It had been his idea to jump in the cab with her when Mum turned up with Malek.It had been his idea to invite her to dinner as a buffer.But it wasn’t like he hadn’t enjoyed hanging out with her.That was the thing.He really had liked Libby’s company.He couldn’t ever remember feeling so comfortable around someone he barely knew.And all he’d been to her was another headline?
“Does your leg hurt?”the little girl—Rellina?—asked beside him as they all trundled to the shop.Her nose scrunched at the scars on his knee.
“No,” he lied.One way or another, he’d spent most of his life either ignoring pain or pushing through it.In training and competing, that burn of lactic acid searing through his muscles had become as natural to him as breathing.And now that was just another part of life that had changed for good, if not disappeared completely.God, he missed that life.He missed being that person who achieved things.He missed having success.He missed people looking up to him in awe, eyes glittering with inspiration rather than pity.The sharpness in his knee caught his breath.He hissed out the pain.Although it was more than just pain now.It was also damage and loss.
Libby had said he was grieving for his past life, for the person he used to be.
And fuck it, she’d been right.
She’d been so perceptive about so many things.Did that make her a true expert in manipulation?Or a kindhearted friend who simplygothim?
“There she is,” Christopher Mac said, his bright eyes alight with mischief.
Dan looked at the dirt track.In the distance, Libby pushed the stroller toward the forest, hips swinging.Angry.At him.
“That’s the road to the caves,” Christopher Mac said, grinning and waggling his eyebrows.“Don’t you want to go after your girlfriend?”
The rest of the gang snickered.
“She’s not my girlfriend.”But at least she’d been demoted from being hiswife.As if he could ever be like that turd who’d dumped her, capable of walking out on his family.Although he’d still walked out on her the other night… Dan gritted his teeth.“Do you want ice cream or not?”
“Ice cream!”They ran into the shop.
But Dan stood outside a little longer, watching Libby move farther and farther away.
Where was she going?
And what was she up to now?
Chapter15
TellingDanexactlywhatshe thought of him had certainly made Libby feel better.For all of thirty seconds.Now, she just felt empty, having blown the last shred of friendship with the guy she hadn’t stopped thinking about for days.
“Ho hum,” she said to herself, because Karim was still asleep and she was alone.Again.
But she marched on.She had a South Pacific island to explore.
That thought should—would—brighten her crappy mood.Being by herself was nothing new.In some ways, she’d spent her whole life on her own.Her parents hadn’t engaged much with her growing up, too different in their views to understand their inquisitive, talkative daughter who was constantly seeking truth and hard facts.Then, when she was eighteen, she’d left home and moved to LA, where under the bright lights, she’d been sucked up in the whirlwind that was Juliana Cortez.
Strong, powerful, and feared—Juliana had been a goddess to worship, an inspiration to a hungry young journalist like Libby, fresh out of night school and desperate to make a name for herself.Desperate to expose the truth.
The truth?
Ha!
Working for Juliana had been excellent training and very lucrative, but she saw now that writing gossip and reporting people’s downfall didn’t benefit anyone other than the journalists and photographers who were getting rich off other people’s misery.
We’ve got to be there on the worst days of their lives.
That was something else Juliana always used to say, and now it turned Libby’s stomach.Writing and investigating for a gossip site had never been what she’d set out to do with her life.
Neither was being a mom nor traveling with her baby, but at least she was trying to establish some sort of income now while solo parenting, doing something she enjoyed.
So enough of being distracted by grumpy British athletes.It was time to re-gain her focus on her mission.Shoot video diaries, give other parents tips and advice on visiting faraway places with young children.Surely there were thousands of people interested in the life she was leading… But getting noticed in the vastness of the internet was so difficult, and yes, she had been guilty of wanting to use Dan’s fame to propel her platform into the big-time.Was that really such a big ask?Well, it served her right for expecting a helping hand.She was always better off standing on her own two feet.To keep going on the path she’d chosen.
And right now, that path was literally too bumpy.She slowed her pace on the deserted dirt road.The last thing she needed now was for Karim to wake up whining, or worse still, for the stroller to fall apart.
Sweat rolled down her face.Humidity stuck to her skin.She should find somewhere cool so she could work on her article while Karim napped.Or maybe she could even shoot some footage in the forest so at least she’d feel productive.
