Page 39 of The Alice Equation (The Laws of Love 1)

“I really have no idea.” His voice was muffled from the tic-tacs. “A lot. It’s been the week from hell. Kevin Fisher insisted I finish off all the court notes for that negligence case I told you about. I worked fourteen-hour days, ate crap all week and drank too much coffee, and then, you know, we had to do the farewell drinks thing, and after that I went out with Carts and Dan to celebrate at the Shamrock, then to Rumbubba on Elizabeth Quay, and then I think—” He scratched his head, frowning. “I think we ended up at the casino.”

“Oh, Aaron—”Thisat least was familiar territory.

“I need a hangover fix.” He glanced over at her, his expression that mix of wicked and contrite that always made her feel like someone had dumped runny honey into her veins.

“Do you want to join me for a seriously greasy brunch?” he asked.

Honestly, how could a girl refuse?

When they were finally seated in a small café nearby, after Aaron had taken a few mouthfuls of BLT dripping with tomato relish and Alice was onto her second cup of tea for the morning (if you didn’t count the two she’d had when she woke up, which were really a life-support system), she said, “That was a bit awkward, meeting the Bendts.”

Aaron gave a whimsical grin between chews. His face seemed to be regaining more of its normal colour with each mouthful. “Should have expected it, I guess; it was like the who’s who of Perth. I really didn’t think I’d see you there, to be honest.”

“Thanks a lot.”

“I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just you’ve never shown an interest in investment strategies.”

“I was there to support Oliver.”

Liar, liar pants on fire.

“Oliver doesn’t need your support.”

Piqued, Alice countered, “I thought if you landed this job, you might iron out that chip on your shoulder.”

“Oliver only gets to me when he’s in Perth. I can tolerate his existence as long as he stays on the other side of Australia. And when he doesn’t send me a signed copy of his latest book with a photo of him on some palm-fringed beach, then expect me to actually read it.”

“Maybe you should now you’ll be earning squillions,” Alice retorted. For some reason she wanted to needle him.

Sure enough, Aaron gave her a dark look. “Don’t you start. I had the Spanish inquisition over my finances from both of them the other night before dinner.”

They sat in silence for a moment, while Alice fought an overwhelming urge to keep niggling and Aaron studied his sandwich as if two bits of toasted bread, greasy bacon and a limp lettuce leaf were the most fascinating thing he’d ever seen in his life.

He took another bite, then shoved it back on his plate.

“Sorry,” he said. “I’m being shitty, aren’t I?”

She nodded and straightened her spine. She needed to take control of the situation, not play victim. She let her lips curve into a smile as she glanced up at him. “Yes, actually, you are.”

“Guess I’m a bit wired—you know, about the new job. And hungover to buggery. I probably should have taken a break between contracts, but I didn’t want to put a foot wrong.”

Alice relented. “I get that.”

He was still staring at her weirdly as he picked up his food again. “Look, this girlfriend gig, it really won’t be much of a deal at all. I just need you to phone me from time to time, maybe join me if there’s some sort of social gathering after work. You can start to cool off within a few weeks; that will give them more reason to think things aren’t so great between us by the time you dump me.”

The idea of dumping Aaron nearly ripped a hole in her heart.

“So what’s my reason?” she asked.

“Reason?”

“For dumping you. I mean, don’t you think we should work out what goes wrong between us? You know, so we can keep our stories matching.” This was ridiculous. Discussing the end of a relationship they’d never even had. She wouldn’t be so miffed if they’d actually experienced some good bits first. Or maybe she’d be even more miffed…

“Good point.” Aaron put down his sandwich again and picked up his steaming cup of black coffee. He took a mouthful. “Why don’tyoucome up with a reason? After all, you’ll be doing the dumping.”

“It takes two to make a relationship fail, you know,” she responded.

“Not always. Sometimes one person cares more than the other.”

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