Page 32 of The Felicity Theory (The Laws of Love 4)

“Not too funny. No crass mention of exes or anything.” Aaron looked slightly anxious.

“My name’s Carter Wells, not Dan bloody Roach. I can be funnyandtasteful. He’s already tried to hit on Felicity, by the way.”

“You’re joking.”

Oliver’s ears pricked up.

“Yeah. She had the good sense to turn him down. He’s a bit embarrassed, but why he didn’t think before he opened his motor-mouth is beyond me.”

Oliver’s spine relaxed back into his seat. But when his phone vibrated on the table and he saw the words “Honey Pie” it immediately tensed up again.

Why in hell’s name was Leonie still in his contacts under her pet name?

Excusing himself, he got up and walked outside to take the call.

“Oliver.” Her voice was like a stab to the chest.

“Leonie,” he croaked.

“I’m phoning to wish Aaron and Alice the best for their wedding.”

How fucking ironic.“You could have phoned them direct.”

“I—wasn’t sure how they’d receive it, so I—well, I wanted to talk to you anyway—”

There was a long and awkward silence, before Leonie continued. “We literally haven’t spoken for weeks, have we? It feels strange not having contact.”

Strange!She’d gutted him with a blunt implement, put his life into free fall and that’s all she could come up with?“You told me not to call you,” he managed through gritted teeth.

“You could’ve phoned, I would’ve been fine with it.”

What was he now, a mind-reader?This.This was the whole problem in a nutshell. Leonie had not been honest with him about her feelings. If she’d said her life had been monotonous, dull—shit, was he really dull to live with?—he’d have had a chance to correct things, but she’d given him no clues. No explanations.

“How’s Bali?” he clipped out.

“Going really well.” Another vicious stab to the chest. “I’ve organised three weddings. One on the beach, one in the paddy fields and another outside an ancient temple in Ubud. And I’ve gotsomany word of mouth recommendations coming in, my head’s literally spinning.”

“So, you’ll be staying.”

“Well, for now.” Pause. “Which is another reason why I’m calling. We need to put the apartment on the market. I have to access my share, babe.”

He wanted to snark out,don’t call me babe. “I see. How soon are you thinking?”

“I’ve got another big wedding coming up, but I hope to be back in six weeks or so to finalise things.” Wheedling now. “I wanted to ask a favour—with a pretty please. Will you go back to Sydney after Aaron’s wedding and put the apartment on the market?”

He was tempted to throw his phone on the pavement, smash it, grind it to dust under his heel. Before he could answer she said, all breathy and sweet, “You’re so much better at this stuff than me, babe.”

“Sounds like you’re doing just fine without my input.”

A micro pause. “I do have some help… you know, a business advisor.”

Something about her tone made Oliver want to demand who this so-called “business advisor” was. But he bit the question back. No way would he demean himself.

“What if I want to keep the apartment?” He didn’t, but he wasn’t rolling over at her whim.

“We’ll still need to get it valued to work out my share.”

“My return date isn’t fixed yet.”

---