‘Another drink, Ed?’ Zoe asks, grabbing her clutch purse from the table. ‘Oh, Darcy?’ she says as an afterthought.

‘I can grab them.’ Ed goes to move but Zoe touches his arm.

‘Please, let me.’ She smiles, eyes only for Ed as she heads off to the bar.

Darcy tries to steady her breath, a thousand thoughts slamming around in her head. She watches Ed, hoping he’ll offer a place to start.

But he says nothing.

‘So … you’re actually considering her job offer?’ She tries to sound calm, as though he were considering a job offer from anyone other than Zoe.

‘Yeah, I am.’

Darcy’s stomach surges as she thinks about Ed and Zoe laughing at the water cooler.

‘I’ve been doing Love Lens for over five years now,’ he says. ‘I don’t know, after the whole Sienna thing, I feel like maybe I need something else. A new challenge or something.’

‘I didn’t know you were feeling like this.’ She feels a little cheated he hasn’t mentioned anything.

‘Neither did I until tonight.’ He shrugs innocently. ‘Zoe pointed out I could hire people to keep Love Lens going and just give Smith Street a go for a few months.’

‘I’m sure she did.’

Ed tilts his head to the side, a little smirk on his face. ‘You’re taking this very hard.’

How can he joke about this? ‘Zoe Eggins would be your boss! Are you out of your mind?’

‘Yeah, I get it, Darce. She was a real pain in the arse at uni, but she’s not that bad now.’

He’s going to take the job.

She glances over Ed’s shoulder and sees Zoe making her way back towards them with two drinks in hand. She can’t stick around to watch. ‘Please just promise me one thing?’

‘What’s that?’

‘Don’t go home with her.’

But Zoe’s back at the table before Ed has a chance to reply.

Chapter 29

29

Darcy glances down at the list of questions she has to ask Ty about the date he’s currently on. Ty and Samara have taken a rowboat out from Lane Cove National Park and are currently midway through the more serious part of the date—a romantic picnic. Ben had struggled getting decent footage of them on the rowboat. Samara is tall with broad shoulders and really long limbs. They had to do a few takes because she’d looked ridiculous perched on the little seat with her knees up in front of her face. Ben managed some good long-distance shots that will look more romantic than they actually were with a bit of music and editing. So far there’s been no kiss and zero chemistry. Alice isn’t going to be happy.

‘Hey,’ Ty says, approaching and taking a seat in the chair opposite her. Samara is down with the girls from hair and makeup, getting touch-ups.