Page 71 of Winter at Wishington Bay
He frowned and a small sigh escaped. ‘Who’s Zane Hudson?’
‘Oh my God, really?’
He looked round at her exasperated tone and shrugged.
‘He’s a massive soap star and had a best-selling album earlier this year and did a world tour, including Australia. You must have heard of him.’
‘Nope,’ Nate said quietly, handing over a note to pay for the gift.
‘We’re really going to have to bring you up to speed, sweetie,’ she purred, back at his side now.
‘Actually, I’m quite happy with my current speed,’ he replied, concentrating on receiving the change I handed him. Corinne’s perfectly painted mouth dropped open a little.
Beside me, Flora suddenly found something interesting to faff with just below the desk. I slid my eyes to her and tried not to catch her giggles.
‘Are we done here? We’re never going to be able to get a good place otherwise. I’m dying to see him!’
‘Well then, perhaps you should go. I’m not quite ready.’ Nate’s voice was even and he kept his eyes lowered, focusing instead on my hands as they wrapped the little elephant in a pretty package ready to give to Holly.
‘So, we’re not going to dinner? You said you’d take me to dinner!’ The whining tone was now in full flow.
Nate lifted his head and turned. ‘No, Corinne. I didn’t. You said did I want to come along this evening so you could show me round a little more, and that you were meeting friends. Somehow that seems to have become a dinner date for just the two of us, which I told you at the time, as tactfully as I could, wasn’t something I was interested in.’
Corinne by now had an expression as black as the sky outside.
‘Well, how would you even know if you don’t try?’ she snapped. ‘You’re never going to meet anyone if you just hole yourself up every day with that dog. Especially not someone like me!’
A muscle flickered in Nate’s jaw.
‘As I said before, I’m not interested in meeting anyone.’
Corinne made a show of adjusting her scarf. ‘I see. Well, I’ll leave you to it then.’ Her eyes switched for a moment between Nate and me. By this point, George had wandered off to the pub and Flora was busy still finding things to sort under the desk, her eyes widening with intrigue at the exchange going on above her. I returned Corinne’s look, keeping my expression disinterested before moving away from the desk to tidy one of the nearby shelves. ‘You don’t know what you’re missing.’
I sneaked a glance at Nate as he gave a small, conciliatory nod. ‘I’m sure that’s the case, Corinne.’
She seemed to perk up at the thought that Nate realised he might be a fool, passing up the opportunity of dating her. Tilting her chin up, she turned on her four-inch spiked heel and strutted out of the shop. Nate let out a long, audible sigh as Flora bustled over to him.
‘You all right, love?’
‘Yeah, sure. I feel like kind of a sh—’ He stopped himself and Flora grinned.
‘No need to mind your language on my account. I’ve heard it all before, and probably used a good deal of it too. These angelic looks hide a multitude of sins.’ She gave him a devilish wink, bringing a smile at last to his tense features. ‘And you shouldn’t. If she tried to make it all into something it wasn’t, then that’s her look out.’
‘Maybe.’
‘No maybe about it, is there, Soph?’ Flora looked over to me.
‘No,’ I said, struggling to put a lot of effort into my reply.
Nate shoved his hands in his pockets. ‘Somehow I don’t think Sophia believes that.’
I remained silent. Flora flapped her hand.
‘Of course she does. We all know what a flirt Corinne is and having you on her arm to parade round the village would be right up her street. You’re not the first she’s set her sights on and won’t be the last.’
‘I did try to make it clear to her I wasn’t looking for anything… romantic.’ He gave a shrug with one broad shoulder as if he wasn’t sure that was the right description. I wasn’t sure that was the right description for what Corinne was usually after either, but I remained silent. ‘I thought she understood that.’
Flora patted his arm. ‘You can’t blame a girl for trying. Gorgeous chap like you swanning in and causing ripples in the village.’
