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She straightened her shoulders and held herself tall. “What I’ve been doing since then is none of your business.”
He looked at her back, and made one of the hardest decisions of his life. “You’re right. Thanks for the walk down memory lane, S.B. It’s been fun.”
His use of his o
ld nickname for her was the final straw. S.B. Sleeping Beauty, the Disney princess she had been named for, by a mother who’d brought Aurora up to love fairy tales and magic. But life was no fairy tale, and magic didn’t really exist.
She waited until she heard her front door slam and then gave into the full torrent of emotions that were ripping through her. Angry, hot tears slid down her pale cheeks. She stared up at her ceiling and sobbed, until she was exhausted. She lay down in her bed, but it smelled like him. Masculine and spiced, like an alpine forest.
She made a sound of frustration and ripped the sheets from the bed, balled them up in her fists and tossed them out towards the lounge area. She grabbed a fresh set and made up the bed, wishing she could erase her memories of Leonardo just as easily as she had his masculine cologne from her bed.
* * *
“Why don’t you call him? He thinks you’re gorgeous,” Beatrice said with a smile, topping up her friend’s tea.
Aurora wrinkled her nose. “Alec’s nice.” She shrugged. “Maybe just a little too nice.”
Beatrice laughed. “What’s ‘too’ nice?”
“I’m not cut out for relationships, Bea. You know that. I’d chew someone like him up for breakfast.”
Beatrice levelled her best friend with a considering gaze. “We’re twenty four now, not nineteen. It’s not weird for you to admit that you might like a guy. Why are you so determined to stay footloose and fancy free?”
Aurora coloured. Out of nowhere, the image of Leonardo flashed into her mind. “I’m not determined to do any such thing. I just don’t think he and I would work, in a relationship.” She sipped her tea, not caring that it almost burnt her tongue. “I’d break his heart. He’s too nice for me. Too kind. Too thoughtful.” Too weak, she thought with a small sigh. Her most successful relationship had been with a man she daren’t think of again. A man who had overruled her with his strength, but had broken her heart because of his stubbornness. And she hadn’t seen him in over a month. Hadn’t heard so much as a peep from him since that morning they’d fallen into bed together and had steaming hot sex. And yet she couldn’t get him out of her mind.
But Beatrice was not easily dissuaded. “You’re nice. You’re sweet.”
Aurora rolled her eyes and leaned across the table, her expression beseeching. “Come on, Bea. You know me better than that. I’m so not nice. I’m practically a guy when it comes to dating. The quicker I can get out of a relationship the better. Don’t wish me on Alec. He deserves to meet someone a little more… domesticated.”
“Domesticated?” Beatrice laughed so hard that her mimosa spurted out of her mouth, coming dangerously close to drenching her pristine white Donna Karan pants. “This is the twenty first century. The closest thing Alec probably wants to a domesticated woman is one who’s prepared to be tied up with the cord of an iron.”
Aurora grinned despite her discomfort. “Look, I know you’re all loved up and so therefore want everyone you care about to fall into a state of equal romantic pleasure, but I’m not your girl. You know I don’t have any trouble meeting guys. Why don’t you just let me make my own way in the world?”
Beatrice tapped the tabletop with her fingertips. “Because your way sucks. You haven’t been with a guy in forever, and before that, you were dating anything that moved.” She shrugged. “You’re all over the place, and I know you’re not happy.”
“Not happy?” Aurora pulled a face, but inside, her heart was racing. Keeping a constant façade up around her best friend was exhausting at the best of times, but nevermore so than under one-on-one scrutiny such as this. “I have my dream job. I’m not responsible to anyone. I can do what I want, when I want to. Did it ever occur to you, Bea, that I’m happy not to have to apologise to some guy for staying out late? For wandering the National Gallery all day on a rainy Saturday just because it’s what I want to do?”
“When do you ever just wander around the National?” Beatrice asked sceptically.
“Last weekend!” Aurora let out a noise of frustration. “I’m happy for you and Pete. I really am. But stop trying to fix me up. And not with Alec. Not with anyone.”
Beatrice waved her fingers above her head, heralding a waiter. “Another mimosa, please.”
“Champagne,” Aurora muttered, getting increasingly impatient with her friend’s haranguing. “And even if I was interested in dating – which I’m not – why in God’s name would Alec be the man for me? “
“He’s a really great guy.”
“I’m sure he is!” Aurora nodded. “But he works in finance. I was a model, and now I’m a fashion blogger. I know everything there is to know about viscose rayon and dresses cut on the bias; I can tell you the eighteen shades Givenchy will be featuring at this year’s fashion week, but the closest thing I can tell you about Dow Jones is that he probably shouldn’t wear beige at his age.”
“You’re deliberately dumbing yourself down. You got a scholarship to one of the best schools in the country.”
Aurora scowled. “I am not dumbing myself down. Did you hear me? I know everything there is about viscose rayon! Come on, that’s a gift.” She smiled unevenly. “Just leave it, Bea. For once, just leave it. I’m your best friend, and all I want right now is to focus on your amazing wedding. This is the day of your dreams, so let’s just talk tulle and tulips and drink champagne until your parents get here.”
“And Leonardo,” she said with a nod. “And no tulips. Peter’s allergic.”
“What?” Aurora felt as though her ears were filled with singing birds; a high pitched noise signalling, perhaps, a fall from great altitude, was buzzing in her brain.
“I know, right? Who’s allergic to tulips? They’re possibly the most innocuous flower ever, but if they come within six feet of Peter he’s the one who needs inoculating. Lucky he’s cute.”
