‘Eleven.’
‘It didn’t scare you off stunt work?’
‘Nah – may have even planted the seed.’
She kisses the tip of her finger then touches it to the scar.
‘You said you wanted to tell me something,’ she says, a gentle prod for the man who isn’t quite sure where to begin. But there’s so much to say.
‘I, er…’
‘Start with Pippa,’ she says. ‘Is she okay?’
‘It’s thoughtful of you to ask after her,’ I say, struck by her compassion. ‘But we don’t have to talk about Pippa.’
‘Tellme.’
‘She’s okay. It was amicable. Pip and I will always be friends.’
Delaney tips her head to meet my eye.
‘Really?’ she asks and I nod.
‘Friendly enough for me to meet her?Someday, I mean.’
I search her eyes –howcan she be so understanding? I don’t know that I would be if our roles were reversed.
‘Sorry,’ she adds hurriedly. ‘That was— Don’t worry about it. I mean you and I aren’t even?—’
‘Aren’t even what?’ I ask, needles of doubt prickling my spine at the abrupt turnabout.
She pushes herself up and shifts to the other side of the bed. The spot where she was is still warm, but even so, a chill washes over me.
‘Aren’t even what?’ I ask again, looking across at her. Her gaze is fixed straight ahead and she’s nibbling on her lower lip. ‘Delaney?’
‘Didyou come here just for the sex?’ she asks.
‘What?’ I reply with a laugh. ‘No. Why would I do that?’
‘Because,’ she says, finally looking at me, ‘we haveseriouschemistry.’ She waves her hand between us to punctuate her point, and I stifle a smirk – she issofar off base and I’m about to set her straight, but she barrels ahead.
‘So, who knows?’ she continues, her voice pitchy. ‘Maybe you came to LA to get me out of your system.Ormaybe you came to seal the movie deal, and because of our serious chemistry, you got distracted and then we fucked.’
‘Oh, no, no,’ I say. ‘That’s too far.’
‘What is?’ she asks with a slight pout.
I turn onto my side to face her and grab her agitated hand, holding it tightly. ‘We, Delaney Cole, did notfuck. We made love. I made love to you – like I said I wanted to when we were on Capri. And I didn’t come here to cross you off my list – “Fuck Delaney”,’ I say, miming that I’m scrubbing out an item on a list. ‘And I didn’t come to seal the deal for the film.’
She gulps, her eyes widening in that gloriously sweet way of hers. ‘They why did you come?’ she asks in a whisper.
‘Because I fell in love with you on Capri.’
She gasps, her mouth forming an O, her eyes filling with wonder.
‘And that last day when you shouted at me?—’
‘I didn’t sh?—’