1. Chapter 1
Chapter 1
‘ O h my good gracious, he is such a douchebag,’ said Ottie, her curly, strawberry-blonde hair bouncing as she dropped into the chair opposite mine.
‘ Such a douchebag,’ echoed Livia, leaning back and crossing her long legs, following Ottie’s gaze to where Theo lounged against the bar, chatting up two women.
‘Hmm,’ I said noncommittally because although objectively I knew they had a point, a part of me wished I was one of those women, the object of his rapt attention.
Theo was tall and covered in lean, defined muscle, his brown hair, chocolate eyes, and high cheekbones making him devilishly attractive. We’d been on a couple of recent dates, and we’d kissed a few times, after he’d complimented me and looked at me like I was the only person in the room—just like he was looking at those women now—but when I’d refused to sleep with him … curtains.
‘Hell-ooooo,’ said Livia, clicking her fingers in front of my face. ‘Earth to Miri!’
I felt a deep blush creep across my skin but pretended they hadn’t caught me ogling. ‘Sorry, I was just wondering if the bar staff have enough limes.’
Ottie folded her arms across her chest. ‘Uh-huh,’ she said skeptically.
‘We should drink elsewhere occasionally,’ said Hazel, the fourth member of our crew, as she put down her empty G&T glass. ‘It’s not fair for us to always come here. You don’t get to switch off.’
‘It’s so damned convenient, though,’ said Livia, ever the practical project manager.
‘And cheaper than anywhere else,’ added Ottie, spoken like a true PHD student.
‘Only because Miri gives us a discount,’ said Hazel, furrowing her brow, her auburn fringe getting caught in the lines. She was a lawyer for a small law firm in town, and although we’d rowed in the same crew for years, I still felt like I didn’t fully understand her. The other two, on the other hand, were open books.
‘It’s fine,’ I said, waving a hand. ‘It’s close to the rowing club, and I’m glad for the business.’
My bar—named Miri’s because creativity has never been my strongest suit—was a mere hundred meters from the club, upstairs from my café of the same name. Yes, I know I could have done better, and it’s perhaps a tad egotistical, but I’m a competitive rower—it goes with the territory—and in my defense, as I’ve already pointed out, my imagination isn’t anything to write home about.
Although I was genuinely happy everyone drank in my bar, it did get old, no one ever buying me a drink and always looking hopefully at me for freebies. It had got totally out of hand in the beginning, so I’d nipped it in the bud, offering club members a ten percent discount, and making it clear that was all they were ever going to get. It mostly worked, save for occasional puppy dog eyes from some of the younger members, but I’d learned to ignore them.
It had been a hard slog, setting the place up, and I’d even had to give up rowing for a couple of years to work evenings and weekends, and, well, all hours, really. But it had paid off, and now I had freedom and staff and fiscal security. What more could a woman want?
My eyes flicked back to Theo. Sigh.
The place was busy tonight, a Thursday, and not only was it packed with boaties, but a ton of young professionals had shown up, too. It was a warm, late spring evening, the first properly good weather of the year, and apparently the pre-programmed reaction of our species to those conditions was to run to the river and drink. Although that’s hardly something for me to complain about.
We sat by the open doors out onto the terrace where the tables, chairs, and bench planters had all been lovingly handmade from reclaimed wood by Noah, another member of the club. The plants had come back to life, and a few patrons were snapping pictures of the fragrant wallflowers, something that always buoyed me.
‘What’s the session tomorrow?’ asked Ottie.
We were all in the top women’s squad of Dex Rowing Club, along with Belle, but she’d been absent for a few weeks because of work, something top secret apparently going on in her lab.
‘Ummmm, sprints, I think,’ said Hazel, prodding the lime at the bottom of her empty glass with her straw.
‘Yep, sprints,’ agreed Livia, who was always on top of such things.
The others started complaining about how much it was going to hurt, but I zoned them out, my gin and tonic having provided the perfect haze as Jack Johnson’s voice came through the speakers, making me nostalgic for my youth.
My eyes drifted again to Theo, who was laughing loudly, the women still in his trance, and my guts wrenched. It was stupid because he was, objectively speaking, a douchebag, and much younger than me, but he was also hot, and arrogant, and right in front of me every freaking day. It wasn’t like I wanted to marry him, but it wasn’t like I had any other options …
A hand squeezed my shoulder, a warm presence filling the space behind me, and I looked up to find Andrew placing a new G&T in front of me. He squeezed again, then moved away, taking his broad shoulders, stacked physique, and wavy blond hair out onto the terrace, where he joined the rest of the senior men’s squad.
No one ever bought me drinks apart from Andrew, who also refused to take the ten percent discount. He said he could afford to pay full price and felt shitty about not paying it when he knew how hard I worked. It made me go gooey inside, which was unfortunate, seeing as he was off limits.
‘Now that one is hot as the sun,’ said Livia, already onto her third drink.
‘Hot, but terrifying ,’ Ottie countered with a pout of her full lips.
‘He’s not terrifying!’ I said on a laugh. He could be a little stern sometimes, it was true, but—
‘Not to you because he loves you,’ said Hazel, giving me a sly sideways glance.
I kicked her under the table. ‘He does not .’
Livia grinned, clearly delighted at the prospect of a collective mobbing, then said loudly, ‘Why don’t you just date him? I would if I were you. I mean, look at him.’
I did, and found him looking right back, his lips quirking up a little at the corners. I quickly turned away, leaning closer to Livia. ‘He heard you,’ I hissed, ‘and he’s not interested. He’s never made a move. He friend-zoned me—you know this!’ My voice had become alarmingly high pitched, so I clamped my lips shut.
‘Because you told him you never wanted to date anyone at the club,’ Hazel said with an eyeroll.
She was right, I had said that, but I hadn’t meant to say it to him! ‘It would be too weird,’ I said in a rush, my face flaming again. ‘We’re friends, and he doesn’t see me that way.’
My eyes flicked back to Theo, who’d moved on, now flirting with a novice rower who was batting her pretty, fake eyelashes at him. She wouldn’t last long. Rowing wasn’t generally a sport for fake-eyelash-wearers because we had no time for such things.
A new woman, this one tall with long, silky, raven-black hair stepped up beside Theo, and my chest jumped with joyful recognition. ‘Belle!’ I shouted, leaping to my feet along with the rest of my crew and bundling her. ‘You’re here!’
She awkwardly returned our group embrace. ‘Hey, guys.’
Theo leaned towards us, brushing my arm with his hand. ‘Can I get in on that?’ he asked, a glint in his eye.
Ottie gave him a dirty look as some drunk guy approached, barely able to walk straight. ‘Can I get in on that, too?’ he drawled. I froze, appraising him to assess what sort of drunk this one was. Over the years I’d seen them all, ranging from mildly lecherous to creepy to dangerous. One time it had been so bad, I’d had to use the panic button under the bar. I’d never closed alone again.
‘I like big girls,’ the drunk guy continued, stepping closer.
We were all tall, with muscular arms and powerful legs. Those features, along with our will to win, was why we were in the first crew. What made us the best.
‘You like big girls?’ he asked Theo, his half-raised eyebrow and thin smile saying, am I right?
Theo shrugged. ‘Dude, I like all girls.’
The guy laughed as he pressed his chest to Ottie’s arm, and she jerked away.
‘Back up,’ I said, holding up a hand to stop his advance, dread creeping low in my belly because this one was giving me bad vibes. At least tonight, I had an army at my back.
‘Don’t be like that! I’m only being friendly,’ he said, angling towards me and looking me up and down. ‘You want in on the action, is that it? I’m not usually a brunette kinda guy, but I could make an exception.’
‘I’d like you to leave,’ I said, my tone professional and firm, even if my insides were quaking just a little.
The man laughed, then looked to Theo for support. ‘This girl! Who does she think she is?’ He clapped a hand on my shoulder, and Theo cocked an eyebrow, looking from the man to me and back again as though this were entertainment, excited to see what would happen next.
I rolled my eyes as I removed the guy’s hand. ‘You’re a dick, Theo,’ I said to him before returning to the drunk. ‘I’m the owner, and if you don’t leave now, I’m calling the police.’
‘Woah there, cowgirl,’ said the guy. ‘You’re the big boss, huh? Then why don’t I buy you a drink and we can get better acquainted?’
I gritted my teeth. ‘Out. Now.’
For a moment, I thought he might object, but the rest of my crew were glaring, looking as though they would like nothing better than to kick his ass into the gutter, and over his shoulder, the men’s crew had started taking an interest, too. My eyes connected with Andrew’s for a split second, and the concern on his face warmed me from the inside out.
‘Pft,’ said the drunk guy, shoulder checking me as he passed. ‘This place is a dump, anyway.’
I watched him leave, my heart hammering against my ribs, my hands starting to shake. The others squeezed my arm, then went back to squealing over Belle’s appearance, but Theo leaned into my space. ‘You’re hot as fuck when you do shit like that,’ he whispered.
My gaze connected with Andrew’s once more, his features black as night, eyes throwing daggers our way, although whether it was on account of the drunk or his crew mate, I wasn’t sure. I turned my attention back to Theo, sneering just a little. ‘And you’re a useless piece of shit. I’ll be right back,’ I said to my crew, then went to my office and closed out the world.
I sank into my leather desk chair and looked up at the ceiling, taking deep, steadying breaths. No matter how many times things like that happened, I never grew immune to them. And Theo was such an idiot … Fuck! Why couldn’t a nice, straightforward guy just appear in my life? Why did I have to find that arsehole attractive?
Because there’s no one else, my mind whispered in reply .