Free Unsuitable by Ainslie Paton Page B

fair.”
    “No
fair you’re so beautiful and no one else gets to have you but me.”
    “Sweet
talker. There’ll be other jobs come up, but you know I think this is the
universe telling you something.”
    “The
universe, that’s heavy.”
    “You
should be aiming higher. You know I think that.”
    “So
this is you, not so much the universe.”
    She
smiled. “You’re nearly thirty. Time to stop mucking around. Time to stop
dreaming.”
    He
frowned and dropped his hands. She could add to that. Time to stop your family
running you around. Time to move in with me and get serious. Time to show some
ambition. Time to grow up.
    He’d
heard variations of those themes from her over the last six months in
particular. And she was probably right. In comparison, he was a loser. Sky
owned her flat, it had a hefty mortgage, but she managed it alone. She drove a
new Peugeot. She had a great job and pulled the kind of salary he could only
dream about. She was fun to be with, stop a room sexy and scary smart. Plus she
loved him.
    He
was proud of her. He had long-term designs on her that involved half a wardrobe,
a cupboard in her kitchen and a fight over who got the car space.
    Didn’t
stop him resenting her.
    “This
is my dream, remember.”
    She
sighed. “Baby, it’s not enough for you. You can do better.”
    “Teaching
in a classroom. Roofing for the Pollidores. I could earn more, but it’s not
what I want.”
    “It’s
not about the money. I earn enough for both of us. It’s about you building a
career you can be happy in. Are you going to want to be a nanny when you turn
thirty, when you turn forty? When you’re a dad yourself?”
    He
could barely think about what he’d be doing in a month, let alone a decade. “Jesus,
Sky. Do we have to do this now?”
    She
pouted and he usually liked to kiss the sulk off her plump lips. “Would you
rather we talk about how I don’t like the idea of you sleeping in that woman’s
house.”
    “I’d
be sleeping there when she wasn’t.”
    “I
get that. I still don’t like it.”
    He
tapped her nose with the tip of his finger and she blinked. “Are you jealous of
a woman who’s ten years older than me?”
    “No.
I trust you.”
    “Then
why raise it?”
    She
pouted. “You won’t move in.”
    “You
are jealous.”
    “No,
I’m lonely.” Sky twisted to get out of his arms.
    He
sighed. He wasn’t going to get to have Mia and Audrey in his life. He had a
standing offer of his old room at Polly’s, but that’d put an end to Polly’s
playroom with its enormous TV and multiple games consoles, and he did love Sky,
so it wasn’t that complicated, but there was no way he was leaving his restored
Monaro on the street.
    “About
your parking spot.”
    She
stilled, then threw her arms around his neck and squealed in his ear. Easy as
that, he had a new bedroom and back home the territory war was about to begin.

 
    8:       Failure
to Win
     
    Chris
had her locked and loaded. He gave Audrey his patented what’s going on look, a
combo of lowered chin, right head tilt and raised eyebrows. There was no way
she was leaving the team meeting without an explanation, or the not so casual disinterest
of her colleagues who knew the look and were grateful not to be its recipient.
    “Incoming,”
muttered Les, collecting her job folders to leave.
    Audrey
turned her face towards Les and hissed, “Don’t go. I’ve no idea what he wants
and he won’t get stuck into me in front of you.”
    Les
started shuffling through a folder, trying to legitimise hanging around. “The
things I do for you,” she said, two seconds before Chris aimed and fired.
    “Audrey,
a word.”
    She
smiled at him, then checked her watch. She had nowhere specific to be for the
next hour except making that one phone call, but he didn’t know that.
    “I
won’t keep you long.” He came across the room and stood in front of her. “You
don’t look happy.”
    “Oh.”
She flicked a confused glance to Les. Chris