Page 25 of The Story of Us
“Hi,” Eloise said when he stopped in front of her.
“Hey.”
“Not staying for trivia?” she asked.
A confused look flittered across Nate’s handsome face. “I didn’t come for trivia. I, uh, I wanted to make sure …” He twisted towards Alice, who was watching them both with rapt attention. Like everyone else in the room. Nate’s voice dropped to a whisper that skated across Eloise’s skin, giving her goosebumps. “I wanted to make sure you were alright. There’s been a lot of talk.”
Wouldn’t be a small town without that, would it?
Lulu shimmied past them, forcing Nate to step even closer to Eloise’s chair, his hand resting next to hers on the mahogany bar.
“Well, well, well, aren’t you two sneaky,” Lulu said, her bright red lips stretching into a grin that threatened to split her face in half as she squeezed Eloise’s arm.
Eloise attempted a polite, noncommittal noise that only made the older woman clasp her more tightly. “Now I just need Teddy and Raff to get their acts together and all my boys will be blissfully happy.”
“Um …” Nate’s eyes were wider than Eloise had ever seen them before.
“For someone who’s loved writing stories since you were a little boy, I think you can do a bit better than ‘um’, Nate. Use your words, darling.”
The background music changed, the theme for trivia night filling the room. There was clearly a problem with the lighting because the spotlight was firmly trained on Eloise and Nate. Wattle Junction was never going to win any points for subtlety.
“Oh, Jesus,” Wyatt muttered from behind the bar. “Who let Joan back there? I’ll fix it.”
“I’m just so happy for you both. And for me. I know, I know, Nate. You told me to be cool. I’m sorry, well, not really. It’s just wonderful news.” Lulu hugged her second youngest son.
Thankfully, Alice swooped in, looping her arm through Lulu’s. “We’d better get back to the table before the first round starts, Lu. Let’s leave these two lovebirds alone, hey?”
“We’re not …” Eloise looked at Nate for help, but he just rubbed his face.
“Fine, fine. Deny it all you want, but”—Lulu paused and sniffed dramatically—“romance is in the air!”
“The jazz hands are a nice touch, Mum,” Nate sighed.
With a wink and far too much glee on their cheeks, Lulu and Alice headed back to their table.
“Do you want to get out of here?” Eloise whispered to Nate as the trivia master joked that they should get a room.
“Let’s go.”
* * *
High Street was deserted.
“In the grand scheme of things, that wasn’t so bad,” Eloise said to fill the silence.
“I’m guessing you didn’t see the front page of theWattle Junction Warbler?”
She stopped in the middle of the road as they headed towards the big park that spanned the opposite side of the main street. God. They hadn’t made the local paper, had they?
The glow from a streetlight hit Nate’s face, highlighting his sheepish grin. “Bad joke, sorry.”
“I can’t believe I fell for that. Although, I don’t think I’ve ever had so many messages from my grandmother. And your mother. And Alice. And Charlie.” Shadows traipsed back across Nate’s face, but Eloise was sure she saw his jaw flex. “Apparently, kissing you is the most interesting thing I’ve ever done.”
And I don’t remember it at all.Life was so cruel when it wanted to be.
“Not true. You’re very interesting.”
The sincerity in his tone sent a rush of heat to her cheeks. She fumbled with her takeaway bag to hide her embarrassment. “Hardly. I’ve never managed to make a whole room of people stop talking just by opening a door.”
