Free Nobody but Him by Victoria Purman Page A

like they belonged to a surgeon who’d just scrubbed up, and her jeans and long-sleeved T-shirt were grubby and damp. Her dirty curls were pulled back off her face and she couldn’t vouch for what she smelled like.
    Ry’s words flew around and around in her head. At first there had been a promise to stay as far away from each other as possible. That had recently morphed into figuring out a way to deal with this running into each other thing.
    And now … she was supposed to make neighbourly small talk by the rubbish bin?
    He stood on the grassed verge, alongside Lizzie, looking at her with a bemused expression on his face. His old denims and his navy jumper, shoved up around his forearms, looked soft and comfortable and worn in, the kind of thing a man like him would wear while lounging around a fireplace sipping red wine with his stylish Princess Wife.
    Julia, on the other hand, felt like a total hausfrau.
    ‘Jools,’ Lizzie called and out of Ry’s line of sight, beckoned her forward with wide eyes and a fluttering hand. Julia decided she would kill her best friend later. Slowly.
    She sucked in a fortifying breath and tried to emulate a self-assured strut as she joined the gathering. And because she wanted to get the first word in, show him that she was unfussed by his presence, she called out before she reached them.
    ‘Hello Ry.’ She tried to ignore the grin and those eyes. Damn him.
    ‘Julia.’
    ‘Lizzie, I was wondering where you were.’ The cold wind coming off the beach made her shiver.
    Lizzie turned to Julia with a barely suppressed smile. ‘I was just telling Ry about the clean up you’re doing and he’s offered his help.’
    Julia turned to look at him. Ry’s arms were crossed over his chest, his legs straight and set in a wide stance.
    ‘Really.’ Julia lifted her chin and drew back her shoulders. As if she would ever take help from Ry Blackburn.
    ‘Yes. He said that when your bin is full we could load up his. It’s bin night tonight so we should take full advantage.’
    ‘Why, how neighbourly of you Ry. Are you sure it’s not too much trouble?’
    He smiled, meeting her gaze head on. ‘It’s no trouble.’
    ‘Thank you,’ Lizzie added, glancing from Ry to Julia and quickly back again. Julia knew she’d be working this over in her head to try and figure out what exactly was going on between her boss and her best friend. Julia wasn’t about to put her out of her misery.
    ‘Well,’ Julia announced, wiggling her gloved fingers in the air. ‘I’ve got to get back to the scrubbing.’ As she walked back inside, she couldn’t fight the distinct impression that Ry was watching her every step.
    A minute later, Lizzie bounced back inside, laughing, her short blonde hair wild and her nose red from the cold.
    ‘Oh. My. God.’
    Julia was at the kitchen sink, refilling it with hot water and suds. ‘Oh my God what?’
    Lizzie skipped over to the kitchen bench and leaned right cross it. ‘Did you see that?’
    ‘See what?’
    ‘The way he was looking at you just now.’
    Julia harrumphed. ‘I saw him looking at me all right. More like looking down his nose at me. I mean, what am I wearing?’
    Lizzie took in Julia’s outfit with fresh eyes and laughed. ‘I don’t think those gloves go with those shoes.’
    Julia looked down at her green rubber gloves and her mother’s bright pink runners and joined in.
    ‘Oh, why do I give two shits if he looks down his perfect nose at me? It’s not the first time I’ve been cross-examined visually by people like him.’
    ‘I don’t think it was cross-examination. He was figuring out ways to get you out of those rubber gloves and daggy clothes.’
    Julia scooped up a palm full of soapy water and flicked it at Lizzie, who squealed.
    ‘Stop it. We were standing by the rubbish bin, not by a bar, for God’s sake.’
    ‘Just sayin’.’ Lizzie grinned, studied her fingernails with raised eyebrows and a grin.
    By mid afternoon Lizzie had left to go