Page 33 of Heart of The Night

My eyebrows arched. ‘Wow.’

‘Yeah.’

‘He should take a break from dating other women, then. It’s not fair on them if he’s always thinking of Ivy. And he’s delusional if he thinks another woman is going to help him get over her. That’s not how it works.’

‘Don’t worry, he’s realised that.’

‘That’s a relief,’ I said, letting out a long sigh.

‘Tired?’ he asked, his hand coming to rest lightly on my thigh.

‘Totally spent,’ I admitted, fatigue starting to wash over me.

‘I thought as much. On the bright side, though, Alex seemed rather charmed by you.’

‘Really?’ I asked, unable to mask my excitement.

‘Yes.’ He took my hand, lifting it to his lips for a brief kiss as we eased onto the main road. ‘Thank you for staying. It meant a lot to me.’

I squeezed his hand and leaned over to peck his cheek. ‘I’m glad I stayed, too.’

§ § §

Olivia’s shoes in the hall gave me pause.

‘Livy?’ I called, nudging the front door closed with my foot.

‘So you’re alive after all,’ came her cheeky reply.

‘Barely. How come you’re here?’ I asked, kicking off my shoes and wandering into the living room. No sign of her there.

‘Well, I crashed in your bed. Hope that’s all right,’ she said, her voice drifting from the kitchen. ‘Jason and I watched Braveheart last night. I conked out about halfway through. By the time Jason woke me up, it was late, so I decided to stay over.’

‘Fair enough.’ Entering the kitchen, I found them holed up at the table, their faces lit by the glow of their laptop screens. ‘What’s all this?’ I asked, eyeing their setup. Jason barely looked up, his brows furrowed in deep concentration.

Olivia swivelled to face me. ‘Jason offered to help me with my job applications’ – she nodded toward him – ‘so I nipped home this morning to grab my laptop. We’ve been on it since then.’

My eyebrows shot up as I glanced at Jason. ‘How kind.’

He shrugged. ‘No big deal. Dad, being a lawyer and all, gave some great advice when I rang him, so I’m just helping Livy weave that into her cover letters.’

‘You owe me a pint,’ Olivia said, eyeing him. ‘But you’ve been such a help, I might let you off.’

‘No, you’ll get your pint,’ he replied, a half-smile pulling at his mouth.

‘Why does he owe you a pint?’ I asked, leaning against the doorpost.

Olivia grinned. ‘He was sure you wouldn’t come home till tomorrow. I knew you’d be back today, late or not.’

I laughed. ‘I would have stayed longer if I weren’t scared of myself.’

‘Scared of yourself?’ Jason looked confused.

‘Yeah. I can’t seem to keep my hands off him, but I’ve got to. I’m sore all over – can’t even sit without feeling like he’s still inside me.’

Jason and Olivia’s jaws dropped comically.

‘Goodness,’ Olivia said, putting her hand on her chest. ‘I take it the date went well, then?’

---