Page 42

I laughed softly. ‘You always get there eventually though, right? In later drafts, I mean. Like it’s the last layer to go on.’

‘I’m not sure it does go on,’ said Theo. ‘Or so my Goodreads “fans” would have me believe.’

I turned to face him, swivelling on my bench, resting my elbow behind me, my chin in the palm of my hand. I couldbarely make out his features and only the white of his towel popped in the dark. ‘Did I just hear that right? You go onGoodreads?’

‘Of course,’ he said. ‘Don’t you?’

‘Don’t be ridiculous.’

Theo leaned forwards so that a bit more light fell on his face. ‘Please explain.’

‘There’s nothing to explain. Goodreads is brutal. And my fragile disposition simply can’t take it.’

Theo made a show of being mock-shocked. ‘Wow.’

‘Wow what?’

‘I thought you were made of stronger stuff.’

‘Ah, well. That’s the impression I like to give people.’

‘You’re very convincing,’ he said.

Was it me, or was it about twenty degrees hotter in here now than it had been when I first sat down? I pressed the back of one hand against my cheeks, but that did little to cool them down. I was going to have to either leave or take my robe off. And I didn’t see why I should rush off just because Theo was here. Really, etiquette dictated that he should go first so that I could enjoy the peace and tranquillity of being here by myself.

Without thinking too hard about it, I undid the belt of my robe and let it slip off my shoulders, wriggling out of it. But then I was still sitting on it and even that felt too hot, so I stood up to hang it on the hook just inside the door, hoping it was too dark for Theo to notice what I was wearing, or, more realistically, that he didn’t care enough to look. I fumbled with the hook, and when I turned to sit back down his eyes were burning into me. My breath caught in my throat for a second, and then I carried on back to my seat, my heart suddenly hammering against my chest. I wasbeing ridiculous. Men were programmed to look at women in bikinis, weren’t they? It didn’t mean a thing.

‘Would you like your notes?’ said Theo, his voice softer than usual.

Ugh. No? I wanted him to send them to me in written form so that I didn’t have to pretend to be fine if he hated every single word I’d written.

‘Later?’ I said, closing my eyes. ‘I’m trying to relax.’

‘You’re scared, aren’t you?’ said Theo, his voice light and teasing, a reminder of the easiness that used to exist between us.

‘I most certainly am not.’

I could almost hear him smirking. God, he knew what he was doing. There was no way I could let him have the upper hand now.

‘Fine, give me your notes. But be kind,’ I said.

‘I’m not a monster, Scarlett.’

I snorted. ‘If you say so.’

I heard him shift. The bench creaked. I kept my eyes firmly closed, as though that was going to help.

‘So I liked your chapters,’ he said, his voice piercing the hot, dead air.

Great. ‘Like’ was a pointless word that never felt enough. I thought I’d said I’d loved his. Even if I hadn’t said it, Ihadloved them and so it would have come across that way. He’d only ‘liked’ mine.

‘Praise indeed,’ I said.

‘Your character interactions are phenomenal,’ he said. ‘The dialogue sparkles and pops off the page.’

My pulse quickened. This was better.

‘There’s a but, isn’t there?’ I said, hoping I was wrong, but protecting myself just in case. As in, whatever he said nowwould be fine because I’d casually insinuated that I knew he couldn’t ‘like’ everything about it.