After I’d changed outfit three times I decided to finish my blog before finalising what to wear. Which means I now only have thirty minutes until the taxi picks me up to take me into the village. I grab the flowery, purple dress from the wardrobe. It might be a bit much for a village pub but I don’t care. I wrangle my boobs into the cups and then fasten the straps. There. Looks cute and a bit sexy. I tie my hair back—I get sweaty when I dance with my hair down—and slip on my sandals. They are flats which gives the dress a more casual look. I spray on some deodorant, drape my necklace around my throat and slide my bag across my body. Done. No time to make any changes.
The closer I get the more my nerves start to fray. The pub is right in the heart of the village, and the taxi driver has to drop me off on the main road. Behind us another driver honks their horn impatiently.
I scramble to pay and leap out of the taxi. As I push open the heavy wooden door of the pub, I’m met with a cacophony of noise. The pub is bustling with groups of people standing tightly packed around high tables, chatting and laughing.
“Keeley,” a voice calls out from the far end of the pub. I wave at the group and weave my way through the crowd. When I join the group I see that everyone is there already, including Oliver wearing cargo shorts and a tight black T-shirt. In that outfit, the tattoos on his arms and left calf stand out a lot more and make him look dangerously sexy.Argh! He. Turned. You. Down!
“Hey everyone, sorry I’m late. Can I get a round for the birthday boy?” I ask. The invitation is met with cheers and everyone shouts out their orders to me. After the fourth drink I’m lost.
“Don’t worry, I’ve taken note and I’ll help you carry them,” a woman with a blond bob standing next to Oliver says. She wasn’t part of the group this afternoon.
“I’m this one’s sister and also work at Alluring Adventures. My name’s Hannah,” she giggles.Oh fuck, for one second I thought she was about to say his girlfriend or wife. I peek at Oliver but when I find his eyes on me I turn my attention back to Hannah.
“And this is my friend Jake.” She ruffles the dark hair of a guy next to her who playfully slaps her hand away.
“Nice to meet you both.” On closer inspection, I can see some resemblance between Hannah and Oliver.
Hannah and I take everyone’s order and then fight our way through the crowd to the bar.
“So, can I be nosy? Did you enjoy this morning?” she asks.
“Yes, it was amazing, thank you.”
“Oh, great! It’s just that Oliver said he didn’t think you had. In that case I may have tried to use this opportunity to shamelessly beg you not to write an article because times are tough and a bad review from someone so popular like you could really damage the business.” She looks at me sheepishly.
Why would he think I didn’t enjoy it?Unless he thought that turning me down would influence my blog and if so, that pisses me right off.
“Well, Oliver’s wrong. I had a great day.”
“Ols is really worried about the business even if he won’t tell me. Maybe he was just reflecting his worries on you. He knows that this article could make a big difference for us.”
Her words almost calm me down, but I still have a nagging feeling that he’d think I would get revenge with a bad review of his business.
“It’s alright, I understand. I sent my first draft this afternoon and it was full of praise, trust me.” I shift forward as the person in front of me carries a tray of drinks away from the bar.
“Amazing, thank you so much!” Hannah grins and rattles off the orders she had noted down on her phone.
I think I need to have a word with Oliver.
Chapter 5
Oliver
My eyes follow Keeleythrough the room. She doesn’t notice all the lads staring at her, but I do. No wonder, though. She looks unbelievable. That flowery dress hugs her curves in a way that would drive any man crazy. Her chocolate brown hair is tied back, but a few curls have fallen free and are framing her face.
I’m such a fucking idiot.It cost me everything to turn her down this afternoon, but I can’t risk my company. She’s not just any customer: she's a customer that could influence how muchbusiness I’ll have in the future. I can’t risk that. Too many people depend on me to not mess this up.
I take a gulp of my beer. I’m not sure why I even bothered coming. I just couldn’t resist. Apparently, I like to punish myself. I should just finish this pint and then head home, but now that I’ve seen all those guys staring at her, how can I possibly leave?
“Are you going to ask her out?” Kurt asks.
“She’s a customer,” I protest.
“Technically not anymore, the tour is done.” He winks before walking over to another table with a group of girls from the village. He is not wrong, but it's not quite that easy.
The evening moves slowly. Keeley is desperately avoiding me. She was mortified when I turned her down, and I almost changed my mind there and then. Now, she won’t even look at me. A few times I shifted in her direction to… well, fuck knows what I was hoping to achieve. But she seems to have a sixth sense and keeps moving away before I can reach her.
“Time to get your dancing shoes on,” Christina announces. She is the lead singer of the Crazy Dogs, a local band that plays in pubs and bar. Tonight, they’ve set up at one end of the pub and the staff have cleared a small dance floor. The first notes of a popular song ring out and a happy pandemonium erupts.