. I know just what to do.’
