Mum pursed her lips.“You grew up in a houseful of women.”
“Like I need reminding.”
“So, you should be able to understand women better than you’re pretending to right now.”Mum kept her eyes on him as she took a sip of coffee.“Are you and Libby dating?”
“Nope.”And that was the truth.Out of all the things he and Libby had done together, going on a date wasn’t one of them.The closest thing they’d got to it was last night’s beach walk, and look how that had ended.He’d been about to bring up Isabella and the rumors but couldn’t bear all that shit creeping in between them, and Libby’s lush lips had been so tempting.Like their steamy stressbuster the other night, kissing under the stars would soothe the tension.But so much for his smooth romantic moves.“We’re just friends, Mum.That’s it.”
With a tight nod, Mum let the subject drop.
“Have you heard from Isabella?”she asked.
Dan sighed.If he hadn’t wanted to talk about Isabella with Libby last night, he really, really didn’t want to talk about her with his mother now.And there wasn’t much he could say, anyway.He couldn’t tell Mum about Isabella’s new man, nor the fact that she was quite likely on the verge of a Hollywood scandal.“We’ve exchanged a few messages.That’s all.”
After his swim yesterday, he’d texted Isabella to let her know she was inHot Gossip’scrosshairs.He’d also told her about Alicia possibly being on her way to London today.Issy had asked how he knew.That’s not important now, he’d told her.Just make sure you’re ready for what’s about to come.
“Are you still in love with her?”Mum asked.
“Uh?With Isabella?”Dan shook his head.“I still care about her.”
“I know,” Mum said.“I would expect that of you, but what if she came back?Would you want to give her another chance?”
Dan scoffed.“She won’t come back.”
Isabella had Hunter now.
“But what if she did?Before you can move on, you need to ask yourself what you’d do if she wanted to get back together.”
“She won’t.”
But if Isabella, by some chance, ever did realize she’d made a huge mistake and came running back to him, could he really forgive her?Could he pick up the pieces of their relationship and continue on that same journey they’d planned?
And what about Libby?
What if she’d said yes to his question last night about being more than friends?
Could he…
Dan shook his head.This was pointless!Because no matter what he was having now with Libby and what he’d once had with Isabella, there was absolutely no point in talking aboutwhat ifs?Libby had run away from him last night, and Isabella had her new life with Hunter.
“How I feel about Isabella has nothing to do with how I feel about Libby,” he ended up saying.
Mum sat back in her chair.“I never said it did.”
“Rick!Finally.Where’veyoubeen?”This phone call was going to cost a fortune, but unusual for Libby’s friend Rick, he hadn’t replied to any of her messages over the past twenty-four hours, and when she’d seen his name flash on her screen just now, she’d been desperate to hear his voice.“I was getting worried.What’s going on with you?”
“You don’t want to know.”
“Man, that’s saying something, coming from you.”To anyone who hadn’t known him for ten years, Rick could be an elusive character.Well, he was many characters, really, online and off.“Everything okay?”
“Yep, same old stuff.”Which in Rick’s world could mean anything.“How’s my little dude?”
“He’s good—and currently halfway up a tree.”Karim was quite safe, of course, and not quite up a tree either.Holding her phone in one hand, Libby had a good grasp of him by his T-shirt with the other so he could scramble up the fallen-down palm tree.“He’s probably all of one meter above sea level,” she added.They were on the sandy beach too, so Karim would have a soft landing if he did fall.
“Congrats on your videos, by the way,” Rick said.“You nailed it, Libs.”
“Thanks.I had the best teacher.”There was more rustling on the line and sirens wailing in the background.“Hey, you okay?”
“Yep, just give me a minute.”Rick was out of breath.Which was odd, seeing as he ran marathons.Yet another of his online personas.There was more rustling, another intake of breath.“You still there, Libs?”
