“You’ve slept with him.”
What the fuck?
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
She placed the iron down and crept over to him. “You bloody have. Noah Farman, you’ve never been able to lie to me before and you certainly can’t now.”
Despite himself Noah shook his head.
“You missed your calling,” he said. “You’d have been the best interrogator in the world.”
She pulled up the chair next to him and stared intently. It appeared she wasn’t going to give up.
“Okay, I surrender,” he said, throwing his hands up. “Yes we’ve slept together.”
“Let’s have a look at him then. But keep it clean please.”
Noah rolled his eyes as he got his phone out. There was no point in refusing her. Deep down he was excited to show her anyway.
He pulled up a selfie they’d taken at the bowling alley.
“He’s gorgeous,” she said when he showed her the picture. “How old is he?”
“Here we go,” he replied, snatching the phone away. “He’s mid-thirties.”
Ashley frowned. “Noah. You’re twenty-four.”
“I am, yes. I remember.”
She got to her feet and held her hand out.
“We’re going for a walk.”
This was always her solution to a bump in the road. The house backed onto a park. Nothing fancy, just a local one. If he had a pound for every hour he’d spent kicking a ball around the rectangular grass pitch.
During teenage years he, Ellie and Alfie had all been dragged around the perimeter at some point or other. It had been the place he’d confided in her that he was gay. Of course, she hadbeen totally supportive. This woman was a saint. Yet one with a steely edge that wouldn’t be ignored.
“Come on then,” she ordered.
They wrapped up against the elements and stepped out. So many teenage worries had been solved on this route.
Why shouldn’t it work now?
Once on the concrete pavement, he stuffed his hands in his pockets. Regressing ten years, ready to air his woes. Not that he had any where Carmine was concerned. Noah had never been happier.
“You’re inventing a problem where there isn’t one,” he said.
“It’s a big age difference, love. You have to admit that.”
“Of course I do. I’m saying I don’t care.”
She glanced at him. “Maybe not now while you’re in the first flush of it all. What about further down the road? You need to have things in common.”
He knew she meant well but it was way too early in the day to be having a conversation like this. He wasn’t even sure if he was in a relationship with Carmine. He was a man of the world. Perhaps he only wanted fun while he settled back into the UK.
“And you have your future with boring Gordon all mapped out, do you?”
He gave a shudder.
