Miranda was glad she wasn’t using the video-call option on her phone. ‘Fine. I’ve sent off the paintings. Now we’re sorting through his father’s antiques. Some of them are amazing. His dad might have had a drinking problem but he sure knew how to track down a treasure or two.’
‘Has Leandro made a move on you yet?’
Miranda thought of the moves Leandro had made on her last night and that morning. Achingly tender moves, on account of her soreness. It had made it harder to keep her emotions in check. He was so thoughtful and caring; how could she not begin to imagine them having a life together? ‘You have a one-track mind,’ she said. ‘Did you get the dress done?’
‘Yep. I’m working on a design for Holly as we speak,’ Jaz said. ‘Now, tell me all about it.’
Miranda frowned. ‘All about what?’
‘What you and Leandro have been getting up to apart from sorting out dusty old antiques and paintings.’
‘We’re not getting up to anything.’
‘Hey, this is me—your best friend—you’re talking to,’ Jaz said. ‘We’ve known each other since we were eight years old. You would’ve at least hugged him. You wouldn’t be able to help yourself after he told you about his little sister. Am I right, Miss “Compassion and Tears at the Drop of a Hat” Ravensdale?’
‘Anyone would do the same,’ Miranda said. ‘It doesn’t mean I’m sleeping with him.’
‘Aha!’ Jaz said. ‘Methinks more than a hug. A kiss, perhaps?’
Miranda knew it would be pointless denying it. Jaz was too astute to be fobbed off. ‘We kissed and...stuff.’
‘Stuff?’
‘It’s not serious,’ she said. ‘It’s just a thing.’
‘A thing?’
‘A fling...sort of, but I hate that word, as it sounds so shallow.’
‘Seriously?’ Jaz said. ‘You’re sleeping with Leandro?’
Miranda frowned at the incredulity in her friend’s tone. ‘Isn’t that what you thought I was doing?’
‘You’re actually doing the deed with Leandro Allegretti?’ Jaz said. ‘Oh. My. God. I think I’m going to pass out with shock.’
‘It’s just sex,’ Miranda said. ‘It’s not as if we’re dating or anything.’
‘But what about Mark?’ Jaz said. ‘I thought you said there was never going to be another—’
‘I’m not breaking my promise to Mark,’ she said. ‘Not really.’
‘Listen, I never thought much of your promise in the first place,’ Jaz said. ‘Mark was nice and all, and it was awful that he died, but Leandro? Seriously? He’s ten years older than you.’
‘So?’ Miranda shot back. ‘Jake was ten years older than you when you had that silly little crush on him when you were sixteen.’
There was a tight little silence.
Miranda knew she shouldn’t have thrown Jaz’s crush on her brother in her face. She knew how much it upset Jaz to have been so madly infatuated with Jake back then. Even though Jaz had never told her what had actually happened in her brother’s bedroom that night, it had obviously been something she wanted to forget. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said. ‘That was mean of me.’
‘Are you in love with him?’ Jaz said.
‘No.’
‘Sure?’
The thing was, Miranda wasn’t sure. She had always cared about Leandro. He was part of the family, a constant in her childhood, someone she had always respected and admired. She had loved him like a brother. Now her feelings for him were different. More mature. More adult.
But in love?
Or was it because of the amazing sex? She had read somewhere that good sex was deeply bonding. The more orgasms you had with a lover, the more you bonded with them. She wouldn’t be the first woman to mistake physical compatibility for love.
‘We’re friends as well as lovers,’ Miranda said.
‘What’s going to happen when he breaks it off?’ Jaz said. ‘Will you still be friends?’
‘Of course,’ Miranda said. ‘Why wouldn’t we be?’
‘What if you want more?’
Miranda had already starting day-dreaming them as a couple—as a permanent couple. Becoming engaged. Getting married. Going through life as a team, building a future together. Having children and raising them in a household with love and security—all the things he had missed out on.
But then there was her promise to Mark to consider. She would have to tell Mark’s parents she was ready to move on with her life. She would have to stop feeling guilty for being alive when Mark was not. She would have to confront the fact that maybe she hadn’t loved Mark the way she had thought. That they hadn’t been soul mates but just two teenagers who had dated. ‘I don’t want more.’