Page 45 of How to Kill Your Rival

Her eyes go to my shins first as her cheeks flush, and then the inch of midriff I have exposed.

The laugh that comes out of her is nothing short of magical. The way it wraps around my heart and squeezes until I ache catches me by surprise. I’d wear five-sizes-too-small joggers and a half-mast hoodie every day if it makes her smile like that.

‘They suit you,’ she laughs.

‘It shows my stomach.’

‘I think you suit a slutty little crop top.’

The sofa dips when I sit beside her, and she doesn’t flinch away when I place an arm over the back behind her. Progress.

‘Why do you keep coming back when I never let you in?’ she asks.

‘You could cut me,’ I say, ‘as often with your knife as with your words, and I’d still come back for more.’

For a moment, her face softens, and I think she’s going to kiss me. Reaching up, she drags her fingers over my jaw, the delicate touch undoing me.

‘Go home, James,’ she says. ‘Today’s been a lot. And I need to think about what the fuck to do about this exploding twat and whoever arranged it.’

‘Can I—’ I gesture at the joggers.

‘Keep them,’ she says. ‘My treat.’

15

ELIZA

I’ve pored over the information James has sent over until my head aches, and I think my eyes are going to roll out of their sockets and across the floor.

Runaway eyeballs would be a change of pace, at least.

Contracts have been slow for the past two weeks, and I’m bored. Bored, and concerned that the spoiled contracts are giving me a bad reputation within the Council. There’s no way the gossip mill isn’t in full flow. The times I’ve reached for my phone to text James to come entertain me can’t be counted on all of my fingers and toes. I’m bored enough to have considered it.

My phone lights up, and I roll over to pick it up.

Fraser

I’m in London.

Eliza

Well done. Gold star.

Fraser

Fuck off. Do you want to see me or not?

Eliza

Course I do. Unless you’ve got better places to be?

Fraser

There are always better places to be than hanging out with my sisters.

I can’t help but laugh. He’s a chopsy little fuck. It’s a good thing I love him.

Fraser