She shifted, swinging a leg over me so she was straddling me. ‘That goes for you too. No withholding information from me. I’m in on all the plans.’
‘No undermining them.’
‘No more rigging.’
The sound I made was half laugh, half strangled gasp, as she ground herself into me.
‘If we’re going to be partners again, Lily,’ I said, before my brain entirely clouded over, ‘then it’s in everything, and it’s for good.’
She leaned in and kissed me, a long, deep kiss that left lipstick streaked everywhere. ‘On one condition.’
In that moment, I would have given her anything. The world. The universe. My neck, so she could step on it.
‘Fuck me right now,’ she whispered, ‘before I lose my mind.’
I was still thinking about it as we filmed the Episode Nine group date. My ability to compartmentalise – to think at all – had been significantly impacted by the remembrance of what it had felt like, my partner’s body, pressed against mine.
Together.God, that word was a drug.
But I wasn’t the only one who was distracted. Romeo-Dylan turned in his worst performance of the season on the group date, clearly running on autopilot. When we sat down to do our ITM, it took him ten minutes to get one satisfactory sentence out.
I needed to get his head back in the game, by whatever means necessary, so I took a calculated risk. ‘Are you thinking about Cece?’
The shock on his face told me I was on target.
‘Would it help to have another chat with her? No cameras. No mics. Just the two of you?’ Lily, being Lily, was probably right about the two of them needing closure, and if we were really partners again, I should use some of her plays.
Romeo-Dylan’s thumb and middle finger started tapping. ‘Only if Cece wants that,’ he said. ‘What I want doesn’t matter.’
God, he was such a fuckinggood person.
I arranged for Romeo-Dylan to take Cece over to his boat for a private chat after the Episode Nine Necklace Ceremony. It was going to take some manoeuvring to pull off without anyone noticing, so I took over a task I usually delegated and went down to the Convent to get the women ready to welcome their new arrival.
In the hubbub of all the women trying to squeeze onto the sofa, I caught Lily’s hand. ‘Find an excuse to come outside with me,’ I murmured.
She nodded. ‘Move!’ she ordered one of the other women. ‘I want to sit there.’
I had gruffly answered a few questions about the ongoing pandemic restrictions when Lily saw her opportunity. ‘What kind of attitude is that?’ she demanded, rising to her feet and putting her hands on her hips.
‘It’s the attitude of someone who hasn’t slept for weeks and is sick of dealing with your shit, Lily. Now sit down.’
‘We’ve had this conversation, Murray. You don’t talk to me like that.’
‘You all know the drill.’ I deliberately addressed the other women instead of her. ‘Actually wait for the person who’s been cut to get in if you want any screen time. I’m out of here.’
I strode towards the doors. ‘Murray!’ Lily screeched. ‘Don’t you dare walk out of here like that!’
I kept going. She followed me. ‘You don’t fucking speak to me like that!’ she exclaimed.
The glass in the French doors rattled as she slammed them shut behind us. ‘Good?’ she whispered.
‘Perfect.’
She smiled wickedly, putting her hand on my chest and backing me up against the wall. ‘See how hot playing pretend is?’
I curled my fingers in her hair, holding her back. ‘Wait, wait, wait.’
‘What? Worried that someone will come out here and catch us?’
