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He stood, took her hands, and drew her to her feet. “Get out of here, Ms Bloom, before I take you up on that.”
She hitched her bag over her shoulder and gave him a wonky smile. “No wonder you’re so good at what you do; for a second there I nearly believed you.”
Together they walked to the glass door. She tried to tuck her hair behind her ears but it sprang back, a mass of wild curls. The lift of her arm raised her sweater, exposing a sliver of skin, the dip of her waist. And as her hand reached for the handle he touched her there. His hand at her hip his thumb found skin, and her light body melted into him as if it had been waiting to do just that.
He let her go, and without a backwards glance she opened the door and walked away.
* * *
“I just had a terrible thought.”
Saskia grinned as Nate’s voice rumbled down the phone line. Phone tucked under her chin, she grabbed a corner of vinyl from the kitchen floor and tugged. “Do tell?”
“It’s just over a week away and I still haven’t got a wedding present. Mae didn’t do the normal thing and send invites weeks before the wedding with a registry card attached—”
“You know a lot about weddings, my friend.”
“I’m beloved. I get a lot of invites.”
Saskia gave up, shucked her gloves and plonked herself on a red vinyl chair in the corner of the kitchen. “Any reason you’ve included me in your terrible thought?”
“You’re a woman.”
“Why, thank you for noticing.”
“Sweetheart, I think we can safely say I would not have kissed you by the cab that first night if I hadn’t noticed that pretty quick-smart.”
“And I thought that was just for credibility.”
A pause, then, “You probably believe in fairies too.”
Saskia laughed, then sighed, then curled up on the chair and gave herself over to the bliss.
After the pre-engagement blow-out they’d hit a kind of flirty, easy peace. That night she’d gone to Nate’s to watch a movie and eat takeaway. After a half-hour they’d both decided they ought to be doing something else, and had spent the better part of the night doing just that.
He’d turned up at hers with Chinese and red wine the next night and they’d managed to eat about half before other more pressing matters had taken over.
When he’d refused to take her money back she couldn’t remember feeling more relief in her whole life. And it hadn’t been about the debt. Not even a jot. It had meant she had another week and a bit with Nate in her bed. In her life. In her heart. She’d always thought herself a smart woman. Clearly she’d been mistaken.
“So, what does my womanhood have to do with your shopping dilemma?”
“Would you care to do the honours?”
“Not on your life.” It occurred to her a split second later that in the past she would have said yes. Without hesitation. Saying no felt...good. Evolved. A blessed relief that she’d said it and her world hadn’t ended.
“But—”
“You have three sisters, Nate. And a mother. Any one of whom would jump at the chance to help.”
That shut him up. It was kind of nice to know she could still render the man speechless.
“Mae’s your friend now as much as she is mine.”
Saskia’s mouth twisted at that. She’d been to Mae’s hen night the night before and had the time of her life. A pub crawl through the Irish pubs of Melbourne had turned into something else entirely when Mae had taken it upon herself to stop every man they met and ask him about their internet dating experiences. It had given Saskia—who always had a yellow legal pad on hand—enough in-depth research from the male point of view to create three infographics.
It had been a blast, but it had also meant she’d not seen Nate at all.
“Okay. Then care to come shopping with me?”
Saskia looked down at her overalls, her sticky hair, her paint-splattered hands. “Sounds like a treat. But no. Can’t. I’m tearing up my kitchen floor.”
Another pause. “On your own?”
“Unlike you, I don’t see the need to hire people when I’m perfectly capable of doing it myself.”
“Would you even know how to ask for help?”
“Sure,” she said with a shrug. “If I didn’t think I could do it better myself.”
“I’ve never met anyone like you, Saskia Bloom.”
“Nice try. Get the gift yourself.” She hung up, the sound of his laughter still humming through her.
A week, she thought, staring at the sun shining through the small collection of red glass bottles lined up on her kitchen window. A week more of Nate and then...nothing. That was pretty much what she felt like when she let herself hear the clock ticking in the back of her head. As if the place he had in her life would leave a hole too big to fill.
