Page 55 of Lie For Me

The shout broke their silent pause, and suddenly, Lucy started laughing.

‘That poor boy!’ she cried. ‘His face!’ She clutched at her side.

And then Jack found that he was laughing too.

‘When he held the key up.’

He mimicked the waiter holding up the storeroom key and bent double.

Lucy wiped at her eyes.

‘Oh God, you know he’ll be telling this story to all his mates—’

‘Oh no.’ Jack shook his head. ‘That poor lad hasn’t got lots of mates.’

‘And we’ll be known as the perverts of the wedding, getting it on next to the,’ Lucy pulled a face, ‘cleaning storage cupboard.’

She gasped and doubled over with laughter again.

Jack wiped his eyes.

‘I just hope he saw something useful,’ he managed.

Lucy snorted and leaned on a nearby tree stump, trying to catch her breath. Jack continued, ‘Those moves of mine—he can use those when he’s old enough.’

‘Those were moves?’ Lucy straightened up and cackled. ‘I thought you had lost something and were frisking me.’

Jack rolled his eyes at her.

‘At least, if your family hears about it, they won’t be in any doubt that this is the real thing.’

‘Oh my god! My mother would be horrified!’ Lucy covered her eyes. ‘Oh, the thought of her daughter getting,’ she whispered, ‘felt up in public like that.’ She shuddered. ‘Pray god that boy was too busy staring at the floor to identify us properly.’

Jack grinned at Lucy’s stricken expression. ‘I don’t think he seems the type to go bragging about what he saw.’

He took a breath and watched her expression as he spoke. ‘So we forget about it, agreed? I mean, these sorts of things happen at weddings, don’t they? Drunken, emotional make outs.’

He couldn’t tell what she was thinking as she took in his words. Her expression was neutral as she twisted her hair onto her head.

‘Yes, sure,’ she said. ‘Just a bit of wedding madness.’ She smiled at him and picked up her shoes. Often in her hand, rarely on her feet, he thought. ‘We’ll put it behind us.’

They stood for a moment, the companionable laughter giving way to something less sure and certain. Jack felt the energy crackle between them. The kiss might have happened because they had had a few drinks, and emotions were running high, but he felt sure there was something running underneath all that.

‘Well…’ Lucy said and took a step towards the hotel. ‘We should head back in.’

‘Sure,’ he nodded. ‘You go. I’ll be there in a moment. Just going to get a bit more fresh air.’

She nodded and carried on, but he could see the question in her eyes.

As he watched her step gingerly across the gravel back into the hotel, his world suddenly seemed much quieter and smaller.

There would be no Lucy in New York.

18

Slipping across the hotel lobby, Lucy made for the bathrooms. Inside, she dove into a stall, locked it and slid down the inside of the door.

Her hand went to her mouth as she thought of Jack’s lips pressed against hers, his fingers tracing the curves of her body. The warmth of his touch seeping through her flimsy dress, and her hands pulling him closer.

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