‘Go where?’
‘Anywhere. I can’t stay here. Nate paid for it fair and square, or someone did.’
‘You’re not going anywhere. I haven’t heard anything from the company that booked it and even if I do, they cancelled. I’m allowed to re-let.’
‘I don’t know, Sav. It doesn’t feel right. I feel like I’m stealing or something. Taking something that isn’t mine.’
‘Oh honey, by the sound of it, Nate had no problem taking what wasn’t his too!’ She snorts at her own joke. ‘I can’t actually believe it. Isn’t he dating Celeste Occhialini?’
Tootsie licks my hand and I gather she’s hungry. I fill her bowl, place it on the kitchen floor, and she eats like she’s been starved for days. ‘They broke up.’
‘Good. He comes across as a grumpy, tough type, but at least he’s not the cheating type.’ Savannah can’t bear infidelity, which makes me think the twins’ dad was unfaithful. Not that she’ll ever elaborate.
‘What if he comes back?’ Savannah pushes the one button I can’t.
‘If he does, it’s for your stunning villa, not me.’ A sigh slips from my lips. ‘Do you know the really mad thing?’
‘Go on.’ Savannah sounds as dazed as I feel.
‘It’s going to sound completely crazy. Even crazier than him turning up in the first place.’
‘What?’ Impatience weighs on her tone.
‘I got the impression that he actually saw me.’ My stomach somersaults at the memories. At the tenderness of his touch and the juxtaposition of the roughness of his stubble. ‘And that he liked what he saw.’
‘Honey, from what you said, I think he saw every inch of you.’ Savannah snorts again.
‘Seriously, it was like he just got me or something. He was caring, tender, considerate. Not the moody man mountain the media portrays him to be.’ A whoosh of breath rushes from my mouth. ‘But then again, the man is a professional actor. He was probably putting on the performance of his life. Pretending even to himself that I was the sexiest woman he’s ever seen to make it as good for him as it was for me.’
‘Holly Marie Hazelwood, you are probably the sexiest woman he’s ever seen. You are stunning. The only person who doesn’t know it is you.’ My friend’s loyalty knows no bounds.
To change the subject, I broach the other topic. The one I wish we could bury under the sand, instead of my head. ‘Dare I ask how that life-destroying video is going?’
Savannah pauses, clicking her tongue against the roof of her mouth. ‘It’s going.’
Shit. I don’t even want to know how many hits that thing’s had.
‘Don’t think about it. Delete all social media apps from your phone and go and walk Tootsie on the beach. Take a spin to the pier. There’s a gorgeous coffee cart down there. Get some fresh air. Go to the art supply shop in the next town over and buy some paint. Rest. Heal. You’ve been through a lot. Lie low and trust that I am dealing with this.’
‘Thanks, Sav. I honestly don’t know what I’d do without you.’
‘As I said, you’ll never have to find out.’
We agree to catch up later. I throw on some clothes and get into the Mini.
Sav wasn’t lying about the coffee cart. It’s even decked out with festive, twinkling fairy lights. I order a gingerbread latte and pretend the woman serving me isn’t staring at me like she knows me.
Ten minutes later, Tootsie and I are strolling on the sandy beach, with the wind whipping through my matted-seriously-fucked-hair. I couldn’t bring myself to shower Nate’s sublime scent from my skin quite yet.
What a night.
Maybe I accidentally manifested it or something. Because I spent years visualising doing that with Nate Jackson.
Just a shame I didn’t visualise doing it forever.
Because who the hell is ever going to match up to that?
ChapterEleven
