Page 43 of Chasing Blue

“You don’t know that, even Maccas is competition on a bad day.”

I shrug. “That doesn’t fill me with confidence.”

I look around at the décor as I ponder his comment. The space is a mix of flamboyance and masculinity. Pink crystal chandeliers are hanging from the ceiling, and a mix of silver wallpaper and heavy dark wood panelling lines the walls. The furniture is also dark wood, with a mix of silver and pink fabrics covering the chairs.

“Did Scarlett design the interiors for this place?”

“No, the developer’s wife is an interior designer. I took the unusual step of buying this place outright rather than taking a long-term lease, and she offered up her services.”

“Lauren Wild?” I question.

“You know Lauren?”

I shrug as I nod. “And Gabe, I’m also a developer.”

“Oh, so you’re basically in competition with him too?” he says with a raised eyebrow smile, which I’m still not sure is genuine. I return it with a genuine’ish smile of my own.

“Not really. Their setup is a lot bigger than mine. I’ve worked for him as a chippy a few times, and Lauren has dressed and staged a couple of my developments before they’ve hit the market.”

I watch two blokes who’ve been dancing around Scarlett and Zoe for a while finally make their move. They ask if they’d like a drink, but the girls decline, showing them the full glasses they’re already holding on to.

“How come you didn’t use Ilhai for this place?”

When I focus my gaze back on Span, I note that he’s also observing the interaction.

“I didn’t know Scarlett until she bought a place upstairs and became a regular.” His eyes are still on the dance floor as he responds.

“She lives upstairs?”

He finally turns his eyes my way, brows raised, meeting my question with one of his own.

“You didn’t know that?” I shake my head. “How muchdoyou know about her life right now?”

My lips twitch, but before I can formulate a response, Span answers for me. “Not as much as you’d like?”

With our eyes locked, I again nod.

“Were you close?” He tilts his head towards the door and the general direction of New South Wales. “When you were both still in New South. Were you close?”

My eyes skirt back to the dance floor, where I find Scarlett grinding into Zoe, who has a handful of Scar’s hair in her hand while pretending to smack her arse with the other.

“Fuck me,” I mumble before sliding my gaze back to Span, who’s watching me.

I clear my throat. Unfortunately, that does nothing to clear the image from my mind.

“Yeah,” I finally admit. “We were as close as two people can be for a couple of months.”

“What happened?”

“I fucked up.”

Span nods before calling over a passing waitress and saying something in her ear.

“How so?” he turns back to me and asks.

I drain the contents of my glass, place it on the bar behind me, and answer as honestly as I can.

“We met, spent almost every day together for a couple of months, feelings were starting to happen, then . . .” I draw in a deep breath and run my tongue around the inside of my now dry mouth before continuing, “I’d just got out of a long-term, toxic relationship. Scar was everything I wasn’t looking for. We were easy, being with her was easy. We smiled and laughed, and we danced. We fucking danced barefoot on the sand, and what started out as a distraction turned into something I wasn’t expecting.”