Page 42 of From Best Friend to Bride
“Don’t look so miserable,” I said, getting into the car. “I’ll ask Terry to come and sort your tyre out, all right? By the time your shift is over and I pick you up, your car will be sorted.”
She mumbled something under her breath that sounded awfully like a complaint, then said, “You’re going to pick me up at one a.m.? Have you lost your mind?”
I turned around and headed down the driveway. “Yes, and no, my mind is fully intact. Mostly.”
“Glad you added that bit,” she muttered. “I don’t think I trust you to be awake at that time. You’re such an early bird, there’s no way you’ll stay up that late.”
“I’ve done it before. Besides, it’s only once, and tomorrow is the weekend so I can sleep in. I just have a couple things to do in the afternoon.”
“Ugh, I almost forgot it was Friday.” She ran her fingers through her hair and pulled it up into a bun on top of her head, fumbling on her wrist for her hairband.
She’d just had it in her teeth mere minutes ago. How had she lost it?Wherehad she lost it? I swear to God, if it was on the driveway or by her feet…
I sighed internally, briefly imagining flicking an extra-springy one at her forehead.
“There’s some in the door,” I said, nodding towards her side.
Deli reached down and pulled out a handful of hairbands in various colours. “Why do you have hairbands in the door?”
“Because you keep leaving them in my car, so I keep putting them there for when you realise you’ve lost your wrist one again.”
“Gosh, you’re such a good little husband-to-be.”
I shivered. “I feel more like your keeper than anything.”
“The feeling is mutual.” She grinned, finally securing her hair, and let her hands fall into her lap. “Are you coming in?”
I pulled up at the lights, eyeing her. “I thought you didn’t want to be seen with me to protect your reputation.”
“It’s about twenty nine years too late for that,” she replied. “Actually, you can come in and field some of those pesky questions.”
“There’s always a catch,” I mused, taking the turn towards the bar. I backed into an empty space in the employee section, ignoring Deli’s dark look, and got out. “Well? Come on, then.”
“You’re not an employee,” she said, grabbing her bag from the footwell.
“I am if I’m carting you around. Besides, Si won’t care. He loves me.”
“You and your ego.” She followed me into the bar, and all eyes immediately turned in our direction.
It was too early to be packed, so the fact the place had only a few punters made it all the more unnerving.
“Well, well, well, if it isn’t the happy couple,” Si said brightly from behind the bar. “Is our esteemed lord parked in the employee section again?”
“The lady of The Blue Tit Inn has a flat, so I’m providing her a service,” I answered, sweeping into a small bow.
“Aren’t you the model future husband?”
“Ugh, you two are giving me a headache,” Deli said. “I’ll be out in five. Try not to rile up too many rumours, would you?”
She swiftly disappeared into the back half of the pub, and Si chuckled. A cloud of annoyance followed her when she went, and I wondered for the one thousandth time what the hell we’d gotten ourselves into.
Not that it mattered.
It was too late to back out now.
“So,” Si said slowly, leaning on the bar in front of me. He motioned for me to come closer, and when I did, he whispered, “How many people realise this is all a load of bollocks, then?”
I opened my mouth to deny it, but quickly changed my mind and laughed, shaking my head. “Nowhere near as many as there should be.”
