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He and the barmaid had been flirting with each other for a couple of weeks, since she’d been taken on as one of the seasonal staff for the Christmas and New Year period.

Sienna had asked Rocco if he’d walk her home to the staff flats, behind the hotel, when her shift ended. They’d started kissing before she’d got the key into her door.

It had been fun. Not earth-shatteringly amazing, but a good way to spend a Monday night.

Afterward, the pillow talk was a little limited as Rocco realised that without the flirty banter and the sexual frisson building anymore, they had absolutely zilch in common. He didn’t even understand half of what she was talking about, with her pop culture references, obsessional checking for Instagram likes and clearly what was an over-reliance on TikTok as her main source of information and entertainment. And her knowledge of world events seemed to start and stop at the Kardashians. She gave him a sleepy smile and sat up, drawing her knees up to her chest under the duvet.

‘Morning,’ he said. ‘Sorry, I’ve got to go. I’ve got work and I need to head home and change. I can’t really see clients wearing this.’

‘You’d probably come over as more relatable!’ she said. ‘A little less, you know, stuffy.’

He gave a slight chuckle before realising she wasn’t joking.

‘Hmm, well, I’ll maybe suggest dress-down days for the future,’ he said, leaning over to give her a quick kiss. ‘I’ll call you.’

She pulled a face. ‘Actually, I’d rather keep this as a one-off.’

‘Yeah, of course.’ Although a little surprised, he wasn’t too bothered. Yes, she had a cracking body but, having nothing in common, he knew his interest would have waned very quickly.

‘And best we keep this to ourselves, my boyfriend’s coming up from Nottingham tomorrow.’

‘Boyfriend?’ At no point during the last couple of weeks had Sienna ever mentioned a boyfriend.

Clearly, he’d sounded surprised as she tutted and rolled her eyes. ‘So judgy! You really need to loosen up a bit, you know.’

‘Well, it’s just that you didn’t say,’ he replied, all too aware of sounding stuffy and judgemental. Didn’t she realise there was a code to follow? Sleeping with another guy’s girlfriend was a no-no in his book.

‘Well, I wanted to try out the infamous Rocco for myself!’

He paused, buckling his belt. ‘Sorry, what?’

She laughed. ‘Yeah, well, sleeping with you is like, the thing to do round here, isn’t it? I was told you target anyone new. It was so funny watching you circle, like a dolphin.’

He presumed she meant shark but didn’t want to keep going with that particular analogy. He felt distinctly uneasy as she watched him put on his shoes.

‘Oh, don’t get me wrong. It was nice⁠—’

Nice!

‘—and I’d never been with someone old before.’

He nearly snapped the laces of his Converse. ‘Old?’

‘Yeah, well you’re late thirties, aren’t you?’

‘Thirty-two. Which is not that much older than you!’

She pulled another face. ‘Yeah, sorry, I lied about being twenty-nine. I’m just twenty.’

‘What the…’ Rocco felt distinctly queasy. He didn’t know what was upsetting him the most – her having a boyfriend; her lying about her age; calling Rocco old; or that she’d described his sexual performance as being nice, possibly the dullest and most beige adjective she could have used.

‘I always think being twenty-nine is more interesting. It’s the same age as Astridarling, the influencer, you know?’

Rocco didn’t know. Rocco had absolutely no idea who the hell she was talking about.

What Rocco did know, however, was that he needed to leave.

‘Well, thank you for a nice evening. I’ll see you around.’ Rocco made a quick exit but not before seeing Sienna reach for her phone, raise it up, and pout for a selfie.