Page 29 of A Change of Heart

“Oh, god. Dad was right … you’ll never change, will you?”

“Let’s hope not. How is Uncle Benji? Still not my biggest fan?”

“No. And he never will be if you insist on calling him Benji.”

“Ben’s boring.”

“You’reboring,” she countered.

He drained his beer and set the empty bottle on the counter. “Let’s go. Either come with me or give me a lift over there.”

“Don’t get any ideas about me being your personal taxi service for the summer.”

“I was going to talk to you about that … how would you feel about lending me your car?”

“Is that your first beer of the evening?”

He pursed his lips. “It’s my first beer since I got to your place. But I wasn’t thinking about tonight. I meant in general. Lend me your car for the summer … you live in town, what do you even need a car for?”

“You’re not having my car.”

He narrowed his eyes. “Are you ever going to tell me what happened between you and Lowen Treneary?”

“Nothing happened between me and Lowen Treneary,” she told him through gentle laughter.

“So, the guy bought you a brand-new car and had it shipped over here … and you’re still claiming you never slept with him?”

“I’ve never slept with Lowen Treneary.”

“So why did he buy you a car?”

She shrugged. “Because I asked him to.” It wasn’t only him she’d asked; after the Trenearys all inherited money a few years back, she’d jokily suggested that one of them ought to buy her a car. If she’d had to put money on which one of them might have done it, she’d have gone for Noah. But it had been Lowen who’d shown up on her doorstep with a shiny new Mini. She’d cried happy tears, then driven over to her dad’s house and then to Mirren and Terry’s place to show off her pride and joy.

“Lowen lives on Bryher now, right?” Cadan asked. “Maybe I could rock up there and ask him to buy me a car.”

“I don’t think that’d work out well for you.”

“I heard he’s turned into some grumpy recluse?”

“He’s not grumpy or a recluse,” she argued without conviction, thinking she ought to go over and see Lowen soon. She tried to get over there every few weeks, not that he particularly seemed to welcome her visits.

“Are you coming over to Felix’s?” he asked, gearing up to leave.

“I’ll give you a lift over there.” She set her almost full beer down. “I’m not staying though.” If Felix was around for the summer and Cadan was staying with him, she wouldn’t be able to avoid him for long, but her head was spinning enough for one day.

She’d leave the awkward reunion with her ex for some other time.

CHAPTERTEN

To her annoyance, Seren didn’t have to wait long before she encountered Felix. He wandered into the pub with Cadan on Tuesday evening, not long after she’d started her shift. Her eyes had already been checking the door every time it opened, hoping to see Kit. She told herself it was an experiment more than actually wanting to see him. She wanted to know if she was right about him engineering ways to see her. If she wasn’t on a day shift, she didn’t pass him on her way to work, so he came in for a drink instead. At least that was her working theory, but maybe she was delusional.

The sight of Felix with his mop of thick, dark curls put her on high alert. Her shoulders rose towards her ears as her muscles tensed. Glancing behind her, she looked at the door through to the back. Noah had just gone to speak to the chef. If he could reappear quickly she’d appreciate it.

“Seren!” Felix’s cocky tone was irritatingly familiar as he and Cadan slipped onto stools at the bar.

In reply, she muttered his name.

“How are you?” he asked, resting on the bar to show off sleeves of interwoven tattoos on both forearms.