Summer of Serenity by Nicola Marsh

Author:Nicola Marsh [Marsh, Nicola]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: MIRA
Published: 2021-08-23T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER

27

‘Homemade pizzas are the best.’ Summer held out the tray to Jy. ‘Want the last piece?’

‘And deprive you of all that mushroom, basil and tomatoey goodness?’ He nudged it back in her direction. ‘You eat it.’

‘What a gentleman,’ she said, sliding the slice onto her plate and placing the tray on the coffee table in front of them. She often did this with the girls on a Sunday night, homemade pizzas in front of the telly, binge-watching the latest comedy. The perfect way to wind down the weekend; her way of easing into a new week. But she’d never shared her favourite activity with a guy before and considering Jy had been here since Friday night and showed no signs of wanting to leave, she wasn’t sure whether to be scared or elated.

This was too comfortable, too quick.

Letting him into her home, not wanting him to go, was making a mockery of her ‘this can only be a fling’ declaration earlier in the week. The smart thing to do would be to distance herself, to come up with some flimsy excuse to send him back to the motel, but with her feet currently in his lap and his lips curving into a smile as he watched the antics of an old comedy duo, the last thing she wanted was to drive him away.

‘Can I ask you something?’

‘Sure,’ he said, laughing at a joke she’d missed because she’d been too busy studying him.

‘Do you do this often in Melbourne? Casually date, hang out with girlfriends?’

‘Hang on a tick, I think this conversation deserves the mute button.’

‘Don’t be silly,’ she said, lowering the volume on the remote regardless. ‘I’m not trying to pry for the sake of it, but I was just thinking how easy it is to be around you and I wondered if it’s because you do this all the time.’

‘You jealous?’

His lopsided smile did strange things to her insides. ‘Trust me, I’m not the jealous type, especially when we both know where we stand, but I am curious.’

The amusement in his eyes faded and she inwardly cursed for putting an unwitting dampener on their fun night. ‘I don’t do this often.’

‘Why not?’

‘Because I’ve already done this for real, with a wife, and it didn’t end well. So I prefer not to foster false intimacy and build hopes, which is what would happen if I did this in Melbourne.’

‘Yet here you have an escape route because you’re leaving?’

‘Something like that.’

He sounded annoyed rather than offhand; it didn’t deter her. He’d spent the entire weekend at her house, even when she’d gone to Inverloch for brunch with the girls, and she deserved to know a little more about the guy who’d snuck under her guard without trying. ‘How long have you been divorced?’

‘Eight years.’

‘That’s a long time to avoid intimacy.’

‘I prefer to call it self-preservation.’ He shrugged. ‘I thought I was a good partner but Agatha dumped me anyway. This way, I get to live life on my terms, without complications.’

If anyone understood, Summer did.

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