Page 45 of Never Too Late

“Right. You’re…” I stopped myself before I added the word drunk. The last thing he needed was to be reminded of tonight’s incident, or to be made to feel like the apple didn’t fall far from the tree. “You’re feeling sentimental.”

We reached the point where we’d normally go our separate ways, Laurent stumbling slightly. “Come on,” I said, “I’ll take you home.”

Laurent raised his wrist to unearth his watch from his sleeve in a gesture that took far more effort than the simple action warranted. “And miss your hot video date. I am not being blamed for that.”

“He’ll wait. It might even do him good to be on the opposite side of how it feels for a change.”

Laurent shook his head and backed off a few steps. “I’m fine. I live four streets away. What do you think is going to happen?”

“I don’t mind,” I insisted.

“Not necessary.” He backed off a few more steps and made a shooing motion. “Be gone. Have your video sex.”

Judging by the smirk of the person who’d passed us at that exact moment, their understanding of English was perfectly fine.

“Laurent…”

“You’re still here,” he said, taking another couple of steps.

“Fine. Night Laurent. You know where I am if you need to talk. Lord knows you’ve been a great sounding board for me since we met, so it’s about time I returned the favor.”

Laurent gave me a two-fingered salute before turning away. Once he’d disappeared around the corner, I turned for home, shooting Cillian a quick text to say I’d be late getting online.

Chapter Sixteen

Cillian leaned closer to the screen with his eyes narrowed. “Are you drunk?”

“No,” I lied. “Well… maybe a bit.” I explained about the evening’s events, Cillian proving himself a good listener without the distraction of phone calls.

“I know you don’t like Laurent,” I finished by saying, “but…”

Cillian snorted. “You don’t have to like someone to feel empathy for them being dealt a shit lot in life. I wouldn’t wish that sort of situation on my worst enemy. Besides, it was more that your friend obviously didn’t like me. It made me wonder what you’d told him.”

I grimaced. “Nothing that wasn’t true. I didn’t make you out to be the devil incarnate, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

“Glad to hear it.” Cillian grinned. “Anyway… that’s in the past, and hopefully he’s warming to me now that he can see I’m not going anywhere.”

“Erm…”

“That doesn’t sound good.”

I wouldn’t get a better opening. “He’s just concerned we’re not addressing a few things we should be.”

Cillian frowned. “Like what?”

“Like the future.”

“I see.”

“I mean, what is the plan?” I wiped my sweaty palms on my jeans, my heart rate increasing. “Are you expecting me to move back to London? Or…?” I finished with a shrug.

Cillian blinked a few times. “I…” He trailed off as my phone rang.

“I’ll ignore it,” I said.

“It might be important.”

I checked my watch. It was late for anyone to be calling, even considering the fact that France was an hour ahead of the UK. A quick glance at the screen showed it to be a local call rather than an international one. It wasn’t a number I recognized.

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