Page 61 of Love Me Till Wednesday

‘Okay,’ Nick said hesitantly.

‘Where’s your hotel?’ Pete asked.

‘Near the embankment.’

Pete looked thoughtful. ‘We haven’t got time to go there first. We’ll have to flag down a cab for you at the radio station.’

‘I can ask Brad to meet us there with my car?’ Nick suggested.

‘Good thinking. Meanwhile, the arseholes out the front will be oblivious that we’ve snuck out under their noses.’ Ed looked gleeful at the prospect.

Nick nodded. ‘It could work, but I might be recognised.’

‘Lisa could be, too,’ Ed said. ‘No one remembers what guitarists and keyboard players look like, so you sit with me up front, Pete. You two can get in the back.’

‘In the back?’ Lisa said.

‘Yes. We’ll put some cushions in so the rollers aren’t too uncomfortable. You can hold onto the fittings when we go around any corners. I’ll drive sedately. All will be fine. You’ll see.’

‘You’re still as mad as ever,’ Nick said.

Ed grinned. ‘Abso-fucking-lutley. Now, let’s get going.’

Five minutes later, Lisa was lying in the hearse, drawing the curtains.

‘Have you done this before?’ Nick asked as he clambered in beside her.

‘No, have you?’ She laughed.

‘I was smuggled out of a hotel in a laundry van once,’ he said, putting one of Lisa’s zebra print cushions behind his head. ‘But this beats that for weirdness if not for comfort.’

‘It’s a bit cosy.’ She was acutely aware of how much her body was touching his. She wasn’t sure if the warm feeling was another hot flush or just being ever so slightly turned on.

‘Ouch!’ Nick moved. ‘Sorry, I’m going to have to get closer to you. There’s are knob digging in right where I don’t want a knob to be.’

God, this was so ridiculous. Lisa couldn’t help breaking into a fit of giggles. Nick joined in. ‘Come here, you’, he said, holding her tight.

‘I have never felt so unsafe in my life,’ she said, leaning across Nick to hold on to a brass fitting on his opposite side. He did the same. She snuggled into his body, breathing in his aftershave.

‘I hope you mean from Ed’s driving and not from me,’ he whispered in her ear.

‘I always felt safe with you,’ she murmured.

He squeezed her more tightly to him. ‘Same here.’

This was not a good idea on so many levels. Ed started the engine.

‘It’s bloody noisy,’ Nick commented. ‘It’s enough to wake the dead.’

‘That’s why I got it cheap,’ Ed said.

‘How long’s the journey?’ Nick asked as Ed carefully manoeuvred out of the garden gate and into the alley.

’Twelve minutes, according to the satnav, and the route’s mostly flat, so you shouldn’t be sliding backwards and forwards too much.’ Ed yelled from the front.

‘I’d not even thought about that,’ Lisa said just as the hearse veered sharply to the right, presumably as Ed turned onto the main road. Lisa slid into one of the fittings. ‘Bloody hell, Ed. Give us a warning before you do that again.’

‘Are you ok?’ Nick whispered.

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