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‘Meddlesome.’
‘Tell her to pop in and we can grab another coffee.’
‘I dread to think what she’ll add to the list of negatives about me.’
Alison merely gave him an enigmatic smile. ‘Do you have anything to say in defence to Will’s comments?’
‘I’m surprised he knew what “philanderer” meant.’
‘Meaow.’ Alison did a clawing action which Rocco found incredibly cute. ‘Actually, I think he used the term “man slut”. I ad-libbed.’ Alison leant against the counter again, cupping her chin in the palm of her right hand, looking up at him with beautiful round hazel eyes. ‘For what it’s worth, I think Frankie’s barn conversion is gorgeous. And your own house renovation is stunning. You’re clearly very talented.’
Rocco started to feel cheered.
‘My party house?’
She nodded. ‘Your party house. From what I saw, anyway. I’d love to get a proper tour sometime.’
This was encouraging.
‘You know, full disclosure, with regard to dating, I used to be how Will described me, but not anymore. I’ve changed.’
The door to the chemists opened and Rocco moved to the side and focused on looking at a throat-sweet stand while he waited for whomever had come in to get what they needed and leave.
Rocco wondered if he should invite Alison round to his for dinner. He mentally went through some cookery books, wondering if she was vegetarian…
‘Well, hello, lover boy!’
Rocco nearly jumped out of his skin as Sienna’s face appeared at his shoulder.
‘I thought that was you lurking about.’
‘Oh, hi. How are you?’
‘I’m good. Well, I will be in a minute or two.’ Sienna turned to Alison. ‘Have you got the morning-after pill?’
Rocco hadn’t realised how loud Sienna’s voice was. She was clearly used to shouting over customers in a busy bar and didn’t seem to turn down the volume when not working.
Alison nodded and went off into the back of the chemists, returning a moment later with a little box.
‘The instruction—’
‘Oh, don’t worry, I’ll read it all later.’ Sienna turned to Rocco. ‘Oh God, don’t worry, this isn’t after our night together. That would be like opening the farm gate way before the cow bolted.’
Through his mortification Rocco presumed Sienna meant closing the stable door after the horse had bolted. But either way, the damage was done. Alison had clearly heard everything.
‘No, this was from last night. My boyfriend had to head back to Nottingham. I was feeling a bit lonely and got absolutely steaming after work and slept with one of the waiters. Oh, and I’d best take these too, hon,’ Sienna added to Alison as she pointed at a multipack of condoms. ‘Don’t want any more mishaps!’
Sienna paid and scooped up her purchases then turned to Rocco.
‘Did you know that the band Drive With Care is in Drumkeldy at the moment? They were in the bar the other night. The lead guy, Jay, used to live here, evidently. I love his ex-wife’s Insta stuff and vlogs. Astridarling, you know? She was desperate to get back with him, had this big prime-time slot on a major channel all ready to film them rekindling their romance. She’d planned that they’d go through all these types of therapy to be able to unblock their love chakras. A different therapy session each episode. Oh, but nothing weird or gimmicky, but proper therapy, like speaking to shamans and doing goat yoga, sandplay therapy, stuff like that, you know? I mean, it’s an absolute sin that he dumped her in the first place. She’s gorge! Another vlogger said she’s going to sue for breach of contract or something like that. She deserves to be a star. Everybody thinks so, you know?’
To Rocco, it sounded like Jay had had a very lucky escape.
Sienna paused as she turned to leave, resting a hand on Rocco’s arm. ‘And, if you’re lonely over Christmas and fancy a bit of fun, you know where to find me,’ she said in a slightly quieter voice, but still loud enough to be heard by everyone in the chemists.
Rocco cleared his throat, feeling his face get hot. ‘I don’t think that would be a very good idea.’
Sienna sighed. ‘You still need to loosen up a bit. So stuffy!’ With a little wave to Rocco, Sienna headed out of the chemists, calling out a ‘Thanks for this, hon!’ as she waved the box in the air.
