Page 118 of The Life-Changing Magic of Falling in Love

His gaze flicks up to me. ‘It’s a great dress.’

‘Thank you.’ At least someone noticed. I take a pull of my beer and wonder if Zach was more affectionate or less affectionate than usual. He definitely had fun. But then again, he likes being active. It must be hard with the cast on, I guess, but also, why have neither of us initiated a new plan to meet up and get considerably more intimate with each other?

I blow out a breath as I inwardly admit my overriding feeling tonight is embarrassment that in front of my friends Zach put his own friends first when I’d assumed he’d accepted my invite because he wanted to spend time with me and not because it happened to conveniently kill time before something else. The look on George’s face when Zach said he was off out somewhere else said it all – even Carlos and Oz exchanged a surprised look.

I don’t know… Am I trying to turn Zach and me into something more than casual?

‘I suppose I could go change,’ I tell George. ‘I’m only three floors up so it would take me, like, two minutes?’

‘You live here?’ George automatically shifts his gaze upwards.

Wow. I’m wondering why I haven’t initiated sex with Zach, yet I’ve still never mentioned to him that I live above Oscars. Then, five minutes on a fire escape with George and I’m divulging all sorts of things.

‘So go change and then come back down,’ George adds.

‘Yeah?’ I mean, it makes sense, doesn’t it, that this would probably feel less like a date – I mean, that I should be sitting with my friend in jeans over a dress?

‘Yeah. Hey, you want to show me your artwork?’

‘George, are you asking to come up and see my etchings?’ The words come out of my mouth in a breathless flirt and I squeeze my eyes shut in mortification but then immediately open them again so that there’s no chance of imagining Sarah clapping her hands in delight.

George chuckles. ‘I meant, as in, have you finished the piece you’re working on for my brother’s wedding?’

‘Right. Um, not ready to show you that yet.’ I pull myself to my feet and smooth my dress down. ‘I’ll be five minutes – six tops.’ Because now I think about it my lips are really dry so I should probably re-apply some lip gloss and brush my hair to make sure there’s no flour in it.

* * *

I’m out of breath when I sit back down next to him. It’s because I’ve climbed out my window and down the fire escape concentrating fiercely on not falling clumsily at his feet.

‘I’ve been sitting here thinking how great it must be to live above a bakery,’ George says, handing me my beer.

‘I didn’t want to look for somewhere else after—’ I swallow and hurry on, ‘You’re right, it’s great here, even if Carlos and Oz only opened Oscars last year. I hope they manage to keep the place going. I’m steamed none of their other friends came to support them.’

‘Carlos and Oz look like they’re working out what they need to do. And maybe they feel their biggest support – you,’ he nudges me, ‘were here for it so they didn’t need anyone else. I suspect your friendship means a great deal to them.’

I stare at the muscles in his forearms as he leans his arms on his knees, his beer bottle dangling casually from his large hands and then swing my gaze to his face again. ‘No comment about fixing them or saving them?’

‘Nah.’ He grins and then adds, ‘I’ll save that for when you’re least expecting it.’

I grin back. ‘How’s the job-hunting going?’

His mouth turns down slightly. ‘It’s going. I guess I’m feeling ambivalent?’

He takes another pull of beer and I use the time to choose my words. ‘I couldn’t help noticing you didn’t take that cardiology guy’s card the other day – Kyle Denton’s?’

‘Oh, you noticed that did you?’

‘So, I saved it for you.’ I stand up, put my hand on his shoulder for balance and feel the heat and strength seep seductively into my bloodstream. Quickly I shove my hand into my pocket and hold the business card out so he has no option but to take it from me and then hurriedly sit back down, wrapping my hand around the cold of my beer bottle. ‘Why don’t you want to follow it up?’

He sighs. ‘I don’t want to work at a hospital.’

‘Who says you’d have to? It may be work you could do from home.’

‘I hate hospitals.’

‘Why?’ The penny drops. ‘Shit. Of course, you hate hospitals. I’m sorry, George. I should have realised. Wow, that dinner party must have been tough.’

‘You really didn’t put Mrs. Lundy up to inviting me?’

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