Page 71 of Set Me On Fire

That pink flush in her cheeks, it made clear what exactly she was recalling, and I liked that a lot. It felt like I was seeing under the mask she wore at work. Seeing Millie walk in with Brent was like a gut punch, followed by a harder one when he announced she was taking over from Judy. I wanted to ask her why, how, what had her take the job and not me, but I knew there was no point. Girls had made clear I was good for a fun time, not a long time, and right now I’d have happily settled for another round if it meant feeling Millie hot, wet, and willing under me. Just one more night and I’d be satisfied, I told myself. Just one more.

“Millie—”

“About that?—”

We both paused, snorting when we realised we’d started talking at the same time.

“Go,” she said with a nod.

“No, you?—”

Whatever else I had to say was cut off by the ring of my phone.

I should’ve looked at my screen, saw who it was, and let it go to voicemail I thought as I heard my mother’s voice down the line, all the while knowing I would never let that happen.

“Charlie?” My sister’s voice came down the line. “You’re still coming around for dinner, right? It’d just I need to get started on that coursework and?—"

“Astrid,” I replied, shooting Millie a rueful smile.

“You forgot.” Astrid sighed. “You did, didn’t you?”

I had, something that happened all too often, but hey, I always made things right with those that I loved.

“I’ll be right there,” I told her.

“You better,” she growled, right before I ended to the call.

This was why I was able to take Millie’s brush off a lot easier than the other two. Women had been expressing their disappointment in me since I was very young, so why would that stop now? I shot Millie a smile as I remembered Knox’s foul mood at Noah’s pining, each one of them missing her in their own way, but that was a luxury I was never able to afford. People made clear what they wanted from me, and then… they took it.

“I’ve gotta go….”

I’d barely said the words when Millie let me go.

“Of course.” The mask was back, something I didn’t realise she put on until she started working for the station. Her smile was perfectly pleasant, making clear nothing upset her. The slight red rims around her eyes were the only things that betrayed her true emotional state. “Thanks for changing my tyre for me.”

“Next time…” I didn’t want to rock the boat, but I couldn’t seem to keep the words back. “Next time give me a ring. You’ve got my number.”

I don’t know if I was happy or not when Millie’s face fell, but I didn’t get a chance to work that out, because she had the door open and was sliding free within seconds. I watched her in the rear vision mirror, noting the limp, but it didn’t stop her from getting into the car and driving away. Staring after a woman that didn’t need me would do me no good, I thought, not when Astrid and my nephews were waiting for me. I slid into the driver’s seat and then did a U-turn, before heading back towards the city.

Chapter 35

Millie

“Did you tell them?”

I jammed my phone between my ear and my shoulder as I unlocked my front door.

“No, but?—”

“What?”

I winced at Jamie’s yelp, then at the pain in my knee. I was damn close to begging Charlie for a ride home when he got called away. Well, after I broke the news that he might be a father. Instead, a call from some girl had him scuttling away as if his arse was on fire.

Holy crap, did he have a girlfriend? What an arsehole. Finding out that he was as big an arse as Dave was somehow way more disappointing.

Speaking of arse, mine was still aching. I wanted some paracetamol and a heat pack, stat.

“Why?” Jamie continued. “I thought you said today was the day. C’mon, Millie?—”

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