Songbird (Songbird, #1) (10 page)

Within fifteen minutes I had met the agent and filled out most of the required paperwork. I hesitated over the section where I needed to supply previous agent’s details and addresses, explaining that I had never rented before, so I couldn’t provide any references. She looked at me, a little puzzled, and asked where I had been living, and I glossed over the whole moving-in-with-boyfriend, then leaving-boyfriend-and-living-on-a-friend’s-couch thing.

Jason was fantastic; he gave me a glowing character reference, and said he would vouch for me without any hesitation.

The current tenant had only just given notice the day before and the apartment wasn’t listed yet, so my application was the only one on file. With Jason’s glowing character reference and my best smile, I had a new home.

Excitedly, I sent Kelli a text straight away;

Hi K, J has some gr8 news, apartment vacant in his block, I can move in. T

Then I felt a little bad. I didn’t want her to think I was ungrateful, but really, the fold-out couch was never a long-term option. Kelli text back almost straight away;

Will miss you but it is gr8 news. Let’s celebr8 2nite. K

Raising my eyebrows questioningly, I held up my phone to Jason so he could read the message.

“Now why didn’t I think of that?” Jason laughed. “
Songbirds
?”

I couldn’t believe my luck. My new home was incredible—a little pink maybe, but amazing!

Where Jason’s apartment was all blue, mine had pink walls and pink carpet, but the furniture that I negotiated to buy from the previous tenant fitted well, somehow managing to take the candyfloss effect down a notch or two.

What was even better, though, was that my balcony faced out onto the street. So I not only had a view of the cafes and restaurants through the trees that grew in front of the building, but the beach was in the distance.

We had spent the morning moving my meagre possessions in, and were now surveying the result. I had collected my beloved sleigh bed from the storage unit, along with matching drawers and side tables, so my bedroom was all set up. The previous tenant had not needed her couch that was a little bit ratty on the arms, but perfectly comfortable, so I negotiated a reasonable price on it. She also left behind a dining setting with four mismatched chairs, but I could paint them the same colour to tie them together. There was even an entertainment unit; now all I needed was a TV to sit on it.

Of course Kelli and Jason had helped me move, so as thanks, I invited them to be my first dinner guests in my new home. Unfortunately, I would need to buy some pots and pans as well as crockery, so in the absence of anything to actually cook with, we ordered pizza from a place that Jason highly recommended, and drank a very smooth bottle of red.

“Thank you both for your help today,” I said, “and especially a huge thanks to you, Kell, for letting me stay with you for the past four weeks. I don’t know what I would have done without you.”

I was actually feeling a bit teary. I had loved staying with Kelli and would miss her a lot, but we would still be seeing each other at work and at the gym nearly every day.

Kelli gave me a hug. “Anytime, you know that. I’ve loved having you around.”

“Group hug!” Jason leaned over and wrapped his arms around both of us, joining in.

After they left that evening, I sat back on the couch and enjoyed the peace and quiet. I had always lived with someone, having moved from my parents’ home with my mother’s authoritarian rules, to Shithead’s house, that was like living in a showroom, and then in to Kelli’s. This was the first time I had actually been alone.

Time to really grow up.
I was now solely responsible for me; if bills weren’t paid or food wasn’t bought it was my fault. I smiled like the Cheshire cat. Of course it also meant I didn’t have to abide by anyone else’s stringent rules. I could come and go as I pleased, and dance around the apartment naked whenever the urge took me.

I laughed out loud. This was fucking AWESOME!

I lay down on the carpet in the middle of the lounge room, arms splayed, just because I could, and made imaginary snow angels in the carpet pile. This was my home, my life, and it was up to me to make it the best it could possibly be.

Sitting up, I said out loud, “I swear on a stack of …” I looked over at the built-in bookcase. There was no Bible to be found, but I did have a stack of books, so I crawled over to them to place my hand on top. “I swear, on a stack of supernatural and soppy romance novels, that I will get my life together, follow my passion again, and never look back.”

I
HAD
arranged to catch up with Jason for a drink, but had also promised Kelli I would drop over a couple of dresses for the upcoming Annual Army Charity Ball.

Dressing quickly, I checked my reflection in the mirror. It was a warm balmy evening, and something cool and casual was in order, so I dressed in my short shorts, a loose floaty top and wedge-heeled sandals. I debated briefly what to do with my hair. My first instinct was still to pull it back in a ponytail but I resisted the urge and left it down, cascading over my shoulders and down my back in loose, soft curls. A quick freshen up of lip gloss and spritz of my favourite
Lancôme Energizing Aroma Tonic
, and I was ready.

I picked out four dresses that I thought would fit Kelli and look great.

Racing down to the car, I lay the dresses neatly on the back seat before driving the fifteen minutes to Kelli’s apartment. It was six thirty when I arrived, which meant I had about an hour before I needed to be at
Songbirds
to meet Jason.

As I approached Kelli’s door I could hear loud laughter—mainly Cooper’s—coming from inside. I had forgotten that Cooper and his friend would be there as well. It would be good to see Cooper again; he was always the life of the party, and joked around with me like I was one of the boys.

I knocked, waited, and then knocked again a little louder, until I heard Kelli call out that she was coming. The door flew open and Kelli’s beaming face greeted me. She was still laughing at something as she ushered me in, and then waited for the joke to be over and the three other people in the room to quieten down.

Cooper turned first, and caught my attention with his boisterous welcome. “Hey, Fox, great to see you again.” He was beside me in two strides and lifted me into a bear hug.

I squealed and laughed. “Great to see you too, ya big lug, now put me down. I can’t breathe!”

He put me down, but left his arm loosely draped around me.

I scanned the next face. Oh, terrific, it was Jacqui, Kelli’s boss from work. I smiled politely at her then looked over my shoulder, eyebrows raised quizzically at Kelli who was facing me but obscured from Jacqui’s view by Cooper.

She rolled her eyes and mouthed at me, “Long story, I’ll tell you later.”

Shrugging, I moved across to the next person, and my heart skipped a beat.

As I’d been looking back at Kelli, the person on the end of the couch had risen from his seat and was standing in front of me, gazing down. Our eyes locked, and he visibly drew in a breath, which reminded me to breathe too. My mouth opened to introduce myself, but nothing would come out. I was immobilised by the most brilliant sapphire-blue eyes I had ever seen. His nearly black hair was short on the sides, and slightly longer on top—army issue—and he had the thickest, longest black lashes framing those unbelievable eyes. His full lips were slightly parted, as if he were about to say something but had stopped, perhaps waiting for me to speak first.

Cooper, obviously taking great delight in this little show, clapped his hand on his friend’s shoulder and teased, “Have you forgotten your name, mate? Fox, this is my army buddy, Irish. Irish, this delectable young lady who has you speechless is Fox.”

Irish chuckled, managing to divert his eyes to Cooper. “Thanks, mate, good to see I can always count on you not to embarrass me or anything.”

He returned his gaze back to me and gave me the most perfect half-smile, then, with a polite, almost formal dip of his head, held out his hand.

“My name’s actually Riley. It’s a pleasure to meet you … Fox.” His eyes twinkled with mischief and I paused for a second, not quite sure how to react. It had been a long time since someone had made my stomach do back flips—and those eyes!

Finally, I took his hand, but instead of shaking mine he held it in between both of his, the sensation sending a tingle up my arm and through my body.

“It’s Tara, and it’s a pleasure to meet you too,” I replied a little breathlessly, my body on full alert.

Riley smiled back down at me, his eyes scanning my face, taking in every detail. “Did you come over for a drink?” He signalled to the couch and started guiding me over towards it, still holding my hand.

“Oh no, I can’t stay. I just came over to drop some dresses off for Kelli,” I answered, remembering that I needed to leave to meet Jason.

“That’s a shame. Do you have time for just one?” he asked, sounding hopeful, so I smiled a little shyly and nodded, then turned to Kelli.

“Did you want to try them now, or later?” I asked, hoping she would be happy to have them left to try later so I could have a drink.

She had been watching the exchange between Riley and me, the chemistry unmistakable. “Let’s try them now and we can talk at the same time,” she replied, then grabbed my hand and pulled me into her room, closing the door behind us.

“Oh. My. GOD! Who is that guy? He’s GORGEOUS!” I exclaimed. “And what is Jacqui doing here? Did you set her up with the yummy boy? Why didn’t you tell me about him?”

She looked at me and shook her head, then started counting off on her fingers the answers to my numerous questions. “Okay, firstly, Jacqui is here because I mentioned that Cooper’s friend was staying and she invited herself over to
entertain
him, if you know what I mean.” She rolled her eyes. “Secondly, here’s what I know about the yummy boy. He’s from Perth, he’s about the same age as Coop, so say, twenty-five or twenty-six, and is gorgeous and single, and from what Coop tells me, a great guy and solid mate. Thirdly, I didn’t tell you about Riley, because while indeed extremely yummy, he is in the same unit as Coop, which means he’s based in Sydney.”

She paused and looked at me with eyebrows raised.

“Oh okay, I get it. You figured I wouldn’t be interested in long distance after Shithead put all those terrible trust issues in my head.”