Page 138 of The Life-Changing Magic of Falling in Love

‘I liked hearing more about your friendship with Sarah today,’ George says.

I sober instantly and then acknowledge that as much as I loved the dancing and the laughter, I love this too – this quiet late night talk thing we both find so easy to slip into. It makes it okay to admit, ‘It was good to talk about her. I guess I haven’t let myself. It’s hard to bring something like that into new friendships, you know? But maybe it would be okay to do that a bit more?’

‘Definitely okay. So, coming home for this wedding has been good?’

He makes me feel it was fate I got to bring him with me and I wish I could return the favour when he goes back to England for his brother’s wedding. I hope he comes back after. But I don’t want to think about if he doesn’t, so I say, ‘Thank you for what you said to my family. I think it’s the first time my mother’s looked at me and really seen how much I love what I’m doing.’

‘I think they’d love you running their company in the future.’

There was thinking longer-term and mapping out my whole future and hadn’t I seen what that kind of rigid plan had done to him? ‘It’ll be years before they retire,’ I say non-committedly, but now I’m thinking about Rhonda offering me that promotion. I know why even the suggestion had freaked me out, but could there be some sort of compromise there? I wait for the panic to set in and when it’s only very low-level I promise myself to properly think about it.

In the silence I shift position. Restless and reacting again to the tendrils of awareness arcing across the small space between beds.

If I pushed back the covers… If I asked him to, would he climb in beside me? Because at least then if he didn’t come back after his brother’s wedding, I’d have some hot memories.

Like a moth to a flame and with the want in me needing confirmation I whisper, ‘Hey, George?’

‘Yeah?’

‘You really thought my bunny outfit was sexy?’

There’s the sound of his breath leaving his lungs, followed by, ‘Ridiculously.’

I grin.

Until he says, ‘Night, Ashleigh,’ and I hear him turn to lie on his side away from me.

Wow.

But I guess, what exactly did I think was going to happen the minute I told George that Zach and I were no longer a thing? That he would automatically make a move?

‘Night,’ I whisper.

I close my eyes though it’s a long time before I fall asleep.

Chapter Forty-Two

RAIN OR SHINE

George

‘Wait.’ Ashleigh stops us halfway to the elevator. ‘Did you water Ficus-Ficus?’

‘I thought we hadn’t agreed on Ficus-Ficus?’

She shoots me an exasperated frown. ‘But we did agree on not letting it die, right?’

‘Right,’ I confirm, watching her curiously. Her mood is more than my propensity for forgetting to water the plant, I think. ‘How about I water Yet to Be Named. You hold the elevator?’

She sighs and walks off and it takes me a second to remember to look at the lock I’m putting my key into and not the sway of her hips and fit of her jeans.

Two minutes later I’m back out the door, preoccupied with getting to the bottom of what’s going on with her, which is why I don’t register Mrs. Lundy’s, ‘Off on another romantic date with Ashleigh?’ until I see Ashleigh’s head pop out from inside the elevator, expression mildly horrified.

‘Hi, Mrs. Lundy,’ I greet, slowly turning around.

‘Hildy,’ she corrects, zeroing in on the picnic hamper I’m carrying. She looks back up at me with an approving smile.

‘Hildy,’ I say, but nope. Still awkward.

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