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Leaving the studio behind, they made their way down the hall without a word. The moment the elevator doors glided shut, Robin leaned back against the mirrored glass, her leather jacket slung casually over one shoulder.

‘Kill me now,’ Robin sighed. ‘Please. Cut the cables to this thing.’

‘That would be letting you off too easily,’ Sienna replied, keeping her eyes fixed on the floor numbers ticking down.

‘I hope you enjoy this victory. It’s the last I’ll give you,’ Robin told her.

‘I’ve had my fun,’ Sienna said, turning to look at her directly. ‘Now it’s your turn. And I expect a really, really nice date, Robin.’

Robin looked at her for a long moment. ‘You got it, Vance,’ she said with a cheeky smile. ‘One nice date coming up.’

Something about that smile made Sienna’s heart speed up to the rate of a galloping horse.

The elevator chimed, the doors sliding open to the lobby. Robin gave a nod and walked out.

Sienna stayed right where she was. She watched the space Robin had just left until the doors glided shut again, trapping her inside. She’d forgotten to get off.

Reaching out to hit the DOOR OPEN button, her fingers shook just enough that she missed it entirely.

Twenty

Robin was sitting on her battered sofa, a blank notebook open on the coffee table in front of her. At her feet, Kiki let out a dramatic dog-sigh, resting her chin on Robin’s socked foot.

‘I know, Kiki,’ Robin muttered, staring down at the empty page. ‘I don’t like it either.’

She picked up her pen, scribbled Mini Golf? And then immediately crossed it out with three aggressive lines and tossed the pen onto the table. Mini golf was like the escape room. She’d picked that partly because Sienna would hate it. She couldn’t pull a stunt like that this time.

Robin put her feet up on the arm of the sofa and leaned her head back against the cushions, staring up at the water stain on her ceiling. Zoe’s smug voice echoed in Robin’s head for the fiftieth time that evening.

‘It was painfully obvious to anyone with ears that you were completely blown away by her out there.’

Christ, that was bad enough. But then she’d really stuck the knife in.

‘She romanced you.’

Robin scowled, reaching down to aggressively scratch Kiki behind the ears. It was nonsense. She hadn’t been romanced. She’d just been surprised. There was a massive difference between being charmed by someone and being caught completely off guard when your stick-up-her-arse co-host suddenly starts moving like the goddess of salsa.

Except Robin hadn’t just been surprised, had she? Robin needed to start being honest with herself about that. She’d always known Sienna was good-looking; you couldn’t miss it. But what she’d learned during Salsa, the thing that was haunting her, was that Sienna was hot.

Robin couldn’t seem to erase the memory of Sienna’s flushed neck, the excitement in her dark eyes, the way their bodies had fitted together.

And then that taunt in the elevator.

‘I expect a really, really nice date, Robin.’

‘She’s doing it on purpose,’ Robin told Kiki, who blinked back with zero sympathy. ‘But I’m onto her. It’s all a trap. And she’s not gonna win the next one. I know her game. If I plan something silly, I lose. But if I do things her way…’

What was the problem with that, actually? She could just book a nice restaurant, Google ‘date questions’ and call it a day. It wasn’t all that complicated, was it?

Was it?

Robin sat up, grabbing the pen again.

Pottery Class?

Sienna wouldn’t want to get that messy.

Fancy Wine Tasting?