Maybe there’s hope for me yet?
‘Are you hungry?’ I slip into the passenger side and adjust the air-con to full. My dress hitches up, drawing his attention.
‘I’m always hungry around you.’
Saliva pools in my mouth as he drops his free hand to my thigh.
‘If you’re not still embarrassed to be seen in public with me, we could stop for lunch somewhere? At least this side of the world we won’t be hounded by the paps.’
I swallow hard. ‘I told you before, I wasn’t embarrassed of you before, I was embarrassed of me.’
Huge grey eyes slant sideways at me. ‘And now?’
Now I’m stupidly enamoured.Thankfully, I don’t say it out loud.
I shrug. ‘Sushi?’
‘Sure.’
‘Take the next exit. I know a great place for lunch.’
He squeezes my thigh, and that smirk reappears. ‘It’s a date.’ Ever the joker.
I wish.
Sunset Sushi used to be my favourite restaurant in the entire emirate. With a huge double-height dining area hovering over the ocean, both the food and views are to die for.
Ethan and I used to come here most Thursdays when we’d finished the working week, toasting whatever we’d accomplished in the previous few days. Back then, the business was growing at an alarming rate, but I didn’t have the experience I have now. If I’d have been more savvy, I might have seen it coming.
I’ve only heard from him once since he left, when news broke at Christmas of my sister’s engagement to Ryan Cooper.
Obviously, I didn’t dignify it with a reply.
‘What are you thinking?’ Jayden asks when we’re left with the menu.
‘Nothing.’
A warm finger traces the back of my hand where it rests on the brilliant white linen tablecloth.
‘Are you sure?’
‘We agreed to embark on a fling, Jayden, not a friendship.’ I yank my hand back and hide it under the table.
‘Wow. Excuse me while I recover from whiplash.’ All trace of his usual humour is gone. ‘Is there a reason we can’t do both?’
I’m being a bitch. It’s not fair to take out my frustration on him. It’s not his fault I want more than he wants to give.
‘Sorry.’ I place my hand back on the linen and reach for his. ‘It’s not you…’
His familiar smirk inches onto his lips. ‘Don’t tell me. It’s not you, it’s me.’
‘My head’s all over the show right now.’
‘Is it the tour? All the American tabloids are saying it’s the best in years. You’ve done an amazing job.’
I pause, revelling in his praise for a few seconds. ‘It’s not that, it’s everything,’ I sigh, taking a sip from a glass of water. ‘I’m interviewing for staff. My phone’s vibrating so much my battery barely lasts an hour these days. I’ve got more work than I can keep up with and I still can’t turn any of it down.’
It’s all true, but it’s not the crux of what’s really bothering me.
