“That serious? Okay, tell me. What did you do?” A pause. “Did you cut your hair off?”
“No.”
“Did you agree to run off with a tall, dark stranger and never return?”
“Also, no.”
“Right. All good choices. So? Spill.”
I chewed the inside of my cheek. “I slept with Maxime.”
I yanked the phone from my ear as Iris squealed loud enough to shatter the sound barrier.”
When she ran out of air, I brought the phone back, pressing it against my cheek.
“Iknewit! The way he was looking at you last night? I’m surprised you didn’t melt into a puddle.”
Her words sent my stomach fluttering.
“Do you not remember me telling you? I never lie.” She sounded so proud of herself. “And—okay—I have a confession, too. I saw Maxime kiss you at the coffee machine.”
My mind rewound to last night, to the moment I admitted my fear of being left behind. He’d pulled me close and kissed the top of my head.
“Don’t worry, no one else saw. But that wasn’t just a friendly kiss. You two were in pure romance-novel territory. He did that simmering thing I told you about.”
“He did?” I’d thought he felt sorry for me.
“Yes! But more importantly … if you finallygot friendlywithyour insanely hot boss, why are you calling me? Why aren’t you busy somewhere, climbing him like a spider monkey?”
“His ex turned up.”
A pause. “Who’s his ex, again?”
“Sophie’s mum.” My words felt dull and clunky against Iris’s sparkle.
Another pause. “Oh. But there’s nothing between them, right?”
“No, but it didn’t help that when she arrived, he was mid-kiss—on my butt cheek.”
“Sorry?”
I could picture her now, blinking, trying to figure out how that made any sense.
“Okay, I’ll explain. Valerie, his ex, showed up unannounced before I had the chance to sneak out of his room. She’d left a message telling him she was coming, but I didn’t write it down properly. So, when she turned up, I had to hightail it out the window. But my leg caught on a hose, and I fell into the lavender bank. Which was full of …”
“Bees?”
I smiled. “Exactly.” Damn, I loved this woman. The only person on Earth capable of making sense of the chaos tumbling out of my mouth. “And one of them stung me.”
“Hold up! You got stung?”
I nodded like she was beside me. Iris knew about my brother. And my fear. “But I’m alive—thank the universe.”It’d only just sunk in, really, and I’d sent my brother a heart emoji. Just the picture; no words. We hardly spoke, but I guess nearly dying—or not dying, actually—makes you remember who you love.
“Indeed,” she said. “Right, let me recap. Sexy times. Sophie’s mum. Window escape. Lavender. Bee.”
“Yes.”
“Okay, now back to Maxime and your butt.”
