Totally ignoring Billie’s raised eyebrow, which told me she wasn’t going to drop the Finn angle, I gave her a quick hug. “Good luck. Come and see me at Reception when you’re done.”

I headed back to my desk to wait, crossing my fingers as I walked. I’d always liked Billie, and it would be great to see more of her and have another friend at work.

Twenty minutes later, Billie had the job and I’d arranged a coffee break with Cathy so I could introduce the two.

“Congratulations,” Cathy said as she carried her mug to the far table in the staffroom.

Billie grinned. “Thanks. And thank you, Scarlett, for arranging this. You’re the best.”

“You’re totally welcome. I was so glad the timing meant I could help.” Especially as my parents were the reason she’d dropped out and needed a job in the first place…

“So,” Billie said, smiling even more widely, “back to the bigger issue. Why aren’t we telling my brother about this? Spill.”

I shifted in my seat. Took a sip of coffee. I liked Billie and counted her as a friend, but she was still Finn’s sister—how much did I tell her?

Cathy narrowed her eyes. “You didn’t tell Finn you took the promotion, did you?”

“I’m getting around to it,” I said, and put my mug on the table. “I’m just waiting for the right time.”

Billie cocked her head. “Why wouldn’t you tell him? You two are close.”

“You know him.” If anyone would understand this, it was his sister. “He has ideas about what’s good for everyone.”

Billie nodded. “Ah. He thinks you should be finishing your degree instead.”

“Yes. And no.” I sighed. “He thinks I should be doing something with my art, and failing that, finishing my degree.”

“It’s your decision. Just tell him.” She shrugged, as if the answer were obvious. Things were black and white to Billie, and I envied her that sometimes.

“I will, but there hasn’t been much of a chance. Things are…” I couldn’t tell her we were dating, so how to explain how, though things were amazing, that only made me more reluctant to rock the boat and bring up a touchy subject? “How about we say things are a little complicated between us right now.”

Billie looked from me to Cathy and back again. “I thought something was different. Did you two have a fight?”

I shot Cathy a look to remind her this was a secret, and she gave me a barely-there nod. But I had to give Billie something or she’d jump to conclusions and probably guess the truth anyway. I took a sip of coffee to give myself a moment. Amelia had mentioned a little on Billie’s first night home, and would tell her sister if she hadn’t already, so I could safely say whatever Amelia knew.

“I found out recently Finn has been interfering in my love life—”

“Do you have the chart?” Cathy asked, clearly on board with the plan to give Billie a little information to avoid breaking the real secret.

“What chart?” Billie said, curious gaze darting between us.

I bit my lip. Amelia had seen it, so it was fair game. “I’ll show you later, but I made it because I’d been having a sexual dry spell. I charted the guys I’ve dated to see if there were any patterns in how long they lasted. I thought I was taking all the factors into account until Amelia pointed out the relationships became shorter in correlation to how long I’d known Finn. And they were down to one or two dates during the time I’ve been living at your house. I confronted him and he admitted he’s been scaring all my dates off.”

“No!” Billie said, eyes wide.

Cathy nodded. “Can you believe it?”

“Actually, I can’t believe it,” Billie said. “I thought you and Finn had been sleeping together for the last couple of years.”

“What?” I said. “We’ve always told you we were friends.”

“Yeah, but Finn’s been pretty guarded about himself since our parents died. Before then, too, but especially since. I assumed you were together and he wanted to keep it on the down low.”

Surprised, I was momentarily speechless. I’d had no idea she’d been thinking that, long before it was true. “We’ve both been seeing people all through our friendship. Though, of course, I haven’t been having much success…”

“So, you and Finn. Never?” Billie persisted.

I hesitated. I couldn’t tell her, but an outright lie felt wrong, so how to answer? Unfortunately, while I was deciding, I felt my neck and cheeks warm up and knew I was blushing.

“I knew it,” Billie said, triumphant. “I knew there was more between you.”

I shifted in my seat, feeling the conversation rapidly move beyond my control. “It’s only recent. And we don’t know if it’s going anywhere, so we’re not telling anyone. Please don’t let him know I told you.”

She grinned. “Don’t worry. Remember he’s half a brother and half a parent to me—I’m used to keeping secrets from him.”

Suddenly, I was uncomfortable. I didn’t want to be the cause of any division between them. “Actually, I’ve changed my mind. I’ll tell him you know. Just don’t let Amelia know—she’s got a fantasy that Finn and I will end up together and I don’t want her to get her hopes up.”

“My lips are sealed.” She frowned, and in that moment she reminded me a lot of her brother. “But before we drop the subject, I just want to point out that you two always meant more to each other than just friends, no matter what you say. You might think you’re only recent, but for all intents and purposes, you’ve actually been in a relationship for years. So don’t be scared to make it public. You and Finn are solid together, anyone can see that.”

We’d actually been in a relationship for years? So not true. He’d been no more than a friend for most of that time.

A twinge in my conscience made me look away from my friends and out the window. In all honesty, ever since the night I’d met Finn—when he’d walked in like mild mannered Clark Kent and transformed in front of my eyes into the guy who rescued me from a loser—I’d probably been more than a little in awe of him. It wasn’t only the very satisfying act of throwing the loser into the wall, but the way he’d been with me afterwards, the things he’d said. I would have been in a much worse state emotionally in the days and months that followed if it wasn’t for him.

The bonus had been that when I’d spent more time with Clark Kent, I’d found he was a pretty awesome guy, and he quickly became my best friend. I guess I’d never really lost that dash of awe, though. Maybe I had seen him as something other than just a friend all this time.

Taking another mouthful of coffee, I nodded to Billie to acknowledge her point, but really didn’t want to discuss it any further. Cathy, bless her, jumped in and changed the subject.

“Weren’t you at university? Why the change in plans to work here?”

Billie explained about finding her bliss, while I recovered from her comment about me and Finn not having to play it safe by keeping things secret. I was starting to wonder the same thing…

“So,” Billie finished, “now I want to earn a bit of money to buy supplies to travel around like John and Jane do. They have the best lifestyle.”

I winced. “You might not think so if you’d grown up that way. Thomas and I are pretty much just trying to put down roots and do the opposite of our childhood.”

Billie turned disbelieving eyes to me. “I think you were so lucky.”

I wanted to say the same back—she’d had the childhood I’d wanted, where she went to the same schools and lived in the same house, but she’d also lost her parents when she was sixteen, and no amount of continuity of schools could make up for that.

“In some ways, I guess I was,” I said.

“Don’t get me wrong,” Billie said. “My parents were amazing, and Finn has done a better job than I would have if I’d been the one in his position—I owe him a huge debt. Amelia and I lucked out by having Mum, Dad, and Finn there for us, but, I don’t know—I just feel like I need to get out of the everyday routine and my own expectations of myself. Find who I really am.”