Songbird (Songbird, #1) (9 page)

“I could call you Yoda,” Cooper teased, before adding in his best Yoda impersonation, “Pointy ears has she.”

We sat up until the early hours of the morning, drinking beers and laughing, until finally Cooper and Kelli decided to call it a night. We had been sitting on the couch, which doubled as my bed, so I couldn’t really leave the room to give them privacy, and they didn’t seem in a hurry to go.

Collapsing into my makeshift bed at about three am, I was ready for sleep, when the noise started from the next room. I smiled to myself. At this rate I wasn’t going to get any sleep tonight, so I found my iPod, put the ear jacks in and turned up the volume. The walls here were
very
thin; I would definitely need to start looking for a more permanent residence.

Kelli and Cooper spent the next day out together, while I did the rounds of the real estate agents and some much overdue chores. It was depressing; the apartments that were in my price range I wouldn’t let a cat sleep in, although one of them smelt like a whole lotta cats had already made it their home. And the ones I liked were out of my price range, or had twenty applications already on file. I came home feeling very disheartened, resigned to the fact that I would be spending an indefinite amount of time on the very uncomfortable sofa bed.

To cheer myself up, I took in a bit of retail therapy by way of the sportswear store. I decided that if there was a chance that I might bump into Mr Hotbod at the gym, I definitely did not want to be dressed like a homeless person again. So I bought myself some cute and relatively sexy workout gear.

That evening, Kelli had a romantic dinner planned at one of the expensive restaurants at the casino, so I helped her get ready and gave her free rein to choose one of my dresses.

“Wow, Spock, you look awesome!” Cooper declared, as he looked at Kelli all dressed up in a figure-hugging black lace dress. He walked over to her and held out her hands, appraising her approvingly. “I may have to call you Kelli tonight.”

The weekend went by far too quickly, and by Sunday night, Cooper was packing his bag and getting ready to head back to the airport. Kelli was stoic for the most part, helping Cooper get organised, but I could tell she was on the verge of tears a few times.

It was nine forty-five by the time Kelli returned from dropping Cooper off. She looked deep in thought as she dropped her keys on the little table by the door, and flopped down on the couch beside me.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

Unable to read her expression, I couldn’t tell if she was fine or about to burst into tears, and I didn’t want to push her if tears were close.

“He asked me again to move to Sydney,” she replied.

“Well that’s great … isn’t it?” I asked, a little confused.

“I said no. I’ve already told him that I’m not going to follow him all over the country until he’s ready to make an honest woman of me.” She attempted to smile. “I can’t keep stopping my life and starting again in a new city. I’ve already lived in Tasmania, Adelaide, and now Melbourne. He doesn’t get it; he can
transfer
and move up the chain of command, but I have to start over every time.”

I didn’t know what to say. I could see her point but then I could also see how much she missed him when they weren’t together. She was a strong, independent woman with a stubborn streak, but at what price?

Kelli had to go into work early the following Wednesday, so she skipped the gym. I seriously considered sleeping in, but decided that once you started making excuses it was too easy to get into the habit. I dragged my tired ass out of bed and dressed in some new workout gear, shorts and a crop top, then headed to Pump It.

I scanned the cardio room. No one was in there, so I relaxed and jumped onto a treadmill for a twenty-minute jog. It felt good to be exercising, the endorphins were kicking in, and I was happy that I had come.

Next I headed over to the weights room, and stuck my head tentatively around the corner to case the joint. No one there either. I breathed a sigh of relief. As much as I would love to see Mr Hotbod’s drool-worthy hot body again, I didn’t want him to see me.

After my usual arm work, I thought I’d try the bench press. The bar was set on seventy five kilos and I smiled to myself. Someone had been pressing more than my entire body weight. I found another bar without any weights loaded and put on twenty kilos. I managed ten reps before my little arms shook so much, I wouldn’t have been able to lift a feather over my head.

Last thing to do were some stretches. I sat down on the floor, legs straight and open wide to the sides. I stretched up and then bent over until my ear touched against my knee. I closed my eyes and held the stretch for twenty seconds, then opened my eyes.

I looked straight at Mr Hotbod. He was sitting at the bench press with his elbows resting on his knees, hands clasped together, watching me intently. My face flushed, and a million scenarios went racing through my brain. He smiled the most adorable smile, a glimmer of mischief lighting up his emerald eyes, and I did the only thing I could do—I scurried out of there as quickly as possible.

I showered and dressed, Kelli’s words of ‘Tara needs to get laid and Mr Hotbod is the prime candidate’ ringing anew in my mind. I took a deep, calming breath and left the change rooms.
No one at reception, good.
I could make it to the breakfast area unseen. I was just crossing reception as Mal walked out of his office, still talking to someone. I looked up. Oh holy crap, it was him again.

Changing direction, I headed straight for the exit double doors.

“Not having breakfast today, Tara?” Mal called, with a smile in his voice.

I shook my head at him, my eyes diverting briefly to Mr Hotbod.

“If you don’t want to eat alone, we can join you,” Mal said grinning.

“No, that’s fine,” I said, waving them off casually.

Grabbing the door on the right, I pushed. Unfortunately, I grabbed the wrong door, the one that was still locked. I grabbed hold of the door on the left and pushed, but again nothing happened. I pushed again a little harder. Still nothing. I could hear Mal and Mr Hotbod chuckling behind me.

Finally, a huge arm came into view, tattooed in a tribal design, and pulled the door open.

“Let me get that for you. Seems it’s been so long you’ve forgotten how to pull,” a deep, gravelly, sexy-as-hell voice said from over my shoulder.

I mumbled a “thanks”, and unable to resist, looked him in the eye. His emerald-green eyes were boring into me, and my breath hitched in my throat. But something unexpected happened as our eyes met, I heard him draw a sharp breath too, through his full, totally kissable lips.

“Anytime, Tara.”

I was on my way home to Kelli’s that afternoon. I’d managed to avoid another half a dozen calls from Stephen, and had finally given in and listened to some of the messages. I had hoped he was telling me that all was fine and was wishing me well—as if—but that was not the case. Each message was more irate then the last, and it didn’t sound as if he were going to give up.

“Tara, enough of this silliness. Call me now. You don’t want to make me angry.” I could tell he was furious, but trying to sound calm.

I hit delete.

“Do you honestly think you can continue to avoid me? You must be more stupid than I thought. For your own good, answer the phone.” This time he wasn’t trying to sound calm.

I quickly deleted it.

“I don’t have time for this bullshit, Tara. Gary and Suzanne are coming for dinner on the weekend, and if I have to find you and drag you here by your hair, you will be here. Do you understand?” he shouted.

Hmm, Gary was the CEO of the political consultancy firm where he worked
. It was probably a really important dinner.

I deleted the message.

I hesitated; did I really want to continue listening to this? I drew a deep breath and exhaled slowly. Just one more.

“I have had enough, Tara. Get your fat ass back here now or I swear I will come to your work and …”

I’d heard enough. I deleted that message without listening to the end of it, or the following two. But I was glad I’d listened to them; it confirmed that what I had done was the right thing. He was such an asshole!

Needing some cheering up, I decided to call past Jason’s salon to see how he was doing. It had been a couple of days since we’d spoken, and I was curious to see if he had caught up with Marcus, seeing as he was so keen on the guy.

“Hi gorgeous,” Jason welcomed me with a warm hug and a kiss on both cheeks. “Are you flying solo tonight?”

I laughed. “Yes, Kelli had to work back, so I thought I’d drop in to see how you are, and check if you’ve made any progress with Marcus?” I twitched my eyebrows up and down.

Jason sighed. “No, unfortunately that is never going to happen … but I can dream. Hey, I have some good news, though; I was speaking to my neighbour in apartment five this morning, and she is moving out. Apparently things have hotted up with the boyfriend, and she’s moving in with him as soon as she can find someone to take over the lease.”

“Are you serious?” I asked excitedly. “Is her apartment the same as yours? You know, same size and everything?”

“Yep, sure is, and even better—she doesn’t need all her furniture so she wants to sell some of it, if she can.”

I was even more excited about the prospect of furniture, but then I remembered Kelli saying that the apartment block was in high demand because it was in such good condition.

“I don’t know if the agent will consider me, though. I don’t have a rental history; not to mention it’s probably out of my price range.”

“Don’t worry about the agent, I’ve got that covered,” he said with a wink.

“Oh, let me guess, you cut her hair.”

He laughed. “Yes, I do, and she also manages my apartment so I know her pretty well. I’ll put in a good word for you, no problem. As for the rent, it may be tight, but we’ll come up with a plan; maybe you can work here on weekends or something.”

Jason’s generosity was unbelievable. I had only known him a few weeks and he was looking out for me like we had known each other all our lives. I smiled and did a little happy dance on the inside. Jason gave me the agent’s number and I called her straight away.

“She wants me to come down now and fill out an application form,” I told him excitedly.

Jason turned and grabbed his keys from the drawer in the front desk. “Okay, let’s go.”