wafer stuck jauntily in the top. ‘I was. Then I was distracted by an awkward phone call.’
She was already digging into her bacio. ‘Nothing too awful, I hope.’
He watched the way she ate the first taste of ice-cream, half-closing her eyes as she savoured it. Today she seemed back to the friendly, approachable woman she’d been on Monday evening when she’d asked to share his table – before greeting his suggestion they go on somewhere together like a deadly insult. Curious to see if he could complete a conversation with her without prompting the same result, he decided to try to engage her. ‘I’m not sure. Maybe you can give me an objective view? I’m not sure if I’m imagining something that isn’t there.’
Her eyebrows lifted. ‘Go on.’ She took another spoon of ice-cream and did the savouring thing again. It was damned distracting.
Between spoonfuls of his own delicious tart-but-sweet lemon ice-cream Levi recounted the story of Octavia hitting on him so hard then moving on to Wes without, apparently, missing a beat.
Sofia listened, dark brown eyes thoughtful. She finished her bacio, wiped her fingers on her paper napkin and sat back. ‘Did you know her before she found your phone?’
‘Not that I remember. But Bettsbrough’s a small town so it’s possible. Dad owns a garage and I worked there during the holidays when I was younger. I must have met a lot of his customers over time.’
‘But that’s not where you work now?’
‘Yes and no. My office is above my dad’s garage, but it’s just rented from Gunn’s Motors. My brother Tyrone works for the business itself.’
‘You didn’t go to the same school?’
‘I don’t think so. She’s several years older than I am, probably early to mid-forties.’
Sofia raised an eyebrow as she reached for the water to top up their glasses. ‘So she’s a polyamorous techie who doesn’t see anything wrong in making her desires known, fancied both of you and so went for it. If everyone concerned is single then she hasn’t actually done anything wrong.’
Levi heaved a sigh of relief at her no-nonsense summation. ‘Thank you.’
Her eyes began to dance. ‘Or she’s a right old bunny-boiler who took one look at you, became violently infatuated and is infiltrating every aspect of your life, even to the extent of granting sexual access to your best friend in an effort to stay close to you and/or make you jealous.’
‘Shit.’ He contemplated her. ‘Do you think it’s that?’
She shrugged. ‘Not really. If you’re positive you’ve never met until she found your phone I’d say the most likely explanation is that Octavia’s simply an oddball who falls suddenly for men and equally suddenly gets over them. Or she’s been single too long and is getting a bit desperate to couple up.’
Levi made no reply, mainly because he couldn’t think of a polite way of saying ‘Yeuch.’
As she cleared tables, the sun hot on her neck, Amy watched Sofia and Levi together. She liked them both. They’d stuck up for her right at the beginning when she hadn’t known how to handle creepy Davide. Sofia had even taken charge when Amy had been a wuss last night about the climbing plant tapping at her window in the breeze.
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