over one shoulder.
Now she had to make her way to Newcastle without the aid of Brodie’s boat or her car—which was still parked at the bar. Simple… not. A cab was out of the question, since her wallet was frighteningly lean. Perhaps she could ring one of the girls and beg for a lift?
She bit down on her lip. She hated to ask. What if they already had plans? They probably would, and she would be interrupting. The bed squeaked as Brodie turned in his sleep, spiking her heart rate. She had to get out of there.
Pushing down her discomfort, she made her way off the boat and dialled Willa’s number. ‘Hey, I know it’s early, but I need a favour…’
Within twenty minutes she was in Willa’s car and on her way to Newcastle. There would be a price to pay for Willa’s generosity in giving up brunch with Rob… and it wasn’t going to be monetary.
‘So,’ Willa began, not bothering to hide the curiosity sparkling all over her face, ‘how was he?’
Chantal pretended to study an email on her phone. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’
‘Oh, come on! I did not miss out on baked ricotta and eggs to have you BS me, Chantal.’
‘Nothing happened.’
Willa chuckled. ‘Then why is your face the same shade as a tomato?’
‘Sunburn?’ Chantal offered weakly. ‘Okay—fine. I slept with him.’
‘Thank you, Captain Obvious. I’d figured that out already.’ Willa leant forward to watch the traffic as she merged onto the Bradfield Highway. ‘I don’t want confirmation—I want details.’
Where to begin? Images of last night flashed in front of Chantal’s eyes, snippets of sounds, feelings, sensations… Her body reacted as though he were right there in front of her. Damn him!
‘It was… satisfying.’
‘Just satisfying?’ Willa narrowed her eyes at Chantal. ‘Either you dish or it’s going to be a long walk to Newcastle.’
‘He was amazing.’
Shaking her head, she willed her heart to stop thumping and her core to stop throbbing. She should be satiated, considering he’d woken her up twice during the night to continue wringing as many orgasms from her as possible.
‘I’m sure he’s had plenty of practice,’ Chantal added, folding her arms across her chest.
‘Don’t go using that as a way to put distance between you. I can see what you’re doing there.’
‘I am not.’
‘That’s one thing I like about you, Chantal. You’re a terrible liar.’
She huffed. Perhaps she would have been better walking. ‘I don’t need to put any distance between us because we agreed that it would be a one-night-only thing. Then we’d pretend it had never happened.’
‘Gee, that sounds healthy.’ Willa rolled her eyes.
‘Why not? It’s just sex—nothing more.’ I don’t need any more, and I don’t need him.
‘If it was just sex then why do you need to pretend it didn’t happen?’
As much as she hated to admit it, Willa had a point. What was so bad about admitting that she’d had a one-night stand with Brodie?
Even thinking the words set a hard lump in her stomach. She’d been down this path before—men always started out fun, till the over-protectiveness stirred, control followed, and smothering wasn’t far behind.
‘Well, we don’t want to upset Scott…’
‘That’s not it. Scott is totally head over heels for Kate. She’s it for him. So I can guarantee he wouldn’t care about you and Brodie hooking up.’
Why did she feel so funny about it? Perhaps admitting it aloud meant it was real, and if it was real then it might happen again.
It’s a slippery slope to disaster—remember that.
‘Eight years is a long time to harbour feelings for someone. No wonder you’re scared.’
‘I’m not scared.’ Chantal’s lips pursed. ‘And I have most certainly not been harbouring feelings for Brodie Mitchell for the last eight years.’
‘I think the lady doth protest too much.’ Willa stole a quick glance at Chantal, her amusement barely contained in a cheeky smile. ‘You know, it is okay for you to like people—even annoyingly handsome men like Brodie.’
‘I don’t like him. I only wanted his body.’ Her lip twitched.
Feelings for his body were a little easier to deal with than the possibility of feelings for him as a person. She had to shut this down right now. She did not have feelings for Brodie and she most certainly didn’t want to start something permanent with him. It was a simple case of primitive, animalistic need. Relationships were not something on her horizon.
But no one had said anything about relationships, had they? Crap, why did it have to be so damn confusing? Head space came at a premium, and she could not afford to waste any spare energy on men, no matter how incredible their hands or mouth were.
‘Uh, Chantal? I asked you a question.’
‘Did you?’ Great—now she’d lost her ability to even sustain basic conversation.
‘Yes, I asked if you’d heard back after your audition.’
Sore point number two. ‘Not yet. But it was only yesterday. They could take a little while to get back to me.’
‘Do you think it went well?’
‘Who the hell knows?’ She sighed, rubbing her hands over her eyes. ‘I can’t tell any more.’
‘I’m sure you’ll land on your feet.’ Willa reached over and squeezed her hand.
For a moment Chantal was terrified that she might cry. She hadn’t allowed herself to shed any tears over her marriage or her failing career, and she didn’t plan on opening the floodgates now. All that emotion was packed down tight. There would be time to cry when she’d secured herself a position with a dance company. For the time being tears were a waste of time and energy.
Thankfully Chantal was able to steer Willa to a safer topic. She was all too happy to talk about how things were going with Rob. Other people’s lives were preferable talking points over the tricky, icky state of her career and her unwanted feelings towards Brodie.
Willa dropped Chantal off at the bar’s parking lot, and she was almost surprised to find her car was still there. It was too crappy to steal, apparently.
Hitching her overnight bag higher on her shoulder, Chantal made her way around the back of the bar to the staff accommodation. She needed a hot shower, a cup of coffee and a lie down before she even attempted to get
