Page 44 of Wild Tonic
“Thank you,” she said, softly. “No-one’s ever said that before.” She paused. “Though I don’t think I can keep on seeing you.”
Nate’s heart plummeted into his boots. “Why? I can promise you I will never go anywhere near that girl ever again.”
“It’s not that.” Clem shifted her body, so she was a little further away from him. “I’ve been talking to my mother and Dean and we’ve been talking about my future. We’ve decided that I’m going to leavePretty Rich Thingsand concentrate on the business full-time. I’ll probably be moving back down here, so I can be closer to Dean.”
“I can still come and see you here. It’s not that far from North Ridge.”
“It’s not going to work, Nate.” Her face was set, as if she were struggling to hold it together. “I’m sorry.”
“Can’t we talk about it? We can work something out, surely?”
Clem stood up, biting her lip, trying to stop the tears from coming. “I think you should go.”
There was a huge part of Nate that didn’t want to give up, didn’t want to leave it like that. He couldn’t understand how they had been so happy one minute and then the actions of a silly, jealous little girl had ruined everything. Maybe Clem hadn’t really cared about him after all. The other part of him wanted to get back home, back to his guitar and a joint.
Knowing he was defeated, he stood up and followed Clem back into the hallway.
Dean and a woman Nate assumed to be Clem’s mother were standing by the front door.
“Yes, it seems to have had the desired effect,” Dean was saying.
“And you can get in touch with Anastasia to send her our thanks?” the woman asked. “Tell her we’ll find her a little something for helping out.”
A cold hand clutched at Nate’s heart. “Helping out with what?” he asked, his voice booming into the space.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Clem stopped abruptly and Nate barrelled into the back of her. “You said something about Anastasia? What for?”
Dean and Marika exchanged a glance, which didn’t go unnoticed by Clem.
“Oh, um, she was going to do something for Stelle D’Oro,” said Dean, trying not to meet her eyes.
“No, she isn’t. She would have taken great delight in telling me that she was involved. And she hasn’t, so it’s not that.” Clem glared at her brother and mother in turn. “Do you want to tell me what’s going on?”
Nate put a comforting hand on her shoulder and it filled her with unexpected strength.
“Isn’t it time Nate was going? After all, we won’t be seeing him again, will we?” Marika stepped towards the couple.
“And we’ve got things to discuss about the business, such as how much you’re going to get involved now you aren’t seeing anyone,” said Dean.
“Why are you so keen to get rid of Nate? You got Dean to try and warn me off, but that didn’t work. All you needed was someone like Anastasia to come along and whisk him away from me.”
When neither Dean nor Marika said anything, suddenly everything fell into place.
“Oh my God, that’s it, isn’t it? You did get Anastasia to come along to trap Nate! That’s why you need to thank her. For getting him out of my life.”
A wave of nausea rushed through her. However preposterous the idea was, at all made sense. Anastasia’s appearance at the Festival, feeding Clem with drinks to make sure she went to bed early and was out of the way. She screwed up her eyes, trying to get the images of Nate and Anastasia out of her head. Why had he kissed her? When he knew how much she loathed the girl?
“Don’t be ridiculous, darling.” Marika’s tone was meant to be soothing, but it set Clem on edge. “That far-fetched notion is absurd. Why would we do something like that when yourrock star boyfriendis simply reverting to type. After all, someone like that could never be faithful.”
“You’ve never even given him a chance or got to know him. How do you know what he could be like?”
“He kissed Anastasia, Clem. What more proof do you need?” Dean tilted his head to one side, his mouth set in a line.
“Hang on a sec.” Nate’s voice piped up from behind Clem. “I didn’t. I pushed her away. I don’t know how she got those pictures, but I swear on India’s life that I didn’t kiss her.”
Clem whirled around to face Nate. His brows were knotted together, eyes radiating tiredness. It had to mean something for him to bring India into this mess. Her heart contracted. Maybe he was telling the truth, but that didn’t explain what Dean and Marika had done. She took his hand and squeezed it, before facing her family.
