A Sprinkle of Sabotage by Fiona Leitch (famous ebook reader TXT) 📕

‘I have to get back to work,’ I said. It wasn’t what I really wanted to say, but I did need to make the stars’ breakfasts.

‘Oh, yes, so do I…’ He tucked his phone back in his pocket and looked around. There were more cast members heading over now, having finished in Hair and Make-Up and taking the opportunity to grab a quick cuppa or some breakfast before filming began. I turned towards the truck but he reached over and touched my arm, stopping me. ‘Can we talk later?’

‘Of course,’ I said, horrified to hear my voice sounding so hoarse. I swallowed hard. ‘But really, what’s to talk about? It’s a fantastic opportunity and it’s near your parents.’ And your ex…

He stared at me. ‘So you think I should apply?’

No, no, I don’t! ‘Don’t you?’

He looked at me as if he was disappointed with my reply, then took his hand off my arm. ‘I’ve got to go. See you later,’ he said flatly, then turned and walked away.

‘Hellooo?’ Behind me, Faith called out to me in a cheerful, friendly tone of voice that for some completely irrational reason made me want to pour that bowl of cold porridge oats over her head. But I showed remarkable restraint and just smiled at her before returning to the food truck.

Chapter Ten

I heated up Faith’s porridge and helped Jeremy get a bacon roll together. I had the horrible feeling that he only wanted me to lean across the counter with a couple of baps in my hands so that he could get a quick look down my top – it was boiling inside the truck with the hot plate on, and I’d stripped down to my T-shirt, which was clingier and had a lower V-neck than I’d realised – but I was still too stunned by Nathan’s revelation to care about a has-been actor’s sexist BS. Zack came over for his protein shake and banana; he smiled charmingly at me, despite being deep in conversation with someone on his phone, but even that didn’t make much of a dent in my mood. Aiko came and picked up Kimi’s breakfast and looked astounded when I asked her what she’d like for breakfast; I got the impression not too many people even noticed her when her sister was around. I gave her one of Zack’s low-carb muesli bars and a banana (I guessed she and her sister hadn’t managed to maintain figures like theirs by eating bacon sandwiches) and told her to let me know if there was anything special I could make her for her lunch.

‘For me? Not for Kimi?’ She couldn’t seem to get her head around the concept. I smiled encouragingly at her.

‘Of course! It’s your birthday today as well, isn’t it? You should be celebrating, not fetching and carrying for your sister. Let me know, yeah?’

‘I will… Thank you…’ And she wandered away, still looking slightly bemused. I shook my head, equally bemused; movie people were weird.

I turned off the hot plate and began to clear down, making room for the lunchtime prep. There were probably still a few breakfast stragglers, but there was plenty of bacon in the heated buffet dishes and a pile of buttered rolls, so they could help themselves. There was also a random box of Coco Pops in the cupboard, so anyone who didn’t want bacon could have a bowl of that.

I cleaned the workbench on auto-pilot, my mind going over and over Nathan’s words. All the times we’d flirted over the last few months… Had it been in the back of his mind then, that one day he’d be going back to Liverpool? Was that why he’d never made a move?

And why did he need to talk about it? It was a no-brainer, surely. If he stayed here he’d more than likely be a DCI for ever. Don’t get me wrong, the rank of detective chief inspector is certainly nothing to turn your nose up at (it was higher than I’d got, but then I’d been happy pounding the beat, and being a mum as well already gave me enough to juggle), but Nathan was only thirty-five, and he struck me as being ambitious. But then, he had moved down here in the first place, so maybe career wasn’t as important to him as I thought. But he was worried about his parents, and if he moved back he’d be much nearer them – and his ex, whom he’d never really talked about but who had clearly broken his heart. But, but, but… Round and round my mind went, until—

‘Oww!’ I lent across the hot plate to wipe off a smear of grease, and gasped as my bare forearm touched it. I’d turned if off but those things stayed hot for ages. I dropped my cleaning cloth and clutched ineffectually at my arm.

‘Jodie! You all right?’ Tony stood at the counter, watching me in alarm.

‘Yeah, I just burnt my arm on the bloody hot plate…’ I was in pain, but more than that I was furious at myself for being miles away, and furious at Nathan for distracting me even though he wasn’t here. I inspected my arm, and when I looked up again Tony was right next to me, inside the truck. He gently took my arm and led me over to the sink.

‘Run it under cold water,’ he ordered, turning on the tap (the truck was hooked up to a garden hose in the courtyard outside). He held my arm under the flow of water, taking the heat out of the burn.

I blinked madly, wanting nothing more than to burst into tears, but if I did he’d be really sympathetic and lovely, and I’d cry even more, and he’d ask me what the matter was, and then I’d tell him about Nathan and I’d be forced to admit things (to myself as much as to him) that I’d been ignoring relatively successfully for a while now, and