Page 89 of All Wrapped Up
He took a minute to process that.
‘So, you’re saying that you honestly felt that there was nothing deeper to what happened than that?’
‘Nothing deeper at all,’ I insisted as I firmly pushed away the memory of our bodies pressed together and the feel of Ash’s warm hands on my back. ‘You know there wasn’t. It was just dancing.’
‘Just dancing…’
‘And I’m sorry,’ I added, with a small smile, as I tried to inject a little humour into the situation now it had finally been broached, ‘but I have to tell you, your moves aren’tthatgood. They didn’t even earn you a kiss in the end, did they?’
‘Only because my phone started to ring and cut the moment off,’ he said croakily. ‘It could have happened otherwise; you can’t deny that.’
‘Well,’ I said, unwilling to further consider the possibility, ‘we’ll never know now, will we? And besides, I’m grateful that we didn’t kiss because we’re friends, or supposed to be, not friends with benefits, and an adrenaline fuelled kiss could have really confused the situation and killed off our relationship.’
‘I see,’ he puffed, as he shoved his hat back on his head. ‘Well, I’m the one feeling mortified now.’
‘Why?’
‘Because you’ve clearly not given it another thought,’ he muttered. I wasn’t about to refute that, even though it wasn’t true and bent my desire for honesty right out of shape. ‘Not in the same way I have, anyway. And I’ve gone and made too much of it and ruined everything between us in the process, haven’t I?’
‘You haven’t ruined everything,’ I insisted, feeling relieved that we seemed to be getting back on track, ‘but you’ve definitely made too much of it. I barely gave the moment headspace once you’d left,’ I blagged, ‘but you’ve gone into hiding over something that didn’t even happen. You’ve been acting like a nine-year-old.’
‘Hey!’
‘Well, honestly,’ I couldn’t help but laugh at his put-out expression. ‘You have. You know you have.’
‘I suppose,’ he confessed begrudgingly. ‘But can we say it’s done with now we’ve finally talked about it?’
‘Yes.’
‘And you really mean it when you say that I haven’t ruined our relationship?’
‘I do. But—’
‘No but.’
‘But,’ I carried on, ‘should something like this come up again, not that we’re ever likely to almost kiss in the future, but if something occurs that you’re not sure about, please talk to me before you run off.’
‘Now, I really do feel nine and like I’ve had a telling off.’
‘Well, perhaps you deserve it.’
‘I know. I’m sorry,’ he apologised. ‘Truly sorry. Friends again?’
‘Definitely friends again.’
He held out his hand for me to take and seal our bond and I swear that when our fingers touched, there was more than one meteor that shot across the night sky. I had to fight the urge to snatch my singed fingers back from his grasp and I spent the rest of the evening in something of a daze.
Chapter 21
I had hoped my dazed demeanour had gone unnoticed but I knew it hadn’t, because Ash telephoned early the next morning to ask if I was feeling okay and it was more than disconcerting, the way my heart skittered when his name flashed up on my phone.
I strove to put my physical response, and my out of character reaction to his hand holding mine, down to feeling relieved that we had cleared the air and that I hadn’t lost the closest friend I had made in the Fens so far.
It was either that, or I’d caught the bug that seemed to be doing the rounds and it had muddled my head. Both were entirely feasible explanations as far as I was concerned and I clung to them to keep me afloat.
‘Hey, Clemmie,’ Ash said brightly when I answered his call and I could hear the smile in his tone. ‘How are you feeling this morning?’
‘I’m not sure.’ I frowned. ‘Why do you ask?’
