“Will we get murdered on the way?” he joked, but he was seriously concerned.
“If we get attacked, you can use all those macho moves you were doing on set.”
“I’m not exactly a black belt in anything. Those moves are all choreographed.”
She rolled her eyes and laughed, “Come on wimp, I’ll protect you.” With that, she gathered her goodies and got out of the car. He’d be the biggestwimpif he stayed in his BMW. Or an even bigger target for any thieves after a luxury vehicle. The beeping sound of the alarm setting didn’t reassure its safety or whether he’d find it in once piece when he got back. He gave the area a quick scan, and followed Holly through the car park, taking the bags out of her hands.
He’d lived his whole life in Sydney, apart from travelling for work, this city was his home. Yet, he had no idea where they were going.
Long grass and bush met the end of the concrete area and he could just make out a trail through the shrubs. With no more light reaching from the road’s lamp posts, Holly pulled out her phone from her pocket and put on the torch.
Branches brushed up against him as they made their way along the trail and sounds of insects filled the air. He could be in the country not in the middle of a capital city.
After a few minutes, Holly stopped and said, “We’re here.”
Stepping on a rocky ledge, he stood beside her. “Wow.”
“You don’t get a view like this at Spiral’s,” Holly said.
No, definitely not. Sprawled out before him was Sydney Harbour with a glimpse of the bridge in the distance. Mansions along the water’s edge had white jetties jutting out from their backyards with tethered boats bobbing in the water beside them. Hundreds of colourful lights twinkled from the houses and buildings around the shoreline.
“This is incredible,” he said.
Holly sat cross legged on a patch of spongy grass. He did the same and handed her the bags of food.
“I never knew this place existed. How’d you find it?”
The lights of the harbour where enough for them to see what they were doing and Holly put her phone away.
“I was with Declan. He planned on meeting someone at the car park. I asked him if he was doing something illegal and we had a huge fight. I got out of the car and he left.”
“The fuckwit left you?”
She nodded and pulled a foil wrapped parcel from the bag. “After he drove away, a car pulled up with a couple of creepy looking guys, so I hid in the bushes before they saw me. I noticed the trail and well…” She swung out an arm. “Found this gem.”
Ethan scrubbed his hands over his face. “Firstly, I want to rip Declan a part for leaving you and secondly, why the fuck did you go back to him?”
She blew out a breath and shrugged. “He was usually really sweet. I didn’t know anyone else in Sydney. Where else could I go?”
“Anywhere would have been better than with him.” Was her family so fucked up that when she needed them the most, she couldn’t turn to them for help? Obviously, they were if she lived with such a dickhead.
She sat for a moment staring at the view and sighed like she was releasing built up tension. “I see that now. I won’t make that mistake again.” She snapped her attention to the bags like she was done talking about it, and pulled out two plastic cups and handed him one. “The next best thing to crystal glasses.” She giggled.
He loved the sound. She had the sexiest laugh. Sexiest smile. Sexiest self.
“You should’ve let me choose the vino,” he said as she poured wine into their cups. “This smells like it could strip paint.” He screwed up his nose.
“Are you always such a snob?”
“I’m not a snob. I just have good taste. For a woman who grew up in the Ainsworth family, surely you appreciate the finer things in life.”
This time she screwed up her nose like she’d smelled something bad. “Money and material things don’t make people happy.”
“It sure helps.” He swirled the dark liquid in the cup.
“It does,” she agreed. “I wasn’t happy when I was nearly homeless. The thought of going back home made me more miserable. Once again, I’d be wrapped in Gucci and Prada. I’d suffocate. Give me toasted sandwiches and cheap wine over country clubs and oysters any day.”
She unwrapped her sandwich and took a bite. Her eyes rolled in the back of her head and she groaned. Very similarly to when she orgasmed in his trailer. A spike of lust hit him hard between the legs.
