Текст книги "Down London Road"

Автор книги: Samantha Young

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12

I had showered and changed into my pyjamas and was feeling a little better – Mum hadn’t come out of her room – by the time Cole returned home. He stopped by the couch and squeezed my shoulder before heading into the kitchen to grab a snack.

‘We’re okay?’ I asked as he came back in to flop down on the floor.

‘We’re okay.’ He shrugged, staring at the television with a casualness I was sure he wasn’t feeling. ‘Are you okay? Was Cam okay?’

I smiled, ignoring the stupid flutter of butterflies in my stomach at the thought of Cam. ‘He was great. What did you say to him earlier? He mentioned something about you looking like you were going to hit him?’

Cole grunted. ‘If I had, he would have deserved it. Didn’t need to, though. Dude’s a decent guy – felt like shit when I told him how wrong he was about you.’

‘Language.’ I threw a cushion at him and he batted it away with a murmured apology. ‘And why did you go down there to set him straight? It wasn’t like I was desperate for him to see me in a better light.’

Cole looked at me, and I saw his green eyes had gone a forest colour from some unnamed emotion. ‘Nobody gets to think that about you, let alone say it out fu–’ He caught himself before he swore. ‘Out loud.’

I wanted to cry, because right then my brother was making me feel pretty loved and pretty cool, but I thought crying would just make Cole roll his eyes. ‘Okay,’ I whispered and he gave me a little nod before turning back to the television. ‘Comedy Channel?’

I changed the channel for him just as my phone rang. Handing Cole the remote, I got up and followed the ringtone into the kitchen where I’d left my purse.

It was Joss. I felt a little relieved it wasn’t Malcolm – I didn’t even want to touch on why. ‘Hi,’ I answered quietly.

‘Hey, you.’ Joss’s rich, husky voice was soothing to my nerves and I realized I’d missed seeing her at lunch today. ‘I’m just checking in. You okay?’

‘Um, not really.’

‘You sound like shit.’

‘Well …’

‘Okay, I’m coming over.’

‘Joss, you don’t have to.’

‘I have a bottle of wine here. Are you going to argue with me and a bottle of wine?’

I smiled. ‘I wouldn’t dream of it.’

‘Smart lady. I’ll be there in ten.’ She hung up and I rolled my eyes. I always knew there was a secret ‘momma bear’ hiding underneath all Joss’s prickliness.

When she arrived, she took one look at me and shook her head, her brows drawn together. ‘Jesus C, Jo, what’s happened now?’

I stepped aside to let her in, nodding at the bottle of wine in her hand. ‘Let’s crack this open first. We’re both going to need it.’

Cole greeted Joss with a brusque nod and headed into his room to give us some privacy. Joss got comfortable on the end of the couch. ‘Hit me with it.’

My mouth twisted at the irony of her word choice. ‘Well, now that you mention it …’

When I was finished, I had to body tackle her to the couch so she couldn’t barge into my mum’s room and give her a beatdown, and then I had to spend five minutes assuring her that Cole and I were okay.

Her eyes were still flashing a little wildly as she took a sip of wine. ‘So Cam was there for you?’

‘Yeah. He was very kind, actually.’

Her eyebrows rose at my expression and then she gifted me with one of her gorgeous smiles. ‘Oh, I recognize that look. I see that look on Ellie’s face every time she gazes at Adam.’

‘Whatever,’ I muttered, refusing to let her catch sight of my eyes in case they just confirmed her suspicions.

‘You are so crushing on Cam and I didn’t even have to do anything.’

‘I’m not crushing on Cam.’

‘I know what that look means.’

‘We’re just friends.’ I stared at her now. ‘Joss, I like him, but we have partners, and I …’

Joss sighed. ‘You still want the security that Malcolm can give you.’

I didn’t need to answer – we both knew she was right.

‘Does Cam give you butterflies?’

I nodded.

‘Are you aware of every move he makes?’

Another affirmative.

‘Does he enter your thoughts at the slightest provocation?’

‘Mm-hmm.’

‘You are so screwed.’

‘I am not.’ I huffed indignantly. ‘I’m perfectly in control of the situation.’

‘Yeah.’ Joss snorted. ‘So was I until I found myself pinned to Su’s desk. Eighteen months later and I’m picking out bedsheets with Braden and worrying if he doesn’t text me at least once from work to let me know how his day is going – as if he can’t tell me when he gets home. I can’t get to sleep without him beside me. Me? Can’t sleep without a guy in my bed? I’m addicted, Jo. And it started out with that look you’ve got.’

‘I’m glad for you, Joss. I really am. But it’s not the same thing. I care about Malcolm. I’m just physically attracted to Cam. It’s nothing.’

Joss burst out laughing and I watched in complete bemusement as she shook with her own hysterics.

‘What?’

She waved me off, trying to catch her breath. ‘Oh, man, nothing. Nothing.’ She looked at me again and then gave a furtive chuckle as if she knew something I didn’t. ‘I’m just having déjà vu.’

For the first time ever, I pretended to be sick at work. I told Mr Meikle I was coming down with a migraine, and since I was pale with worry for Cole, it didn’t take much convincing for him to let me leave early, although he grumbled the entire time I packed up my things.

I managed to get back to the flat just as Cole was getting home from school. He stopped in the hallway when he stepped inside the flat, his lips pinched as he watched me kick off my work shoes.

‘Well, you can’t pull a sickie every day,’ he said, deducing exactly what I’d done and why. ‘You’ll just have to trust that I can take care of being in the flat alone with her. Plus, I really think you scared the crap out of her.’

At that exact moment Mum’s bedroom door opened. She peered out at us, her lip curling in hostility as her eyes clashed with mine. She made a grunting noise before using the wall to help her along to the bathroom. As soon as the door shut, I turned back to Cole.

‘Apparently, I can’t trust you to be alone with her.’

He winced at the reminder that he had kept her abuse from me. ‘I just didn’t want to upset you.’

I harrumphed at that and strode into the kitchen for a cup of tea. By the time I’d made it and nestled into the couch with my book, Cole had settled down on the armchair with his homework and Mum had gone back into her bedroom.

We sat there for an hour before I decided to get up and put on some dinner. I was just coming out of the kitchen when I heard a knock at the door. For an awful moment I thought maybe I’d finally stretched Malcolm’s patience and he’d turned up at the flat. He’d texted me today and I’d texted back, but I hadn’t encouraged conversation. Had he decided to show up to see what was going on?

My heart was pounding stupidly hard as I reached for the door, and it flipped over in my chest when I saw who stood on the other side of it.

‘Cam.’ I smiled, more than happy to see him.

He was wearing his usual uniform of print tee and jeans and I wanted to haul him in out of the freezing-cold stairwell. He gave me a quick smile. ‘All right?’

I stepped aside. ‘Come in.’

His smile widened and he slid past me, his shoulder brushing mine and causing inappropriate thoughts to tumble through my overworked brain. ‘Can I get you a coffee?’

‘Aye, that would be great.’ He followed me, throwing a wave to Cole. ‘Hey, bud, how are you?’

Cole grinned at him. ‘Good. You?’

‘Yeah, not bad.’ He trailed me into the kitchen.

‘What do you take?’

‘Milk, no sugar.’

I set about making it, fully aware of his eyes on my every movement. My cheeks felt incredibly warm under his perusal, and I hurried to get his drink ready. ‘You’re working tonight, aren’t you?’ I said, handing him the mug.

‘I am. But I wanted to drop something off first.’ He took a sip of his drink. ‘Mmm, good coffee.’

I laughed softly. ‘The way to a man’s heart.’

His grin was wicked. ‘Only an easily pleased man,’ he retorted, suggesting he was anything but easy to please.

‘Yeah, I can guess what it takes to please you, Cam, and this is a PG-rated household.’

He threw back his head and laughed, causing another flutter in my chest and my own smile to widen. ‘Good thing the flat downstairs is open to X-rated situations.’

I flushed and shook my head. ‘Moving on …’

‘What? Punters in the bar say worse than that to you and your comebacks are always good.’

He had been paying attention. I shrugged. ‘They’re not my friends.’

His eyes softened. ‘I’m still your friend, then? You haven’t changed your mind?’

‘No, I haven’t changed my mind.’

‘Good.’ He pulled something out of his back pocket. ‘Because I want you to trust me enough to give this to Cole.’ Cam held out a key. I raised an eyebrow at it. ‘A spare key to my flat. I want him to use my place when you’re not around. It’s a safe place for him to be so you’re not worrying every second of every minute that you’re not with him.’

That key was the best present anyone had ever given me.

Ever.

‘Cam’ – I looked from the key up to him – ‘are you sure? I mean, it’s not too much of an imposition?’

‘Not if it helps you out.’

I reached for the key, but instead of just taking it, I curled my hand around it and his fingers. He tensed with awareness and I poured my gratitude into my eyes. ‘This is the best present I’ve ever had.’

Cam’s eyes roamed my face, his mouth curled up at the corners. ‘A key: the way to a woman’s heart.’

‘Only an easily pleased one.’

He laughed again.

‘What’s so funny?’ Cole’s voice snapped us out of our little bubble. I pulled my hand back from Cam’s and held up the key to Cole.

‘Present.’

‘Oh?’

‘I’ll explain in a minute.’ I turned to Cam. ‘Would you like to stay for dinner? Macaroni cheese.’

‘How can I say no to that?’

‘You can’t. I won’t let you.’ I handed the key to Cole. ‘Take Cam into the sitting room – he’ll explain. Dinner will be ready soon.’

They left me to it and for a moment I could only stare at the cupboard, my insides all trembling and fluttering from my interaction with Cam. He was thoughtful and considerate and trying to prove what a good friend he could be, and that just made his hotness even hotter. I wondered, not for the first time, what he’d be like in bed. His grin alone made me tingle – imagine what his tongue could do.

My phone buzzed, snapping me out of my sensual haze.

Malcolm.

Guilt immediately washed over me as I pressed the ANSWER button. ‘Hey, Malcolm.’

‘Sweetheart. How are you?’

‘Just about to put out dinner for me and Cole.’ I winced at the omission of our guest. ‘Can I call you back?’

‘Of course. Talk to you soon.’

I hung up and shoved my phone in my back pocket with shaking fingers.

Seriously. What was I playing at?

Cam stopped by early before work the next day and walked me to the bar. I found that now we understood each other Cam was pretty easy to talk to. He tried once more to persuade me to go to judo with him, but I put him off, still not keen on the idea of having someone slam me into a mat or whatever it was judo involved.

‘Can you imagine me?’ I scoffed as we neared the bar. ‘I’d be screaming about breaking a nail within five seconds.’

Cam gave me a look as he held the wrought-iron gate to the basement stairs open for me. ‘See, that’s the kind of bullshit other people believe. I know better.’

‘Oh, you do, do you?’

‘You were sitting chewing a nail last night after dinner.’

‘Yeah, but I filed it and repainted it for work this morning.’

He flashed his teeth at me. ‘Whatever, Walker. I know the truth.’

‘Evenin’, Jo, Cam,’ Brian greeted us as we came down the stairs. He stood beside Phil, who was grinning at me like always.

‘Hi, guys.’

‘Brian, Phil.’ Cam nodded at them.

As I made to pass them, Phil stopped me with a hand on my arm. He ran his eyes down my body. ‘Still with Malcolm?’

‘Persistent Philip, I am still with Malcolm.’

He winked at me. ‘Persistence will win in the end.’

‘And so will an STD,’ Cam put in drolly, gently pushing me forward with his hands on my back so that Phil had to let me go. ‘But you already know that, right, Phil?’

I tried to stifle my giggle as we walked into the bar to the sounds of Brian howling with laughter and Phil swearing at him. ‘It was only that one time. Fuck! I’m never telling you anything again, Bri.’

‘Euch,’ I whispered to Cam. ‘That was more than I needed to know.’

‘Correction: that was the one thing you needed to know.’

I laughed again and we sauntered into the staff room, barely getting a ‘hello, goodbye’ out of Su, who came racing out of her office at the sight of us and disappeared as quickly as she’d materialized.

‘It amazes me that anything gets done around here,’ Cam said, shrugging out of his jacket. ‘She’s never here when she should be.’

I grunted at that, completely used to Su’s physical absence and as always grateful for it.

The bar soon started to fill up. As usual on a Tuesday, there weren’t many customers, but we were kept relatively occupied.

We weren’t busy enough to diminish our attraction to one another, however. For some reason, being behind the bar together seemed to heighten the tension. Was it the confined space? I didn’t know. All I did know was that I spent half the time with one eye on my work and the other on Cam.

Joss was right. I was absolutely aware of every move he made.

And speaking of Joss, I wasn’t at all surprised when she stopped in at around nine thirty. I was surprised she was alone, but she explained that Braden was working late and Ellie and Adam were on a date.

‘So you were bored and thought you’d come to work?’ I asked, sliding her a Diet Coke as she settled on to a stool at my end of the bar. I didn’t think so. I thought she was worried about me.

Joss just smiled and then nodded in greeting to Cam, who had just noticed her presence, but he was too busy talking to a customer to come over. No, not a customer. My eyes focused more carefully on the girl he was grinning at so flirtatiously. Becca and a friend. She handed him his aviator watch and Cam leaned over and pressed a soft kiss to Becca’s lips.

I felt an ache rake across my chest, unfamiliar and brutal.

My eyes slid back to Joss and she had one eyebrow raised at me. ‘What you’re feeling … it’s called jealousy. It’s a vile emotion, I know. However, it also tells you that Cam is definitely more than just someone you’re attracted to.’

‘We barely know each other.’

‘From what you’ve told me, you know each other better than almost anyone else does.’

Somehow, this was the truth. I leaned forward on the bar, frowning at my friend. ‘Yeah, how did that happen?’

‘How did what happen?’ I turned my head to see Cam approaching, fastening his watch on his wrist. Becca and the other girl were gone. He waited for an answer, his eyes curious on mine.

I decided to hedge. ‘You really are a nosy bugger, aren’t you?’ I teased.

Cam tipped his head to the side, contemplating me. ‘Deflection?’ His eyes glittered as if something had just occurred to him. ‘You were talking about me, weren’t you?’

I wanted to wipe that cocky smile off his face.

Joss groaned. ‘You and Braden should be forced to join a club for men who need to get over themselves.’

My eyes slid to her in amusement. ‘Blatant displays of egotism will be punished in the form of making them wear Speedos in freezing-cold conditions.’

‘And possibly withholding food.’

‘No. Sex. Withholding sex.’

Joss bit her lip. ‘I don’t know if that would work for me.’

I eyed her incredulously. ‘Are you telling me you couldn’t go without sex for a few days?’

‘I don’t think so.’

‘Where is your willpower?’

My friend took a swig of her Diet Coke. ‘Hey, you haven’t had sex with Braden Carmichael.’

No, I hadn’t, although I almost blushed remembering I’d definitely tried to get myself into the position to do so. ‘Yeah, but I’ve had perfectly good sex and I could still abstain for a few days.’

‘Perfectly good sex?’ Cam interrupted us, drawing both our gazes. His voice was low with some unnamed emotion. ‘Abstain?’ His now heated eyes ran the length of me before returning to meet mine. ‘Then he isn’t doing it right.’

My heart puttered to a stop before choking and wheezing. When it got back up to speed, it took off in a drag race. All that sexual heat rolled over me and I felt my knickers grow damp with want.

‘Jesus C,’ Joss croaked. ‘Now I’m turned on.’ She jumped off her stool, checking her phone. ‘I think I’ll go home and see if Braden’s back from work.’

And just like that she left us simmering in our sexual chemistry.

I smiled weakly at Cam. ‘How’s Becca?’

A few customers approached the bar and we both moved to serve them. As we were preparing their drinks Cam answered tightly, ‘Becca’s fine. How’s Malcolm?’

‘Fine.’ He’d taken me for lunch during my break from work that day and I’d managed to convince him that everything was hunky-dory.

‘Cole text yet to say if he’s home?’

I found myself grinning like an idiot at his concern, and my customer grinned back at me, clearly thinking the look was for him. I quickly handed him his change and turned to Cam. ‘Yeah, he’s home.’

His eyes crinkled at the corners, adding another one of his expressions to my favourites. ‘Good.’

The rest of the night flew by. We worked, we talked, we joked, but the sexual undercurrent remained. When we walked home after our shift, we did so in utter silence. I could say it was just tiredness, but my whole body was vibrating like a tuning fork just strolling beside him. We said goodnight at his door, and as I took the stairs to my flat with his eyes on my back, I wished, not for the first time, for a different life – that Cam was single, that Malcolm wasn’t a part of my life that I cared about, and that for once I could do what I really wanted to do.

And what I really wanted to do was Cameron MacCabe.

I checked on Cole and found him sleeping peacefully in his room. I even checked on Mum just to make sure she hadn’t choked on her own vomit or anything like that, and I found her snoring away. That done, I changed into my PJs and crawled into bed. But I couldn’t fall asleep.

My blood felt as if it was on fire in my veins, my nerves were sparking at the very ends, and I couldn’t get the smell of Cam’s cologne out of my nostrils.

I was so turned on, it wasn’t funny.

How different would my night have been if Cam had followed me into Su’s office when I’d gone in there to leave her new stock information? What if he’d come up behind me, pushed my hair off my neck, and pressed his hot mouth to my skin as his hand skimmed around my waist and down to the buttons on my jeans …

… if he’d undone them, his long fingers sliding inside, beneath my underwear …

My own hand smoothed over my stomach, slipping under my pyjamas and knickers so I could bring myself to climax, fantasizing about Cam screwing me against Su’s desk.

I muffled my moan as I came and once the tremors stopped, I curled into my side, guilt cascading over me once again.

I was a terrible girlfriend.

13

A truth I hadn’t been willing to face pushed its way to the forefront of my life over the next few weeks. The truth was, for a number of years now every day had been the same – had been constrained, dulled, vivid colours muted beneath the shadow of a wall. And behind that wall I walked in the same uniform every day – if I wanted to be really melodramatic, I’d call it a dull orange jumpsuit. But as the days of those few weeks flew by, I felt that uniform melting away, shredding into tatters and scraped from my body as I climbed the wall to the other side.

The wall was moving further away now, the shadow lifting, the colours brightening.

All because I was spending time with Cam.

We hung out as much as possible on weekdays. Every night, in fact, he’d stop by for coffee or dinner before his work shift, even if I was out with Malcolm. We walked back and forth to work together, and had a laugh with Joss during our shifts. I didn’t see him at the weekends because he worked, trained at judo class with his friends and hung out with Becca. Last time, he’d taken Cole to watch the class, encouraging Cole to do more physical activity, and surprisingly, my brother was embracing the idea. My ears were bleeding from hearing about judo.

For me, Cam was a confidant. I told him more about my life and my hopes for Cole’s future. For Cole, Cam was a soul mate. They drew comics together, they discussed comics together, they liked the same music, the same movies, and from what I could read between the lines, Cam also answered all those questions Cole wouldn’t dare ask me.

We became this family unit, bonding quickly and strongly.

My feelings for Cam only grew deeper and I was in a constant battle with my conscience, arguing with it, pretending that it didn’t mean anything. Along with the emotional stuff, my body was almost at breaking point for want of him. I don’t know how I managed to hide it from him, but I did. I didn’t want anything to destroy our friendship.

That didn’t mean I didn’t find other outlets for my pent-up sexual frustration, and that outlet only added a whole other level of guilt and shame to my already considerable stack. I hadn’t seen Malcolm as much as I usually did, but three of the four times I did see him, we had sex … and the three times we had sex I …

… I did the unthinkable. I closed my eyes and imagined Cam.

I came each time.

Malcolm took this to mean he and I were back on track and whatever had been bothering me before was dealt with.

I was an awful, awful person.

Yup. My world was full of colour. Red for want. Yellow for shame.

Green for jealousy.

Yes, the green-eyed monster had also reared her ugly head in the last few weeks. Every time Cam mentioned Becca’s name I felt that little ache in my chest, an ache that ruptured into a full-blown bleed on Sunday.

Cole and I had had lunch with the Nicholses and had come home in a good mood. Cole had gone downstairs to invite Cam up for coffee and I was humming away like an idiot, my stomach already a riot of fluttery winged creatures in anticipation of seeing him, when Cole came back into the flat unaccompanied.

I frowned at him as I poured Cam’s coffee. ‘Is he just coming?’

Cole shook his head, his brows drawn together in what I took for bemusement.

‘Not in?’

He shrugged.

Oh, dear God, the shrugging had returned. ‘Well?’

He leaned against the kitchen counter and sighed before he shot me a questioning look. ‘Are you and Cam just friends?’

I coughed up the lie quite easily these days. ‘Of course. I’m with Malcolm. Why?’

Two spots of colour appeared high on Cole’s cheeks and his mouth quirked up at the corners in amusement. ‘Because it definitely sounds like Cam’s too busy shagging some noisy bird to want to have coffee with us.’

My whole body froze as I stared at my brother, my heart pounding, a horribly uneasy feeling in my stomach as jealousy seized hold of me.

‘Jo?’

I frowned, grasping at a reason for my freeze. ‘Don’t say “shagging” and don’t say “bird”. Not “bird”, “chick”, “piece”. We’re “women” or “ladies” or “girls”.’

Cole grunted. ‘Thanks for the vocab lesson.’

I stared after him as he took off for the living room, my good mood annihilated by the thought of Cam and Becca having sex.

I guess in the end I couldn’t really cope with all the colour, and the following Thursday, before the crack of dawn, I stripped the wallpaper in the sitting room. I was taking time to find some calm. The night before I went on a date with Malcolm, but I ended up getting him to drop me off early at the flat, after making up some excuse about not feeling well. I hurried upstairs to check the Internet, found the sale I was looking for, reserved what I needed from the local store, and began priming the walls.

When Thursday morning broke, I got Cole ready for school, ignoring his grumblings about the stripped walls, and then I headed out to pick up what I’d reserved: three rolls of wallpaper. I also bought some paste and a box of doughnuts.

As soon as I changed into my paint-covered jeans and tee, scraped my long hair back into a ponytail, and put on my headscarf, I felt better. Calmer already. I was just putting up my pasting table when Mum appeared in the doorway.

We stared at each other.

We hadn’t spoken since my attack in the kitchen almost three weeks before.

Her tired eyes swept the living room – the dust sheets, the rolls of wallpaper, the bucket of paste. She grunted. ‘Again?’

Taking my cue from Cole, I shrugged in reply.

Mum sighed and shook her head wearily. ‘Any food?’

‘There’s leftover pasta from last night. Can you heat it up without burning down the flat?’

She waved off my caustic comment and moved towards the kitchen a little unsteadily. ‘I’ll eat it cold.’

A little while later she returned to her room. That was good. Despite what I considered my civility in light of the circumstances, I still found it hard not to throw a punch anytime I thought of her hitting Cole. Honestly, that’s all I really saw now when I looked at her.

I switched on my music but kept it low so as not to disturb alco-mum and began to hang the new wallpaper. It was cream with very faint champagne, silver and chocolate stripes. I’d have to get new cushions for the couch and change the floor lamp, but I didn’t care. Decorating always zoned me out and I needed to zone out big time. I started at ten and by eleven I was feeling completely relaxed and sated from having eaten two doughnuts. I was in the middle of hanging a sheet of wallpaper, thinking that the kitchen cabinets could do with a repaint, when there was a knock at the door.

Turning on my stepladder, my hands high above me holding the wallpaper away from the wall, I yelled, ‘Who is it?’

‘Cam!’

Nope. He wasn’t going to destroy my calm. I took a deep breath and looked back at what I’d accomplished so far. I was on my last piece of wallpaper and the room looked brighter and fresher already. ‘Come in!’ I lined up the paper and used the brush to smooth the top of it to the wall.

Two seconds later I heard him ask behind me, ‘What are you doing?’

Ignoring the effect of his voice on my body, I slid the paper slightly, checking its position before smoothing down another section. ‘I’m wallpapering.’

‘By yourself?’ I could hear the incredulity in his voice.

I nodded, taking a step down the ladder so I could smooth the middle section. It was lining up exactly. Practice did make perfect. ‘Who do you think decorated this place? The wallpaper, the paint, the sanded floors …’ I finished off the piece and stepped back, smiling at the new look.

Turning to Cam, I was surprised to find a slightly dumbfounded look on his face as his eyes searched the room and then came back to me. ‘Do you know how bloody hard it is to hang wallpaper? You just did it like a pro.’

I made a face at him. I didn’t see what the big deal was. ‘Uncle Mick taught me.’

‘When you were ten?’ he asked, smiling in curiosity. ‘When did you start this?’ He nodded at the folding table.

‘An hour ago.’

Those gorgeous eyes of his widened. ‘And you’re done already? Jo, this place is really nicely put together. It looks professional. You know that, right?’

I grinned at the compliment, feeling a flush of pleasure that he thought so. ‘Thank you. It drives Cole nuts. He almost had a fit when he saw the stripped walls.’

‘Actually’ – Cam took a step towards me – ‘The reason I came by was because of Cole. I got this weird text from him saying, “Jo’s wallpapering. She only does that when something’s up. Do you know what’s going on?” ’

Traitor. I sighed, looking away from Cam. So it had got to the point where Cole was now going to our neighbour for help, even when it concerned me. Was I to have no secrets?

‘Well?’

I shrugged. ‘Every now and then it helps me relax.’ I tried to placate him with a smile. ‘Cam, you of all people know my life is stressful. I just do this to relieve it.’

Seeming to have mercy on me, Cam gave me a slow nod. ‘Right.’ He looked at the floor now, his eyes running along it to the paintwork on the skirting board. Without saying a word he disappeared and turned towards the kitchen. I heard him in the kitchen and then watched him appear, passing the doorway to head along to the bedrooms and bathroom. I heard three doors open. Bathroom, Cole’s room and my room.

Cam returned to the living room to encounter my ‘look’, featuring raised eyebrows and arms crossed over my chest. His lips twitched at it. Mine did not. ‘Are you done, you nosy bugger?’

He grinned. ‘You have a lot of books.’

I harrumphed.

‘Explains the vocab.’

‘Excuse me?’

‘You’re very articulate. Well read.’

Why did Cam’s compliments always have to be the best? It was very irritating to someone who was trying to get him out from under her skin.

‘You’re also talented.’

Astonishment jolted through my body. ‘Me? Talented?’ Was he high?

His arm swept around the room. ‘Jo, you should be doing this for a living.’

‘Um, doing what?’

‘Painting and decorating.’

I laughed at the absurdity of it. ‘Oh, okay. Who in their right mind would hire a high school dropout with no experience to be a painter and decorator? Let’s face facts. I’m useless, Cam.’

His eyes instantly hardened, narrowing on me and pinning me in place. ‘You are not useless. Don’t talk about yourself like that in front of me. It pisses me off.’ It was lucky he had no intention of waiting for me to speak, since I didn’t know how to reply or react to the warm fuzzies in my chest. ‘You’re good at this. Really good. I think Nate knows someone with his own company. I could see about getting you an apprenticeship.’

‘No. I’m twenty-four. No one hires a twenty-four-year-old apprentice.’

‘They do if it’s a favour for a friend.’

‘Cam, no.’

‘Jo, come on, at least think about it. You enjoy it and you’re good at it. It’s better than working two jobs and dating –’ He stopped himself, blanching when he realized he’d almost crossed the line.

Well, not really ‘almost’. He had crossed it. I clenched my jaw, forcing back the sting of tears in my eyes as I realized he still saw me that way – the bimbo after the rich guy’s wallet. I wiped the paste off the folding table, deciding to ignore him.

‘Jo, think about it. Please.’

‘I said no, thanks.’ I couldn’t imagine anyone would ever want to hire me, and the humiliation of rejection didn’t sound like a lot of fun.