He takes the card, grazing her fingers. “I will.”
My temple throbs as my eyes strain, and my ears scream. What a stupid idea this was. Why didn’t I let things lie, let him leave thinking I’m a gold-digger, and me thinking he’s an arsehole instead of a player?
Even if I told him I wanted to be with him now, I couldn’t stand the thought of him in Australia, away from me, flirting with every girl that flashes him a smile. He’d soon forget about me and break my heart again. I don’t think I could take it a second time, to be cast aside for a younger or slimmer model.
With heavy limbs, I stand to make my way to another carriage to wait for the next stop. I just want to crawl back into bed and never get up.
As I put one foot in front of the other, the woman shouts, “Excuse me!”
I freeze. Is she talking to me? A lump replaces the bile in my throat.
“You dropped something.”
My eyes dart to the floor as my lipstick rolls along the carriage.
I think about leaving it, ignoring the woman and making a run for it, but my body reacts first and bends down to retrieve the stick. My hand collides with Callum’s as he stops the lipstick with his boot and reaches for it before it rolls under the table. A surge of electricity courses through my veins.
He retrieves the gold casing. His gaze meets mine as he hands it back to me. “Steph?”
My lungs can only take in short shallow breaths. His mouth opens, and he stares at me as we both stand. He won’t let go of the lipstick. I try to pull it from his grasp before I make a run for it, but he grips my wrist with his other hand.
“What are you doing on this train?”
“I…” I can’t speak. The words won’t come out, blocked by the overpowering lump in my dry throat.
“Are you all right?”
A watery film covers my eyes, and tears prickle at the back of my throat. “I…I wanted to see you before you left.” My voice is barely a whisper.
He frees my hand, and I turn to escape. My shaky legs carry me into the next carriage, with his footsteps following swiftly behind me.
“Steph, where are you going?”
“Home.”
“But you said you wanted to see me.”
“I’ve seen you now, so you can go back and appreciate Miss-Fucking-World back there.” I continue walking into the next carriage to put some distance between us, but he closes the gap.
“How long were you there?”
“Long enough.” My feet pick up the pace, but I won’t outrun him.Again—shouldn’t have cancelled that gym subscription,my subconscious says. Why can’t she ever be helpful? Give me a friggin’ bone here. I’m breaking. Talk about kicking a dog when it’s down.
“Steph, stop running away from me,” Cal growls. He grips my arm, pulling me back to him, and I snatch it from his grasp.
“Don’t touch me.”
I step over the connection into another carriage.
“Steph, stop. You can’t escape me. You’re on a fucking train. Talk to me.”
I spin around to face him. “Like you talked to me? I can’t believe you left without so much as a goodbye, knowing we’d never see each other again.”
“You told me to go.”
“I thought you would have at least called me.”
“It works both ways. I thought you would have called me to apologise.”