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Marco quickly shook her proffered hand. “Marco. I’m an old friend of Ha
I stiffened as Suza
Right then I cursed our nights at university together, especially the night we got rip-roaring drunk and Suza
Suza
“Suza
But did she pick up on my signals?
Nope.
She shot Marco a dirty look. “You’ve got a lot to answer for. My girl has so many issues because of you.”
Floor, open up and swallow me. Please.
“Suza
“No, he should know.” Her eyes widened. “Oh, my God, is he the reason you’ve been such a complete and utter boring bitch lately?”
I was suddenly very disappointed in my taste in friends.
“Watch it,” Marco growled, and Suza
Affronted, Suza
Unfortunately, I didn’t take too kindly to being called a boring bitch in public or in private. In my teacher voice I said, “I’ll speak with you later, Suza
She made a small harrumph sound, then turned sharply on her five-inch heels and marched toward her date, grabbing his arm and hauling him out of the bar.
“She’s a friend?” Marco asked quietly, incredulously.
“We met at uni. I grew up. She didn’t.”
He pushed his half-empty pint absentmindedly away from him. “Issues?”
I shrugged. “I honestly don’t know what she’s talking about.”
“Anisha told me she didn’t think there was a guy in your life and that you haven’t spoken about any from the past. Maybe that’s what she was talking about?”
My blood was suddenly hot with anger. I took a moment to calm. The last thing I wanted him to believe was that he’d done such a number on me I hadn’t been able to move on. I hadn’t been with anyone else by choice.
Sort of.
I exhaled slowly. “No guy at the moment.”
He appeared to relax at my reply.
I stared at him, letting my eyes co
Still holding my gaze, Marco’s lips turned up at the corner and I realized I wanted to kiss them right there on that seductive spot. “There’s someone. I just have to convince her of that.”
Yup. Definitely wanted to kiss him.
I narrowed my eyes on him, doing unimpressed convincingly. “I thought I told you we’re just friends.”
His eyes dropped to my mouth in a way that made me squirm. “I heard you.” His heated gaze returned to meet mine. “But I don’t think you heard me.”
CHAPTER 12
That Thursday evening Marco did come over to my flat with takeout and the film Lawless and we did sit and watch the film together and it was brilliant and Marco’s company was fantastic and I was already weakening in my resolve to keep him at arm’s length.
Breathe, Ha
“I don’t know.” Ellie shook her head at me. “I can see the resolve still there in your eyes. We need to chase that off.”
That following Saturday I ignored my pile of marking to hang out with my sister, Jo, and Liv at Joss and Braden’s town house on Dublin Street. They used to live in a flat downhill from the house, but when Joss fell pregnant with Luke, Braden bought and renovated a larger home a few doors up from the old place. We had the house to ourselves – Braden had taken the kids out for lunch – and I’d pretty much been ambushed with questions about Marco as soon as I walked in the door.
I grimaced at Ellie. “I’m guessing you’re on Team Marco?”
“I think we all are.” Joss handed me a cup of tea. “We haven’t heard you talking about a guy like this since… well, since Marco. That’s got to mean something.”
“He’s been back in my life three weeks. I can’t just give it to him.”
“No one is saying you have to,” Jo assured me. “But at least admit to us that you’re considering it.”
“Am I?” I argued. “Does my weakening of resolve mean that I’m considering it? No. It means I’m horny.”
“Ew.” Ellie put her hands to her ears. “Big sister still in the room.”
She really should know by now that only made me want to torment her more. “Seriously,” I continued, “I’ve worn out, like, three vibrators.”
“Meanie!” She threw me a horrified look.
“Meanie?” I snorted. “Ellie, that kid growing in your belly is depleting your brain cells.”
“Stop torturing your very pregnant sister,” Liv told me. “And answer this: Putting aside the attraction to him, would you consider really giving him a second chance?”
I gazed around at them all as they waited. Finally, I sighed. “I’ve already admitted to myself I would. But I’d be plagued with doubt every step of the way, so… it would be doomed from the start.”
“You don’t know that,” Joss replied quietly. “You’ll never know that until you take the chance. I was your age when I took the chance on Braden. And sure, there are days I want to kill him, but more often than not, I kind of like having him around. And the kids he gave me aren’t bad either. You should take the chance, Ha
From the expression on Ellie’s, Jo’s, and Liv’s faces I could tell they agreed with Joss. Knowing her dry wisdom, and how she adored Braden and her kids, I didn’t doubt her or her words of experience. But still, I doubted Marco.
Thankfully we moved on to the topic of Beth and school.
We were discussing the fact that Christmas was now less than seven weeks away when the doorbell rang. Joss got up to answer the door, returning with Nate.
Liv’s eyes widened with pleased surprise at the sight of her hot husband, and, honestly, I didn’t blame her. “What are you doing here?”
He slouched against the doorjamb, gri
“Uh, they don’t get a say.” Liv shot to her feet. “No offense.” She threw us an apologetic look. “But no kids and a hot husband? You ca
We snickered. No, we could not.
Liv grabbed her purse after pulling her boots on. “Nate” – she glanced over at him thoughtfully – “remember that time you broke my heart but then proved yourself to me with your perseverance and I gave you a second chance?”
Nate gave her a droll look. “Yes. And thank you for bringing it up. Good times.”
I laughed and shook my head at Liv. “You’re subtle.”
Nate sighed from the doorway. “Was there a point to revisiting a painful time from my past?”
Liv strode over to him, cupping his face in her hands. “Aw, babe,” she said as she tenderly pressed her lips to his, “I was making a point to Ha
I found myself pi