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She laughed. “I have to give you points for persistence, I suppose.”
“I mean it. How can you still be hung up on him?” He frowned. “Was it seeing him that night at the bar?”
She focussed on a car, driving around the corner, far beneath them. “It reminded me of what he used to mean to me. That’s all.”
“Must be hard, not having Beatrice to talk to about any of this.”
“Tell me about it.” She winced. “I don’t know if she’d ever forgive us, actually.” She turned around on the balcony, resting her palms against the railing.
“Your secret is safe with me.” His eyes raked her face consideringly. “You know, maybe we can help each other out.”
“Yeah? How’s that?”
“What about Not Dating?”
“Not Dating?” She furrowed her brow. “What do you mean?”
“What if we go out, and get to know each other, but from the outset we’ll say that there’s nothing to it except two tragic losers hanging out.”
She laughed. “You know, I don’t think I’ve ever been called a tragic loser before.”
“See? I’m breaking new ground already. Who knows? I might even teach you a thing or two.”
“You just might, Alec.”
“Is that a yes?”
She pulled a face and nodded. “Sure. I’ll Not Go Out with you.”
“Great.” He put a hand out and she surprised herself by putting her own in it. “Let’s start with whipping Bea and Pete’s smug arses.”
“Uh oh,” she remarked with a grimace. “We’ve hit our first bump in the road already, and we’ve only been a Not Couple for two minutes.”
He threw her a look of mirth. “What’s the problem?”
“When it comes to cards, I’m a dead weight.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll carry you.”
They walked back into the lounge area, both smiling in a relaxed way. But Aurora’s easiness disappeared when her eyes caught what was on the large screen behind them. Formula One. The unmistakable sound of engines purring filled her with a bone chilling fear.
“What’s… that?” She gulped, taking a step closer as car after car hooned past the camera.
“Errr, Grand Prix,” Beatrice said, as though her best friend had lost her mind. “You might have heard of it before?”
“Oh, sure. Right.”
And in spite of herself, she stared at the screen. Her stomach churned in her middle.
“There’s the man,” Peter cheered, as the unmistakable logo of the Italian car giant raced past. Aurora looked at the screen. He was placing well; he’d be thrilled.
“I didn’t know about your history. When Pete suggested we have it on,” Alec said in an apologetic undertone.
“It’s fine. I’m totally fine with it,” she lied, sitting on the edge of the sofa and trying her hardest not to look at the screen. It didn’t work. With each lap the cars completed, she felt her blood pressure rising.
“Guys,” she said, standing unsteadily. “I completely forgot but I’m meant to go to a thing.”
“A thing?” Beatrice looked at her sharply. “What thing?”
