He’s staring right back at me.
There’s something oddly familiar about him.
My whole body gives a shiver, sending an electric sort of tingle across my skin, as my mind clicks together the pieces of memory I need to form the information I’m grasping for.
Oh my God.
Kit Charleston.
Of all the places and times to see him again. Seriously, karma? Rightnow?
* * *
Kit
What are the odds of Chloe Dasher turning up here, on the other side of theworld, just when I’m trying to avoid thinking about anything from my past?
I came all the way here precisely to get away from England, in order to get my head straight, but seeing Chloe has brought all the feelings I thought I’d left there rushing back to the forefront of my mind.
Is this holiday going to turn out to be some Scrooge-type scenario? Girlfriends past, present and future coming to fuck with me?
‘Hello, stranger,’ I say as she walks up to where I’m standing at the reception desk.
‘I thought I was hallucinating there for a second,’ she says by way of reply, shaking her head in wonder.
‘Nope. It’s really me. In the flesh. Bumping into you, inJapanof all places, after not seeing you for, what? Five years?’
‘Second year of university, right? So yeah. About five years.’
A memory of us fucking flashes through my head. We’d been dynamite together in the sack. We’d had a certain type of chemistry I’ve not been able to reproduce with anyone else. Not even Katya, though it was a different kind of vibe I’d had with her. Don’t get me wrong, the sex was great. Just not aselectricas it had been with Chloe.
And you need more than sex to make a long-term relationship last, as she and I discovered five years ago.
We’d had a lot of fun together at the time though. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone as headstrong and forthright as Chloe. She always said really left-field things, stuff I never heard coming out of anyone else’s mouth, and it had fascinated me. I’d loved how unpredictable she was. It became clear we weren’t that compatible, on an emotional level, because she’d been after a more committed kind of relationship, so it had blown itself out after a few months together. We’d parted on fairly decent terms but had run in different social circles, and she’d got together with some other guy pretty quickly after we split, so I’d honestly never expected to see her again.
‘So, what brings you to Japan?’ I ask, hoping, the moment after I’ve said it, that she doesn’t ask me the same thing. I don’t really want to get into the whole cancelled wedding shitshow with her right now. If she does ask, I’m just going to say I’m here to get some R&R after a heavy work stint. She’ll never know it’s not entirely accurate. We don’t have any mutual friends or acquaintances any more so she’s unlikely to have heard about my situation.
Chloe visibly swallows and something that looks a lot like sadness flashes across her face.
How weird.
I hope no-one died.
There’s a heavy pause before she gives me a strained smile and says, ‘This was meant to be my honeymoon, but the wedding didn’t happen. I came anyway for a holiday.’
Her honesty knocks the wind out of me.
Well hell, I can’t very well lie to her now about why I’m here. Not when she’s just trusted me with that.
So I say, ‘Snap.’
She frowns and wrinkles her freckle-scattered nose at me. Yeah, she’s still as pretty as she was when I last saw her, prettier even. In fact if anything, she’s grown more into her looks, which are now verging on beautiful.
Damn it. I really shouldn’t be noticing things like that right now.
‘What do you mean,snap?’ she asks, sounding confused.
‘I mean, snap, me too.’
