Distracted By You: Book 1 in The Exeter Running Girls Series, стр. 11
“So there’s one guy out there immune to both yours and Leonora’s charms. It’s only one.” Inside I was doing a little happy dance and the sun seemed to be shining a little brighter that grey drizzly day. “So he didn’t want to kiss you –”
“He didn’t even want my number. At one point, I was pulling my cute trick of telling him I wouldn’t let him leave until he wrote a number on his arm. He scribbled something down said ‘see, I’ve done it, now I can leave, right?’ As I said yes, he dropped the act and said the only number he would right on his arm was his own, then he ran for it.”
I tried to hide my laughter as I made up another customer’s coffee. I wasn’t sure sniggering over coffee beans was an entirely subtle thing to do, but she didn’t notice.
“Why not leave the guy alone?” Even as the words came out, I knew they were hopeless and yet in the strangest way, I didn’t want her to stop. Her design on him had given me a new plan overnight, something that had helped the new hop and spring in my step that morning.
“Not a chance. Now the real game begins. These are the ones I like, where you have to chase,” she smiled mischievously. “See you later!”
As she hurried out of the coffee shop, Leonora and Cara appeared leaning on the counter.
“Whoa!” I jumped when they appeared. “Are you two in spy mode or something?”
“I know,” Leonora giggled, pulling down her sunglasses. “How sly are we?”
“I don’t think James Bond will be getting either of us as assistants just yet,” Cara said as she tried to swipe a brownie I was pulling out for a customer. I tapped her hand away.
“So, Cara told me all,” Leonora smiled, gesturing for her usual coffee.
“Cara!” I snapped in annoyance, realising she had a crumb of the brownie in her hand and was munching away. I quickly collected another brownie for the other customer.
“Was I not supposed to?” Cara had the look of innocence down to perfection, even with brownie crumbs around her lips.
“So, after Tye turned her down, did you tell Ellie you like him?” Leonora asked with expectation.
“No, I did not. She’s now really going on the hunt,” I shrugged as if it meant nothing. “Stop eating all the brownies, Cara.” To make up for it she offered me a piece.
“And yet you’re still smiling? I’m missing something,” Cara ate the brownie anyway, her eyes lighting up as I presented Leonora with the frappuccino.
“Clever girl,” Leonora nodded as though she were impressed, not realising as Cara took the coffee from her hand. “You have set him a test.”
“No I haven’t.” My look of innocence never would match Cara’s.
“You’re going to see if he goes for her or if he’ll resist, aren’t you?”
I leaned over the counter and prised the coffee from Cara’s grasp, passing it back to Leonora.
“Maybe,” I conceded quietly.
“This should be fun. Let the games begin!” Cara jumped up and down enthusiastically, quickly snatching the coffee back.
Chapter 4
Ellie took her game very seriously. She kept architecting situations for her to ‘accidentally’ bump into Tye. Including meeting Leonora and me after our Mechanics’ lectures. When even Leonora warned Ellie that she would never be a successful spy as subtlety wasn’t her strong suit, she shrugged and smiled mischievously.
“I like the game,” she winked at Tye, looped arms with me and walked off. My eyes drew back to Tye, but he wasn’t looking my way. His dark cocoa eyes were trained elsewhere.
So far, he had demonstrated no signs of giving in to Ellie, but neither had he shown any interest in me. I didn’t know whether to do a happy dance or go shopping for retail therapy. As it was, my bank account wouldn’t let me do the latter.
Leonora and Cara started dragging me into their own spy missions where we watched Ellie make her attempts. At one point we hid behind the bookshelves of the library as she asked Tye to help her with her books. I was amazed she never saw us, especially when Cara tripped over a huge stack of books and sent more flying. Leonora conveniently hid me before Tye saw, pushing me behind another stack of shelves.
Another time Ellie managed to ‘bump into him’ at the salsa bar. Cara had disguised us in a booth on the other side of the room to watch, drinks menus hiding our faces. When it was discovered I was holding the drinks menu upside down, Leonora would not stop laughing.
“Not James Bond yet then?” I asked as I turned it the right way up.
“Not even Jonny English need be concerned!”
The next afternoon, I finally received a call back from my dad. It was the first time we had spoken since they had decided to get divorced. Our small talk was clipped and awkward. Eventually he began to noticeably steer the conversation to where it had to go.
“Have you spoken much to your mum?”
“Most days,” I sat on my desk and picked up my pen to start doodling.
“She’s being difficult about the divorce,” his words stung deep.
“I don’t think divorces can ever be easy. She had her heart broken,” my words started to sound as bitter as my own mum’s. “Did you think she’d be out singing ‘Oh what a beautiful morning’ everyday? You’re not exactly acting out the happy tale of a musical.” The other end of the phone went quiet. “Dad?”
“Ivy, there’s something I need to tell you.” His breathing was heavy and nervous. I waited, not wanting to prompt him as my doodle paused. “There’s a woman. Someone else I’ve met.”
“Already?”