On Dublin Street (8 page)

A dreamy look passed over Ellie
’
s face. No joke.
Dreamy
. I
’
d only ever seen a look like that in the movies. The girl had it bad.

“Adam
’
s great. He and Braden have been friends forever. If it wasn
’
t Braden intimidating my boyfriends in high school, it was Adam.” She blushed, shaking her head. “I followed him around everywhere when I was a kid.”

I didn
’
t know what compelled me to… “Are you two seeing each other?”

Ellie jerked her gaze up to mine, her eyes wide. “No. Why? Did it seem that way?”

Okay. Wrong question to ask.
“A little.”

“No.” She shook her head vehemently. “We
’
re just friends. Anyway, Braden
’
s always telling me what a manwhore Adam is. He
’
d never settle down. And he
’
s too much like a brother to me for there to be anything… you know…
more
…” she trailed off unconvincingly.

I knew one thing anyway. I would never have to worry about Ellie lying to me. She couldn
’
t lie for shit. “Okay.”

“So are you seeing anyone?”

Damn. It was my fault. I
’
d asked a question. “No. Are you?”

“No.” Ellie sighed. “When was your last relationship?”

Does sex count as a relationship?
I shrugged. “When was yours?”

Ellie pursed her lips, her eyelashes dipping to cover the instantly hardened look in her eyes. A fierce wave of protectiveness rushed over me out of nowhere, surprising the hell out of me. “Ellie?”

“Nine months ago.”

And what did the bastard do to you?
“What happened?”

“We dated for five months. He told me he worked in Glasgow for a recruitment agency. In actuality he works for a rival property development company here in Edinburgh. They were bidding against Braden for this amazing plot in Commercial Quay. Turns out he was just using me to get to Braden, to find out what Braden
’
s bid would be so his company could outbid him. Suffice to say the relationship did not end well. He ended up with a broken nose and Braden ended up with the plot.”

I raised an eyebrow, silently congratulating Braden on teaching the a-hole a lesson. “Braden beat him up?”

“No.” Ellie shook her head. “Braden doesn
’
t fight. He hasn
’
t in a long time.” She smiled widely now. “It was Adam that beat the tar out of him.”

I grinned back at her. “I shouldn
’
t condone violence, but… yay, Adam.”

Ellie laughed and then sobered. “I
’
m just glad my naivety didn
’
t cause Braden any difficulties at work.”

I
’
m sure that wasn
’
t what Braden was worried about.
I didn
’
t know how I knew that, but I did. Anyone with eyes and ears could tell Ellie was important to him. “I can
’
t believe someone would go to that much trouble, do something so heinous, for a plot of land.”

“Commercial Quay is really up and coming. Michelin Star restaurants, cosmetic surgeries, stylish cocktail bars… Braden is building luxury flats there and they
’
ll fetch anything from half a million to a million for the penthouse apartments. Quite the profit margin.”

I was sickened that anyone could use someone as sweet as Ellie for a damn profit margin. “Guys suck.”

Ellie raised her mug of tea at me in agreement.

After a while of chewing silently, Ellie cleared her throat. “I noticed a few photographs of your family in your room earlier. You know, you
’
re welcome to put them out in the sitting room or anywhere in the flat. It
’
s your home now too.”

I stiffened at the mention of my family, still uneasy about taking another attack. “That
’
s okay.”

I heard her answering sigh and braced myself. “You don
’
t really talk about them much.”

The time had come already? With Rhian it had been six weeks before she found out. Stomach churning, I pushed my plate away from me and sat back to meet Ellie
’
s anxious gaze. We were roommates now, we got along
–
surprisingly well, considering how different we were
–
and it was time to just lay my cards on the table. “My family is dead,” I told her numbly, no grief, no tears, nothing for her to see as I watched her cheeks grow instantly pale. “I don
’
t talk about them. Ever.”

I don
’
t know what I was expecting. Maybe because Ellie was so open and kind I thought there would be an attempt to break through my guard. But she amazed me again. “Okay,” she answered, and I saw her struggling to hide the pity in her gaze.

“Alright then.” I gave her a soft, reassuring smile and she answered it, her shoulders relaxing.

A minute later she murmured, “You know, you can be a little bit intimidating.”

My lips curled up apologetically. “I know. Sorry.”

“It
’
s okay. I
’
m used to Braden.”

As though he
’
d heard his name, Ellie
’
s cell lit up and his name flashed across the screen. She answered it immediately, but without her usual cheer. Seems my dead family was a mood killer.

***

I don
’
t know how, but Ellie had managed to convince me to go out with them. I stared down at Ellie and Braden
’
s friends in a dress I
’
d borrowed from her wardrobe. They were seated on sofas around a low coffee table in a bar on George IV Bridge. Braden had called two hours ago asking us to meet them all here. Of course, I
’
d been ready an hour ago. Ellie had taken forever to get ready, and as she shot Adam a smile, I began to understand why.

“Everyone, this is my new flatmate Jocelyn.” She turned to me. “Jocelyn, this is Jenna and Ed.”

I
’
d gotten the run down in the cab down here. Jenna, the cute blonde with the quirky glasses and diamond engagement ring was Ellie
’
s best friend and fellow PhD student. Ed, the short blonde guy who made geeky stylish, was Jenna
’
s fiancé.

“And you
’
ve met Adam and Braden.” Her smile slipped a little as she looked at the woman sitting pressed up against Braden. She had pale, almost white, blonde hair, huge blue eyes, long limbs and a full pouty mouth. “And this is Holly. Braden
’
s girlfriend.”

I remembered instantly that Ellie didn
’
t like her. From the sneer Holly gave Ellie, it was clear the feeling was mutual. I said hello to everyone, avoiding Braden
’
s gaze and ignoring the way my heart was pounding against my ribcage just being near him and his girlfriend.

No way was I going to feel despondent about the fact that she reminded me of Jo: my complete opposite in every way.

Sitting down next to Jenna as Ellie rushed off to get us drinks, I tried to look anywhere but at the couple to my right.

“How are you settling in then, Jocelyn?” Adam asked from across the table.

Grateful, I gave him a wide smile. “Good, thanks. And it
’
s Joss.”

“So you and Ellie are rubbing along well then?”

Something in his voice told me it wasn
’
t a casual question. He was worried about my roommate. I began to wonder if Ellie
’
s feelings might be reciprocated. “We
’
re getting along amazingly. She
’
s a great person.”

My answer went over well with him. “Good, I
’
m glad. So Ellie tells me you
’
re writing a book?”

“Oh my God,” Holly interrupted with her throaty English accent. I hated that her accent was so cool. “Did I tell you, babe, that my friend Cheri got published?”

Braden shook his head, his eyes darting to my face. I glanced away quickly, pretending to be fascinated by Holly
’
s news of this mysterious Cheri person.

“Cheri is my best friend from home,” Holly explained to the table just as Ellie came back with the drinks. I shimmied over to let her in beside me. “She writes the best books.”

“What are they about?” Ed asked politely. I glanced at Jenna and saw she and Ellie were exchanging
‘
a look
’
. I was getting that Holly was not at all well-liked among the girls.

“Oh they
’
re just amazing. They
’
re about this girl from the poorhouse who falls in love with this guy who
’
s a businessman but still has, like, an old English title… like an earl or something. So romantic. And her writing is just amazing. She
’
s just amazing.”

Okay. Apparently she was amazing.

“So it
’
s an historical novel?” Ed asked.

“No.” She shook her head in bemusement.

“Holly,” Braden appeared to be trying not to smile, “There
’
s no such thing as a poorhouse anymore. Are you sure it
’
s not an historical?”

“Well, Cheri didn
’
t say it was.”

“Then I
’
m sure you
’
re right,” Adam told her congenially. Ellie
’
s shoulders shook next to mine at the very well-disguised sarcasm in his reply. I tried to look anywhere but at Braden.

“Jenna, when
’
s your first dress-fitting again?” Ellie asked, peering around me.

Jenna grinned impishly. “Oh it
’
s not for ages. I
’
ve been banned from mum
’
s house because I keep going into her wardrobe to stare at it.”

“Oh?” I asked, trying to be friendly. “When
’
s the wedding?”

“Five months,” Ed replied, smiling lovingly at Jenna.

Wow. A guy who wasn
’
t afraid to show how he really felt. It was disarming and another flash image of my dad smiling at my mom crossed my brain. I took a drink, shoving it back down under all my steel.

Ellie made a little squeeing sound beside me. “You should see Jenna
’
s dress. We
’
re getting-”

“Oh, babe,” Holly interrupted again. “Did I tell you about Lisa getting married in October? I told her it was a dreadful time of year to get married but she insisted she wanted an autumn wedding. Have you ever heard anything like it? Anyway, it
’
s some drafty castle in some place called Oban so we
’
ll need to arrange accommodation.”

“Barcaldine Castle.” Braden nodded. “It
’
s a nice wee place.”

“Maybe in the summer, but not in October.”

And that was pretty much how the next hour went. Every time someone mentioned a topic, Holly took control, her loud voice carrying above the noise of the crowded bar. She made it easy to vilify her, and I knew almost immediately why Ellie couldn
’
t stand her. Holly was loud, obnoxious and completely self-absorbed. Worse, I got the feeling Braden was studying my reaction to her. Why did he care what
I
thought?

Needing a break from Holly
’
s voice, a voice I
’
d thought charming at first and now greatly disliked, I volunteered to get the next round of drinks. I relaxed into the bar, giving the bartender my order, and enjoyed the quiet
—
the bar was in the back of the building, behind a wall and a corridor, away from Holly
’
s voice.

But then
he
had to follow me, didn
’
t he?

Heat flushed my right side as I felt him press up against me as he leaned into the bar. My nose tingled at the smell of his cologne and those butterflies were back again.

“So… you
’
re a writer?” Braden looked down at me.