Page 29 of Stuck with the Hot Boss
‘Ugh,’ said Evie, looking out over the boating lake. ‘Water.’
‘Why do you hate it?’ Leo asked. ‘What did water ever do to you?’
‘Humiliated me,’ said Evie. ‘Made me have a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.’
‘Might that, infact,have been because you were with a total dickhead?’ suggested Leo.
Evie gave him a sharp look. ‘How did you know his name?’
Leo grinned. ‘Lucky guess.’
There’d been a large family in front of them buying tickets, so they’d lingered to one side until the booth was clear. The ticket seller was a young woman, dark-haired, tattooed and pretty, with eyes that lookedamazinglylike–
‘Do you have a relative who’s a plumber?’ Evie asked her.
She shook her head. ‘Nope.’
‘Or a council worker?’
The green willows outside were reflected in her gaze, as the young woman regarded Evie with withering indifference. ‘Two adults, thirty minutes. That’ll be nineteen pounds forty.’
Evie shut up and tapped her card.
‘Shedidhave eyes like Ash’s,’ said Leo, when they were safely beyond reach of the ticket-seller’s scorn.
‘I know, right!’ said Evie. ‘Maybe they’re more common than I thought? Maybe it’s like when you learn a new word and suddenly you see that word everywhere?’
‘Segue,’ said Leo. ‘I’d never heard of it and then it turned up in every second conversation. Had to go look it up. Which took a while because I had no idea how to spell it.’
‘Ugh,’ said Evie. They were at the lake’s edge, where the bright blue pedalos sat waiting.
‘Like innocent bath toys,’ said Evie, darkly. ‘Not moist instruments of torture.’
‘You don’t even have to pedal,’ said Leo. ‘Just sit back and enjoy the ride.’
He stepped from the wharf into the pedalo with a physical confidence Evie found equal parts attractive and annoying. He held out his hand to her.
‘You owe me,’ said Evie, with bad grace, as she took his hand and wobbled on board.
‘Well, you have thirty minutes to think of how I’ll pay you back.’ Leo had his feet on the pedals and had taken control of the steering. ‘Right now, we sail!’
After five minutes of unhurried progress across the water, Evie had to admit that it wasn’t the worst way to travel. Leo’s pedalling was smooth and steady, and the water lapped gently against the sides instead of slopping over. The sun was exactly the right temperature, and everyone else on the lake seemed happy to be there. Even the water birds cruised calmly. If it wasn’t for the risk of falling in, Evie could almost have relaxed.
‘How deep is this lake?’ Evie asked.
‘Four feet,’ said Leo.
Evie eyed him, sceptically. ‘Did you just pull a random figure out of your head?’
‘Googled it when I was looking up pedalos,’ Leo replied. ‘It used to be deeper but forty people drowned when the ice they were skating on collapsed, so they drained it.’
‘Oh, cool,’ said Evie. ‘Now all I can think about is that there might be bodies still lying on the lake floor.’
‘Just mud. And little mud creatures.’
‘Somuch better.’
The pedalo slowed as Leo took a break from pedalling. He leaned back in his plastic seat and smiled over at Evie.
