AllFreeNovel
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‘Olly, you’re such a fucking . . .’ said Rob.
‘ANYWAY,’ continued Olly, holding his hand inches from Rob’s face, ‘I reminded Rob that you were your own woman, and if you didn’t want to spend quality alone time with me, you’d say so.’
Olly actually made air quotes around ‘alone time’, and Hannah had to press her lips together to stop herself laughing.
‘Sorry, I’m confused,’ she said, tilting her head innocently. ‘You’re interested in “alone time” with me, but you’re talking to Rob about it. How does that work?’
‘As I said, just a passing observation apropos your attractiveness,’ said Olly, licking his lips and moving a bit closer. ‘But Prince fucking Charming here seems to think I need to get his permission.’
‘You don’t need anyone’s permission to ask,’ said Hannah mildly. ‘As long as you agree that my decision is final.’ She held his gaze, a veteran of a thousand encounters with difficult country club customers who wanted something from her that she absolutely wasn’t prepared to give.
‘Of course,’ said Olly, his eyes flicking from her face to her chest to her legs and back again. ‘So would you be interested? In some quality alone time with yours truly?’
Hannah folded her arms and looked him up and down, wondering if men ever found this as uncomfortable as women did. ‘It’s a no from me, I’m afraid.’
Olly paused for a second, then pressed his wet lips together and pulled back his shoulders, tossing his head like this outcome couldn’t possibly matter less. Hannah glanced at Rob, who was trying not to laugh, then went back to collect her tray of drinks and returned to the table.
‘What was all that about?’ Trish asked excitedly.
‘Nothing,’ said Hannah. ‘Just Olly being an idiot, as usual.’ She glanced back to the bar, gasping softly as Olly shoved Rob in the shoulder. Rob looked over and gave Hannah a long look that clearly signified ‘I’ve had enough’, then held up his hands and left the room.
‘Hannah?’ said Trish, her eyes narrowed. ‘What just happened?’
‘Nothing,’ Hannah said. ‘Olly and Rob got into a . . . disagreement.’
‘About what?’ asked Trish. Her tone was full of suspicion, and Hannah knew she wasn’t going to let this go. She reminded herself that these women were her friends, so maybe it was time to be straight with them.
‘About me, actually. Olly told Rob he fancied me, and Rob told him to leave me alone.’ She looked up at Jess and Gaynor, who were looking between Hannah and Trish with gripped expressions.
‘And why would Rob tell him that?’ asked Trish. Hannah could feel the barb in every word.
‘I . . .’ Hannah looked away.
‘Oh my God,’ said Trish, as realisation finally dawned. ‘You and Rob like each other, don’t you?’
‘Shitting hell,’ hissed Gaynor. ‘We’re definitely going to need more drinks.’
‘Hannah?’ asked Trish.
She looked at Trish pleadingly. ‘Yes. But nothing has happened, I promise.’
‘Really?’ said Trish, looking a little sickly.
‘I totally believe you,’ said Jess, ever the peacemaker. ‘But why didn’t you tell us?’
‘There’s nothing to tell,’ said Hannah. ‘I actually met Rob by accident the first night we were here. He was the guy I was talking to outside that bar in Marbella.’
‘Fuck,’ said Trish. ‘How did I not remember that? God, I must have been hammered.’
‘And he likes you?’ said Gaynor. ‘Like, you’ve actually talked about it?’
‘Yes,’ said Hannah. ‘But he’s not into relationships, and I’m not into casual sex, and neither of us is in a great place right now. So we decided to leave it at that.’
‘That’s actually kind of romantic,’ said Jess. ‘Where’s he gone now?’
‘No idea,’ Hannah said. ‘Back to his room, probably.’
‘You should go after him,’ said Gaynor. ‘We’re all heading off tomorrow, and you don’t want to leave things like this. It’s bad holiday vibes.’
