“They do!”
When he continued to look sceptically at her, she added. “All right, they don’t. God, how do you even know that?”
“Because if Sam and Nix knew you were leaving, you’d be doing overtime in the studio, not back alley tattoos at exorbitant prices.”
Tabby rolled her eyes. “How do I keep forgetting you’re good at this stuff?”
“Remembering how your mind works?”
“Yes,” she said accusingly. “Everyone else forgets things like normal people. It’s fabulous.”
“Maybe I like paying attention to you?”
He looked her up and down. Her shirt dress was baggy and stained, but not even a potato sack could have hidden those curves. He wondered what kind of underwear she had on. A thong, maybe. Or those boy shorts he saw in her bedroom that went halfway up her big round ass….
“You’re staring,” Tabby said, but not like she wanted him to stop.
“Hard not to.”
She rolled her eyes, but a little smile continued to play at the corners of her lips. “So you’re like… smooth now or something?"
This was the moment Maisy and all his previous hookups had prepared him for. Heart racing, he drew his metaphorical bow. “Why don’t you come here and find out?”
They stared at each other, the possibilities hot and bright, and for a second, he thought it was a done deal. Then she looked away, smirking. “I don’t think so, Toblerone.”
That wasn’t a no.
The atmosphere between them charged like an electrical storm. He wanted to ask if she remembered the way they’d fucked like animals on acid. Bruises and sweat. Scratches and saliva.
Easy, boy, relax.
“So, you’ve decided to run away?” he said, dropping the subject for now.
“It’s an underrated lifestyle choice. One minute, you have problems; the next minute, they’re no longer relevant.”
“That’s… one way of looking at it.”
“You ran away. From Scott and your old job and your old life.”
“I like to think of it as growing.”
“Me too, then. That’s what I’ll do:grow.”
He didn’t say anything. He had a feeling she’d keep talking if he stayed quiet, and sure enough, “I only came back to Melbourne to help Sam when the business was down the toilet. Now it’s fine. No one needs me here.”
He heard the pain in her voice, but what was he supposed to say?I need you. I’ve needed you for so long it hurts. Stay with me?
“It’s better to show not tell,”Maisy had told him a hundred or so times. If he could show Tabby everything she had waiting for her here, she might come around.
“Well, good luck,” he said. “Glad I could fund your escape.”
She put a hand to her chest in a mock swoon. “Whythank you, Mr Tennant, sir.”
The breathiness in her voice took all the irony out of the sarcasm.
“Anytime, baby girl.” He scanned her body once again. Her long legs, the swell of her perfect tits. She looked so fucking good. Like a sexy doll. He wanted to tie her to his bed and keep her there. Fuck her every hour on the hour for a year.
“Not gonna happen, shitbag.” The tequila had both softened and sharpened Tabby. She looked interested but her words had gotten meaner.
