Page 71 of The Life Daisy Devlin Designed
Daisy shook her head, wondering if she’d detected a hint of annoyance. He was probably just confused. Which was understandable, given that her own levels of confusion were currently off the charts.
“I shouldn’t ... I don’t think this is a good idea.”
Crapitty-cap, how had she let that happen? No, the how was pretty clear: she still really wanted him. Here they were, under the one roof – with one bed. If her life was a romantic comedy, it’d definitely be happening! James would never have to know – nobody would get hurt!
Reluctantly, she pulled away. “I’m sorry, Matt.”
He said nothing, and Daisy wished that she could go back in time and talk to the Matt she’d known that summer he’d left for New York.Please say something, Matt.
“It’s fine.” He gave a tight smile. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
“See you in the morning.”Smile, Daisy, it’ll be okay. Let him know it’ll be okay.
Upstairs, she quietly shut the bedroom door behind her, and sat down on the bed, her thoughts unravelling, her heart cracked wide open.
The last five years of her life boiled down to a stupid sliding-doors moment. If Matt had never gone away that summer ... if she’d never gone to that party ... if that rumour had never started. If he’d just asked her the truth!
She lay back and stared up at the ceiling, with its original coving and beautiful, ornate centrepiece. The first tears slid down her face, soaking the crisp, white linen pillow.
CHAPTER 31
MyStarScope Taurus: A relationship may deepen through dialogue, but if both of you feel ready to commit further, make sure you’re on the same page.
For her first waking moments, Daisy couldn’t remember anything that had happened the previous night. Then, the memory of her kissing Matt flooded back, making her almost sick with guilt.
What had she been thinking? She’d only had one glass of wine, so she couldn’t even blame drink! She lay, staring at the ceiling, wondering how she was going to face him. But she had no choice: she had to pull herself together and figure out what she was going to do now.
Although, had anythingactuallyhappened? Like, was a kiss even cheating? She tried to imagine how she’d feel if James snogged somebody else. Alma, maybe. She couldn’t even go there right now – it was way too stressy.
She swung her legs out of the bed, hoping her clothes were dry. There’d be no time to drive all the way home, and turning up at the office in one of Matt’s tracksuits wasn’t a good look. Only her clothes were downstairs. They’d still been damp when she’d gone up to bed, so she’d waited until she’d heard Matt going into the bathroom, before slipping down to leave them to dry near the fire.
Pulling the tracksuit on, she opened the bedroom door and stuck her head around to listen. The place seemed quiet: maybe Matt had gone into the main part of the house. She hurried downstairs.
“Hey, good morning.” Matt was at the small electric stove, pouring oil onto a frying pan. “I was about to make some breakfast. Will I count you in?”
Daisy shook her head. “I should really get on the road.” She pointed to her clothes, draped over the backs of two kitchen chairs.
“About that.” He pulled a face. “The road’s still badly flooded.”
“Shit.”
“The local council says they’re sending people out around lunchtime with suction hoses to clear the worst of the water off the road.”
She was going to be stuck here until lunchtime?
As if he’d read her mind, Matt added, “I’ll leave you alone if you want to work from here this morning. I’m sorry, it’s not ideal.”
Daisy reminded herself again that none of it was his fault; she just had to be professional. Which was a bit tricky after what had happened.
“It’s grand, I’ll manage.” She grabbed her clothes from the chairs, relieved that everything seemed dry. “Back in a few.”
Upstairs, Daisy showered and dressed, feeling a bit better once she was properly dressed. She phoned James, but after three rings it went to voicemail.
“Hi, just checking in.” She did her best to sound casual. “We’re still waiting for the road to be cleared, so I’ll go straight to work and I’ll see you this evening.” She was about to add that she loved him, but stopped herself. After what had happened between her and Matt, it felt wrong. Without another word, she hung up.
In the bathroom, she pulled her hair into a low knot, and reapplied her make-up, grateful that she always carried some for touch-ups. That was the thing about her job: people expected her to be stylish and ‘finished’ looking. It inspired confidence.
As she headed downstairs, she wondered if they could justpretendthe kiss had never happened.
