Page 31

“No, I forgot I had a date tonight,” Lydia replied. “Where’s my bloody phone?”

“Here.” Halle handed Lydia the mobile. “I thought you weren’t dating.”

Glancing up from the screen, Lydia saw it plain as day on Halle’s face. Anger. What the hell?

“I wasn’t, but it just sort of happened.”

“How does it just sort of happen?”

“She was the nurse who took my bloods today.”

“The nurse hit on you?” Halle’s pitch was climbing higher and higher.

“No, I bumped into her at a coffee shop later on. We got talking, and she asked me out.”

“And you said yes?”

“Yes, I did. What’s with the third degree?”

“No third degree.” Halle held up her hands in surrender. “You should go. I’ve got Fe.”

“Lydia, should go where?” Fe asked, swiping one of the full wine glasses up.

“She has a date.”

Okay, Lydia couldn’t miss the look that passed between Halle and Fe. “It’s not a big deal.” If only her words rung true. For whatever reason, this now felt like a huge deal, and Lydia wasn’t entirely sure why.

Chapter 8

“I’m so sorry I’m late.” Lydia tried in vain to smooth down her hair. God damn wind. She’d left Fe’s looking pretty good, even if she did say so herself. But after the sodding bus broke down, she’d had to leg it to the restaurant, making her late and windswept.

If that wasn’t bad enough, Lydia’s mood was already in the toilet from her conversation with Halle earlier. What was Halle’s issue? So, what if Lydia had gone back on her promise and agreed to a date? That wasn’t Halle’s concern, or Fe’s.

“No worries. I ordered you a red wine. I hope that was okay?” Zoe looked stunning in tight red jeans, a black silk top, and heels. Her hair was loose around her shoulders.

“It’s perfect, thank you. I’m not normally late, I swear.” Lydia regaled Zoe with her tale of woe and danger she’d encountered to get to the restaurant. Thankfully, Zoe found her dramatics funny, which was what Lydia was going for. Being a little silly helped break the tension. And, boy, was Lydia tense.

“So, apart from your daring journey here, how have you been since this morning?” Zoe grinned wolfishly, and Lydia felt it all the way down to her toes.

“Well, it’s been so long. I’m not sure I have the time to catch you up on everything that’s happened since we spoke.”

“We have all evening.” Zoe’s tone was low and sultry. Lydia slyly pinched her arm to make sure she wasn’t hallucinating. After all the crappy partners, she’d given up on finding someone. Not that Zoe was suddenly her partner. But she definitely had potential. A nurse would be understanding of Lydia’s medical issues. Maybe that would make all the difference. Not that she expected Zoe to look after her or anything. Oh Jesus, she was spiralling.

“My brother-in-law is shagging his secretary.” Well, that certainly did the trick. Lydia was no longer spiralling because she was dying of embarrassment instead. Zoe’s going to think I’m not fit to be around other adults at this rate. Chill the fuck out Lyds.

“Oh shit. That’s awful.”

“Yeah, it’s pretty crappy. Although my sister, Fe, said she’d suspected for a while. It all came to blows last night, and he left this morning.”

“Jesus. You could have cancelled. I would have understood. I imagine your sister is in a bit of a state.”

“She’s in the anger stage at the moment. Plus, she has her best friend staying over tonight.”

Zoe seemed to pause momentarily. “Does that mean you don’t have to rush off this evening, then?”

“No, I’m all yours.” Lydia smiled internally. That was a decent bit of flirting.

“Hmm, really. All mine?”