Page 84 of Five Things I Love About You

‘I bet he was.’ Rich grins. I see Jay rolling his eyes behind him and suppress a smile.

‘We’ll be here for a while though, we’re staying for the dinner tonight.’

‘Oh great, well, we’ll meet you here in a couple of hours then, shall we?’

‘Sure. See you later.’

They all disappear and Jay snakes his arm round my waist and plants a kiss on my lips. ‘Sorry about them. Bunch of idiots really but they’re all right once you get to know them, promise.’

I kiss him back. ‘It’s nice to meet some of your friends.’

‘Well, they’re just golfing buddies really, I?—’

‘It’s fine. You don’t have to justify anything. They seemed nice.’

‘Well. Good.’ He pulls away. ‘Now, are you interested in some more lessons’ – he sneaks behind me and wraps his arms round me, pressing himself into my back – ‘like this’ – he runs his hands along my arms and takes hold of my hands and the club – ‘or would you prefer to stop and go and get a drink?’ He nuzzles my ear and sends a throb of desire through me.

‘Oh I don’t know,’ I say, turning my head to kiss him. ‘What do you think?’

He stays still for moment then pulls away with a groan. ‘Oh God, as much as I’d like to continue this here, we might get thrown out for being indecent if we don’t stop now.’

I glance round. ‘I don’t think anyone has noticed.’ I step towards him and when I press against him I can feel he’s hard. He gasps, then steps back again.

‘No, no, no, no, no.’ He laughs, shaking his head. ‘Not here. I’ll get banned.’ He grabs my hand and drags me away from the almost-empty driving range. ‘But sod this, let’s go and have a snog behind the clubhouse then go and get a drink.’

We manage a quick kiss out of sight of everyone else but Jay soon gets cold feet about being caught again so, like naughty schoolchildren, we make ourselves stop and enter the clubhouse, giggling. There aren’t many people in here yet, mainly bar and waiting staff getting ready for the event later, but the people who are here are glued to a football match playingon the large TV in the corner and don’t pay us any attention.

Jay glances at the screen and hesitates a fraction of a second before we take our drinks to a quiet table in the corner away from the TV.

‘Are you sure you don’t want to watch it?’ I say, indicating the screen where men are running around in red and blue kits.

‘No, it’s fine. I’d rather talk to you.’

We sit and chink our glasses. ‘Thanks for coming today,’ Jay says.

‘It’s fine, it’s been fun.’

‘I know it’s not your idea of a great day out, which is why it means so much.’ He takes a sip of his pint. ‘You know, some of the people here aren’t my type of person either, but there really are some great ones too.’ He puts his drink down, suddenly serious, and takes my hand. ‘I’m so happy you’re here with me. I just want you to be part of my life. All of it.’

‘I want to be part of your life too,’ I say. And I mean it. If I have to do things I don’t love every now and then for us to be happy, then that’s fine with me, especially as Jay seems perfectly happy to do things I love in return.

Soon it’s almost time for Jay’s friends to get back.

‘We should probably go and get changed into our glad rags,’ I say, checking the time. The football has finished by now and all the tables are laid in the dining room, ready for dinner.

‘You’re right. See you back here in ten.’

As I pull on my dress and top up my make-up in the changing rooms, I make a promise to myself to relax into this evening. It means a lot to Jay that I like his friends – and that they like me.

After one last quick check in the mirror, I go back to look for Jay. I spot him standing by the bar and as I walk over I take a moment to study him. He looks so handsome, and my stomach flips with desire.

But as he turns to face me my heart catches in my throat as I notice something.

‘Hey, you okay?’ he says, pulling me close to kiss my cheek. He smells divine. I pull away. ‘You look worried.’

‘I’m fine,’ I say. ‘You look lovely.’

‘So do you. Bloody gorgeous in fact.’ He leans in and presses his lips to my ear. ‘I wish I could take you home and get you out of that dress right now.’

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