I nodded. We both sat there quietly for a minute. From somewhere on the other side of the door, I heard someone laugh distantly.Were Hugo and Miranda okay?We’d been here a while now, and it was starting to look rude. But I didn’t want to leave.
“There was something else,” I said. “Back there. With the waiter, Kai.”
She inhaled quietly.
“Is Rudy someone I should be aware of?” I kept my voice even. I didn’t have the right to ask, but I had to know. “Is he a risk… for the ruse with Hugo, I mean?”
Not just the ruse withHugo.
“He’s my ex,” she said. “We broke up the day before you and I… met.”
Relief moved through me. Stupid. I knew I had no claim on her at all.
“Right,” I said.
Another quiet stretch of air. Her leg was so close to mine I could feel its warmth, smell her perfume clinging to her skin. It was fresh and clean, with sweetness under it.
“Thank you,” she said. “For saying what you did. It… helped.”
Why had I left it solong?
My hand itched to pull her against me and stroke her hair. I turned slightly so I could see her face better.
“Andrea,” I said. “If I hadn’t done what I—”
A softwhooshand the door slid open. Eliza looked into the dim room like she expected to see something she shouldn’t. Andrea immediately hopped away from me so fast the cat’s eyes shot open, and he gave a weak mew.
“Oh, here you are,” she said.
“We were just doing his injection,” Andrea said. The vial sat unopened on the floor next to her.
“You’ve been a while.” Eliza looked from Andrea to me, taking in the closeness, the awkward look on her sister’s face, then the untouched medicine. “Do you want me to act like I didn’t interrupt something you’re both trying to pretend didn’t happen?”
I stood. “That would be helpful, Eliza. Thank you.”
By the time we reached the living room, I had my control back.
My composure.
My plan.
What I didn’t have anymore was any real certainty I wanted them.
Chapter 24
Andrea
Liam’s silver carsped west along the A40 toward Oxford. It was drizzling, and we had the top up, like before. We’d left the glass office buildings of Hammersmith behind, and the retail parks had given way to warehouses and garden centers. By the time we joined the M40, there wasn’t much left except stretches of road.
I looked at the man next to me. He was wearing a gray T-shirt, the muscles of his upper arm distractingly visible as he eased past a Honda.
Liam hadapologized.
Not what I’d expected, especially after the nightmare with Kai at his place. It would have been easier if he’d stayed the man I was angry with.
Now he wasn’t, and that felt… complicated.
His voice had been soft when he’d told me what he’d been thinking, like he felt embarrassed and didn’t quite know what to say. It hit me hard in the stomach just remembering it.
