“Shut up.”
He laughed. “You do! Don’t argue with me; you know you’ll lose.”
Ash took a step back and looked him up and down. “You look like you haven’t slept in about two weeks.” She leaned back in and sniffed. “Or showered. Jesus, mate, where have you been?”
“Puh, I’m not that bad.” He laughed, his incredibly white teeth—she never knew how he managed that given he spent half his life living out of a backpack—shining under the bright lights of the studio. “I did actually shower at Heathrow when I landed, so you can stop pretending I stink. Although you might be right about the not sleeping thing.” He gestured to the couches. “Can I?”
“Yeah, of course!”
Damian shoved his bag into a corner near the front desk, then they flopped down next to each other on one of the couches.
He let out a long breath and slouched back into the leather. “Jeez, I’m done in. That was some trip.”
“I lost track of you on Facebook after Mozambique. I mean, I knew you were safe because you kept sending me those random text messages, but I never quite figured out where you were.”
He threw his head back and laughed. “Yeah, there’s a reason for that. Got myself in a little bit of trouble in Zimbabwe and had to kinda go underground for a while until I could get across the border into Botswana.” At Ash’s sharp intake of breath, he raised a calming hand. “It’s all good. I got in legit, and no one’s any the wiser about Zimbabwe. It was all a stupid misunderstanding anyway.” He rubbed a hand over his stubbly face. “If I’d known the policeman wanted that big a bribe, I’d have just paid it.”
“Oh God, I don’t want to know.” Ash buried her head in her hands.
Typical Damian, skirting the edges of legality everywhere he went.
When she looked back up his blue eyes were, for once, serious. “Ash, I promise, I was safe. Don’t worry.”
Ash stared at him for a moment, but the truth was clearly written on his face. “Okay.” She huffed out a breath. “You want a coffee?”
“I’d love one.”
They chatted for about an hour, working their way through a couple of cups of coffee. Ash didn’t have any appointments until two, and she was grateful for the sudden appearance of her friend. Not only to fill her time but also to take her mind off what she was doing that evening.
“So, wanna meet for some tea tonight?” Damian stretched his lanky body.
It had taken some time to get used to the Aussies insisting on calling the evening meal tea .
“Ah, sorry, I can’t. I already have plans.”
“Ooooh, hot date?”
“Shut up. No, just drinks with a friend.”
“A friend ?” He made air quotes around the word. “So, it isn’t someone I know, then. Cos you’d have just told me their name, wouldn’t you?”
God, he was like a dog with a bone when he thought he’d got a new bit of gossip to sniff out.
“She’s a new friend. She’s cool, works as a talent agent.”
“Uh-huh.” Even the way he made that sound told Ash he knew he wasn’t getting the whole story.
“She’s just a friend,” Ash repeated, her tone firm.
“What’s her name?”
“Carmen.”
“Fancy.”
“Whatever.”
Damian laughed loudly again. “All right, Ms Secretive, I’ll let you off right now. But tomorrow for food and I can grill you some more?”
Ash rolled her eyes. “Sure, sounds wonderful.” She grinned when he waggled his eyebrows. “All right, all right. I finish tomorrow at eight thirty if I don’t get a walk-in.”
He stood and stretched. “Great. I’ll come pick you up then.” He ruffled her hair, a habit she knew he knew she hated. “Gotta get home and get some zeds.”
She scowled at him as she rearranged her hair back into place. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
He threw her a wave over his shoulder, bent to pick up his bag, and left.
Chapter 12
Ash lounged on the couch, one leg crossed so its foot rested on her other knee, her arms outstretched across the back of the furniture.
It was five minutes after seven, and Carmen had messaged a few minutes ago to say she was on her way, apologising in advance for the fact that she’d be a few minutes late. Ash hadn’t let it bother her; Carmen was ridiculously busy. Based on what Carmen had told her, it was a situation Ash thought Carmen should be doing something more serious to fix, but it wasn’t her place to tell her new friend that. While she knew she had a tendency to try solving everyone else’s problems, she wasn’t going to do that with someone she barely knew. Especially not when their burgeoning friendship was still in its infancy. She’d almost overstepped when telling Carmen to ignore that call the last time they’d had coffee. She wouldn’t make the same mistake again with someone she was only spending some casual time with.
She snorted softly to herself as Damian’s teasing words came back to her about Carmen.
Sorry, mate, but I really am going to disappoint you on this one. Memories of the mess with Vikki played on her mind, and she told herself for the tenth time that day Carmen was and always should be in the friend zone.
A knock at the door pulled her from her thoughts. She stood and smiled widely as Carmen peeked through the window at her.
Ash swiftly crossed the shop and unlocked and opened the door. “Hey!”
“Hello. Sorry again that I’m late. But to be fair, it’s a miracle I made it out this early.”
“I bet.” Ash grinned. “Want to come in for anything or just get going?”
“No, I’m good. Let’s go.”
“Cool, then just give me a sec to get my bag and lock up.” Ash grabbed her messenger bag from the couch. She slung the strap over her shoulder, then walked around the studio flicking off the last of the lights. After the usual alarm, locks, and shutter routine, she turned
