Page 12 of Retrograde
As she stepped away from him and caught the way his eyes raked over her body like she was a five-course Michelin-star meal, something inside her screamed to give him what he desired.No. God, where had their friends disappeared to? Faith could talk sense into her. Not Bea. Bea was the devil incarnate and would encourage every intrusive thought Lucie had when it came to this six-foot-two, tanned, beautiful man.
Faith may be all happy and shacked up with the Belgian god of racing, but Lucie didn’twanthis Australian counterpart. Their slip-up two years ago gave her a taste but that was all she could ever allow herself. She had seen enough before– and after– that night in Italy to know that she was better off without the drama that would ensue if they crossed the line again. Brett was hers; he had always made that evident. Just not in the one way she truly wanted him if they were to ever go all the way down that path.
‘Jensen, where have you been?’ she cried out when Faith finally appeared behind her at the perfect moment, one pina colada in each hand.
‘Getting you this.’ Her friend held up a coconut with a pineapple wedge, a blue cocktail umbrella and a neon-pink plastic swirly straw.
‘They do cheap umbrellas and swirly straws in a club like this?’ Lucie raised an eyebrow.
‘No, but they’ll go to extreme lengths for the birthday boy.’
‘This isn’t for the birthday boy.’
‘No, it’s for his Lucie-bear.’ Lucie scowled at her least favourite nickname, the one everyone around them had given her to wind her up. Brett, thankfully, had only used it once, but of course the others had overheard it and it stuck. ‘And what Lucie-bear wants, Lucie-bear gets. I’m getting quite good at making demands, you know. Comes with the trophy-wife territory,’ Faith stated proudly.
‘First of all, being attractive and being married to a man like Jules does not automatically label you a trophy wife. You don’t exactly fit the stereotype.’
‘Luuuuuucie!’ Julien flung an arm over Lucie’s shoulder, weighing down her tiny frame and resulting in her nearly losing her footing.
‘Jules, please take it easy. I do not want to deal with your hangover.’ Faith gently coaxed his glass of bourbon out of his hand and set it down on the bar.
‘Me? You were the one dancing on the bar!’ Julien feigned outrage. What he hadn’t noticed was that his wife was actually still sober.
‘Don’t you think they should get back up there, Moretz?’ Brett chimed in, holding Lucie’s gaze as he spoke. He was testing her, and she’d never been good at tests of any kind. Tests that involved avoiding a specific part of Brett’s anatomy, however? She usually aced those.
‘Oh look, Brett! That girl who was eyeballing you ismaking her approach! Enjoy.’ Lucie grabbed her coconut cup, Faith’s hand and her clutch bag and made a swift exit in the direction of the ladies’ bathroom.
She hadn’t even taken two steps before an entire group of women swarmed around the boys. Julien, as drunk as he was, waved a cheerful goodbye and turned back to the bartender for another whiskey. Marco and Esme stayed by Bea’s side, looking lost as ever, and Brett? Well, Brett was Brett. He mingled and flirted and all thoughts of Lucie were forgotten.
Lucie leaned on the counter and stared at her reflection in the mirror. She somehow still looked relatively put together despite how hot it was in there. Her lipstick was slightly smudged, her skin was dewy and her hair could do with some detangling, but it could be worse. Her dress was a backless silver cowl-neck ensemble that Bea had got her for her birthday a few months ago, and it was her first time wearing it.
While her friends had body confidence to be envious of, Lucie sadly couldn’t muster it. In all her years of working in social media and content creation, she was yet to post a bikini photo, and if it wasn’t so hot every time her friends did a resort trip or beach holiday, she would happily lounge by the pool in an oversized tee.
‘Faith, are you ready to head back out?’ she called out to the cubicles. Silence. ‘Faith?’
A quick sweep revealed that every cubicle was empty. With an eye roll and a sigh, Lucie ventured back into the depths of the club alone.
She glanced at the bar to see that everyone had left Brett to the wolves. Sorry, a group of attractive women. Not wolves. Though they behaved like it. Why did this always happen to her? Leave her alone at a racetrack and she could handle herself no problem. In clubs and social settings? Forget it.
She felt the anxiety set in right as Brett looked up and found her, then a split second later the bartender was tapping his shoulder and she’d lost him again. But it wasn’t until she saw what the bartender was passing him that she realised she was in luck. Two shots of tequila, meant to kill her nerves. She leaned against the wall, waiting for him to reach her. If anyone could calm her down, it was Brett. She never felt out of place when his attention was on her.
‘You all right, my sunshine girl?’ He passed her a shot.
‘I will be.’ She downed it and grimaced.
‘Everyone disappeared, huh?’
‘As always. Esme and Marco probably went to find food, I’m sure they’ll be back.’
‘Mars did mention something about fries.’
‘Uh-huh.’ Lucie took a deep breath and scanned the room. The dance floor was more crowded, fewer people were observing from the sidelines and more of those scary, gorgeous women she’d taken note of before were flinging their limbs around in an effort to dance and embarrassing themselves in the name of fun. Nowthat, Lucie could relate to.
‘Do you want to leave? If you’re uncomfortable, we’ll go.’
‘Doyouwant to leave?’
‘I mean…’ He shrugged, trying to pretend that he didn’t care either way, but Lucie knew him better than that. This was his night. A night he looked forward to every year. Besides, the others would probably come back soon, the night was still young. And if they didn’t? Brett and Lucie had been a duo for years. They took trips together, spent months at a time in Australia with his family, spent their working weeks together. They were used to hanging out one-on-one. What difference did it make if the rest of tonight was just the two of them?
