‘Unless it’s actuallyyouwho’s embarrassed to be seen withme?’ She worries at her bottom lip with her teeth again.
It’s tempting. It really is. But Ryan will want to know how I plan to keep Lula from being deported if I’m not going to marry her, and even though Declan has a plan, I haven’t quite worked out the details. Until then, it needs to stay between us.
‘I could never be embarrassed to be seen with you. You’re way out of my league, Princess. You always have been. But if we come out, it’ll be front page news by midday. I know you were worried about everyone thinking you only got this contract because of your connections, and I don’t want to make that any worse. You know what the media are like.’
I hate myself for not being honest with her, but it’s for the best. It’s too complicated. All I need is a little time to work things out.
Chloe’s gaze falls to the soapy shower floor. ‘Oh, okay.’
‘I meant it when I said I love you. I want to do things the right way.’
She nods, busying herself, rinsing out the suds from her luscious long hair. That’s the second time I’ve told her I love her with no response.
Not that I’m counting.
ChapterThirty-Three
CHLOE
The new spa is amazing. Modern, plush and dripping with enough crystal chandeliers to give any spa in Dubai a run for its money, with the added bonus of the view. The lush green landscape stretches all the way to the Irish Sea in the distance and the scent of lavender wafts on a gentle breeze as the hazy summer sun dodges in and out between fluffy clouds.
For the first time in a long time, I imagine what it might be like to live here again. To spend time with Sasha and Victoria like this regularly. Those sorts of thoughts used to suffocate me, but now heat spreads through my chest where the hole used to be, before Jayden Cooper plugged it with love.
I honestly didn’t realise it was possible to be so happy.
Obviously there are a lot of details to be ironed out, but He Loves Me! I’m like a giddy schoolgirl, and that was before the champagne.
Victoria slips into the outdoor jacuzzi with shadows lingering under her eyes, but her lips lift into a grin.
‘I take it the exam went well?’ The water rises as the three of us shuffle to find a jet to lean our backs on.
‘It’s done,’ is all Victoria says. ‘Time will tell.’
‘You’ll have smashed it.’ I offer her arm a reassuring squeeze.
‘And even if you didn’t, ‘Sasha interjects, ‘it’s not the end of the world. Look at Ryan. He doesn’t have a single qualification to his name and look what he’s achieved.’
I stick my fingers in my mouth and make a vomiting motion at my little sister. ‘It always comes back to Ryan, doesn’t it?’
Victoria sniggers and winks. ‘Speaking of boyfriends, tell us about Pedro.’
My head whips around in Sasha’s direction. She’s suddenly become engrossed fiddling with her engagement ring. ‘Witch!’
‘Sorry, was it a secret?’ she gasps, mockingly.
‘It’s the biggest news of the century. Chloe’s started dating again. Properly dating, not using and abusing more unsuspecting men before breaking their hearts,’ Victoria exclaims.
‘You’ve been watching too much teenage drama on Netflix. There were no broken hearts.’ Apart from mine. Thankfully, it’s stitched back together, beating in full force again. Jayden has breathed life into parts of me that have lain dormant for years.
Victoria flicks water in my direction and arches an eyebrow. She’s like a mini-Sasha. ‘Come on, tell us about him! It’s not as if we’re likely to bump into him in the street, is it? What’s he like?’
I bite back the smile that springs to my lips at the mere thought of Jayden. ‘Very well.’
It’s almost impossible to articulate how amazing he is. How far we’ve come. A hundred images bombard my brain.
The time we had sex in the sea.
The time he snuck into my room in Sydney.
