‘You won’t be happy unless you achieve what you’ve set out to achieve.’
Kat raised one of her brows. ‘That sounds more like a description of you rather than me.’
‘It’s a description of both of us,’ he said. ‘Good luck tomorrow.’ He gave her a wink. ‘Break a leg. Or should I say, foot?’
* * *
Kat was on her way to the audition when she got a call from her friend Maddie. She was going to ignore it but she had already been a bit slack at responding to a couple of texts, which she knew would make her friend suspicious. ‘Hi, Maddie.’ She injected brightness into her tone. ‘I’ve been meaning to call. Just been crazily busy, you know how it—’
‘What’s this I hear about you living next door to Flynn Carlyon?’ Maddie said.
‘Where did you hear that?’
‘There’s a photo of you on Twitter. You two are trending.’
‘It’s not what you think—’
‘Have you broken the pact?’ Maddie ’s voice had a note of suspicion. A whole stave of suspicion.
‘No-o-o-o.’ Kat strung her answer out like she was stretching a piece of string. Or the truth.
‘Have you kissed him?’
‘I...erm...he kissed me.’
‘Did you respond?’
What a question. What choice had she had? It had been the best kiss she’d ever experienced. Everything in her had responded—every cell, every pore, every atom. Every kiss henceforth would be measured against Flynn’s searing sensuality and found lacking. ‘I didn’t let it go too far,’ Kat said.
He didn’t let it go too far—not you.
I would have stopped eventually.
Like when? After he’d given you the big O?
‘How far?’ Maddie said.
Far enough to want more. Far enough for Kat’s body to be aching with the need to feel his arms around her, his mouth pressed to hers, his hard body doing all the things to hers she craved. Like the big O. ‘Where was the photo taken?’ she asked.
‘Aha! Diversionary tactics. You are so going to lose this bet.’
‘Kissing is allowed,’ Kat said. ‘We agreed on that.’
‘There’s kissing and there’s kissing,’ Maddie said. ‘Which side does Flynn fall on?’
‘You don’t want to know.’
Maddie laughed. ‘I knew you’d be the first to break. You just can’t help yourself, can you? A handsome man takes a shine to you and you fall madly in love.’
‘I’m not in love with Flynn Carlyon,’ Kat said. ‘I just have a body-crush on him.’
‘He is rather gorgeous,’ Maddie said. ‘Even on crutches.’
‘You’ve seen him on crutches?’
‘That’s the photo on Twitter I was telling you about,’ Maddie said. ‘You were standing outside his house with him with the snow falling down around you with a weird little dog at your feet. It looked like a shot for a Hollywood romantic comedy.’
There was nothing comedic about their relationship. It was turning into high drama. How could she possibly avoid the temptation of him when she was forced to spend time with him? Time she looked forward to in spite of her misgivings about him and his connection with her father. ‘I ran over his foot.’
‘On purpose?’
‘By accident. You know what I’m like at reverse parking,’ Kat said. ‘He was standing behind the car and—never mind. It’s a long story. I’m helping him walk his dog and run errands for him while he’s out of action.’
‘Ah, but is he out of action in the bedroom?’ There was a teasing lilt in Maddie ’s voice. ‘I can’t see a pair of crutches getting in the way of what Flynn Carlyon wants.’
‘What about you?’ Kat was desperate to steer the conversation away from her nemesis. ‘Have you fallen off the wagon?’
‘No,’ Maddie said. ‘Not even tempted by anyone.’
‘Sure?’
There was a tiny silence.
‘Well, I do have to visit my great-grandfather this weekend for his birthday and you know who will be there.’
‘Why will Byron be there?’ Kat asked. ‘You guys broke up months ago.’
‘I know, but Gramps’s dementia has worsened since his stroke,’ Maddie said. ‘He thinks we’re still together and Mum thinks it will stress him out if we tell him any different. It’s just a weekend. I can handle that. Anyway, good luck with the audition. Call me as soon as you hear, okay? And remember—I knew you before you were famous.’
KAT WAS THE last person to audition, which meant by the time her name was called her stomach had grown teeth and they were gnawing all the way to her backbone. The director asked her to take position, but instead of feeling the buzz of being onstage she felt sick. What if she blew it? What if she made an idiot of herself? Who was she kidding? She was an amateur. She hadn’t been to a performing arts school. She had rehearsed in front of a mirror, not an acting coach. All she was good for was toilet-paper ads. She was rubbish at acting.
She was rubbish, period.
‘Ready when you are, Miss McTaggart.’
It took Kat a moment to realise the director was speaking to her. She had used her grandparents’ surname instead of her own. ‘Erm...right.’ She stepped into position. The contents of her stomach curdled and began to crawl towards her windpipe. Sweat broke out on her brow. Her throat felt like someone had put a choke collar around it. A studded one, around the wrong way. The stage lights were making her eyes water. Or maybe it was because she felt ridiculously out of her depth. The spotlight was focused on her but she felt like it was shining on all of her faults. The irregularities of her features, the figure she wished was fuller in some places and more toned in others. The hair she hadn’t had time or money to have professionally styled. The supermarket brand of make-up she’d used instead of a designer brand.
The stalls were in darkness but Kat noticed a woman sitting at the back of the theatre. The woman was dressed in nondescript clothes but she had an aura about her that suggested she wasn’t one of the theatre or ancillary staff. She looked vaguely familiar but because the lights were off in the stalls it was hard to make out any distinguishing features.
‘Is there a problem, Miss McTaggart?’ The director’s voice contained a thread of impatience. A steel-cable thread.
‘Sorry.’
