Page 52 of Sunny Skies and Summer Kisses

‘You just can’t help yourself, can you?’

At hearing the familiar voice, her head shot round, the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end, her heart started thumping hard against her ribcage. ‘Damon!’ He must have got a new phone, or an extra one.

‘You’ve always got to be throwing yourself at other men, don’t you? You should’ve seen yourself just then, flicking your stupid hair around, flirting with that bloke.’ His eyes looked wild. ‘You don’t even realise you’re doing it.’

She swallowed, aware of her pulse thrumming in her ears. ‘I wasn’t flirting or throwing myself at anyone, Damon. The man I was just talking to is the local GP, his wife’s a friend of mine.’ She glanced around, hoping to see someone, anyone, but the courtyard was deserted. She prayed that Zander would make an appearance soon.

‘Since when has that stopped you?’ he said, a cruel sneer spreading over his face. ‘And that crap singer with the ridiculous name who’s so full of himself. What’s he called? Gabe something or other? Don’t think I haven’t seen how you go on with him.’

Realisation dawned. The feeling she’d had over the last week about being watched was because shehadbeen. Damon must have been creeping about while she was teaching and, worse, when she’d been giving Gabe his salsa lesson. Goosebumps erupted over her skin. ‘You’ve been spying on me?’

‘Ah, so you don’t deny it then?’

‘I don’t have to answer to you anymore, Damon, we broke up quite a while ago, remember? You’ve got no right to be here, stalking me.’ She felt her anger rising.

‘Stalking? I’m not stalking!’ His eyes took on a sinister glare and his top lip curled into its familiar snarl. ‘I’ve got every right to come up here to see what’s been going on.’

Fear gripped Anoushka but she did her best to keep her voice calm. ‘No you don’t; you’ve got no right to be creeping about spying on me, and if you don’t leave right now, I’m calling the police.’ Though it was harder than she could ever have imagined, she held eye contact with him and was surprised when his snarl faltered and he appeared to back down.

‘You’re not worth wasting my time on; you’re nothing. I don’t know why I bothered with you in the first place.’ He turned and strode angrily away, disappearing around the corner of the end building.

Shaking, she let go a juddery sigh, squeezing her eyes tight shut as she did so. She needed to get away from here as soon as she could. Away from Damon.

As she was heading over to her car, a surge of anger suddenly nudged her feeling of anxiety out of the way; this was so typical of Damon to make her feel like this. How dare he make her feel threatened at her dance studio? He had no right! He had no claims on her.

She was almost at her car when another text messaged pinged through, it was from the woman she’d stayed back for. She stopped to read it; the woman was apologising for being late, saying she’d got lost but was now on her way. Anoushka became suddenly aware of the roar of an engine followed by Zander’s voice shouting her name. In the next moment, she felt herself being catapulted across the gravel, her own scream loud in her ears.

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‘Anoushka? Anoushka? Shit, Anoushka, are you okay?’

Dazed, she gradually realised Zander was talking to her. Somewhere in the distance, she was half-aware of a red car shooting off, sending a shower of gravel into the air. She blinked and looked up at the concerned face peering down at her, her brain struggling to process his words. ‘Um… I… yes, I think so…’ She tried to move and winced. ‘Ouch! My arm…’ It was alive with a burning sensation. ‘My leg…’

‘Did you bump your head?’

‘No, I don’t think so.’ She sensed her head was resting on something soft and lumpy: her bag; it must’ve saved her from hitting her head against the ground. What had just happened?

‘Good, that’s something. Do you think you can stand up?’ Though Zander’s voice was calm, his eyes were filled with concern.

She nodded, too stunned to cry despite the pain she was in. ‘I’ll try.’

‘What’s been goin—?’ Rachel, the beautician, came rushing out of her salon, stopping stock still. ‘Oh, my God! Are you all right?’ She hurried over to them, her pretty face wrought with disbelief.

‘Yeah, I think so.’ Anoushka nodded again. She caught sight of her sunglasses on the floor; they’d shot off with the impact and now one of the lenses was shattered into tiny pieces.

‘Here, let me help you,’ said Zander. Gingerly, he helped her to her feet, Rachel on the other side of her, and she limped her way over to the wall where he sat her down. She noticed the sleeve on his shirt had been ripped, blood was seeping through the pale blue fabric.

‘Your arm,’ she said, her voice barely a whisper.

‘It’s fine; it’s just a graze.’ He gently lifted the sleeve of her t-shirt to get a better look at her injury. ‘I’m sorry I came flying at you, it’s just, well… he seemed to veer away at the last moment, but there was no time to risk it.’

‘It’s okay, I understand… I’m grateful.’ She was still trying to process what had happened, her mind too much of a jumble to form a full sentence.

He pressed his lips together and nodded. ‘I’ll just nip to my car and get my medical bag so I can get this cleaned up; I’ll be two ticks.’

‘Okay.’ She sat, taking in her skinned right arm and leg, her ripped trousers, pieces of gravel embedded in the wound.

‘What happened?’ asked Rachel. ‘I just heard the sound of an engine revving like crazy, then heard a load of shouting before the driver shot off. I came out to see you on the floor.’

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