Page 81 of Cooking Up a Christmas Storm
‘So were you going to kiss me in the ballroom?’
Pavel kept his eyes on the road and tried not to grip the steering wheel so tight it came away in his hands. ‘What?’
‘Just that it seemed like we were going to kiss and then we didn’t and you ran away.’
‘I didn’t run away.’
‘OK. Then you walked very briskly away.’
Pavel couldn’t stop himself laughing at that.
‘So, did you?’
‘Did I run away?’
‘Did you want to kiss me?’
‘Maybe.’
‘Maybe?’
Maybe was pathetic. Maybe was dishonest. Maybe wasn’t recognising a spark when one was in front of him. ‘Yes.’
‘Yes?’
‘Yes. I wanted to kiss you.’
‘Why didn’t you?’
‘It’s complicated.’
‘Not usually. Birds do it. Bees do it. I’m pretty sure beefy handymen have done it before.’ She opened her mouth in mock horror. ‘You have done it before? I mean no judgement but…’
‘Yes. I have done it before.’
‘So why not with me?’
‘I was sort of with Jill. I mean, not with Jill. But also not not with Jill.’
‘And you didn’t want to mess her around?’
‘I didn’t want to mess either of you around.’ That was true. Not the whole truth but a genuine part of it at least.
‘And are you with Jill now?’
‘No.’
‘OK.’
He pulled the van in in front of the Lowbridge coach house, and turned his head towards her. This was it. They’d acknowledged the nearly kiss. They’d established that the barrier was out of the way. She leaned towards him. She was an inch away from him, and now half an inch. Her lips broke into a smile. ‘Well, that was a sad missed opportunity then, wasn’t it?’
She grinned as she hopped out of the van and waved as she walked away. What was that? Was that a brush-off or was that flirting? And how on earth was Pavel expected to know?
Why hadn’t she kissed him? She’d wanted to. She’d raised it. She hadn’t intended to when she’d got in the van. She’d intended to sit silently, or at most make polite chit-chat about the weather. She hadn’t intended to pick at a healing wound. But as soon as the question was in her head there was no version of Jodie who could have resisted asking it.
And now the moment in the ballroom was something real. They’d shone a light on it and there was no more pretending that nothing was going on. And yet, technically, nothing was going on. He’d definitely leaned in that time, and she’d pulled away. Why had she done that? Jodie wasn’t a backing-down-and-walking-away person. Maybe she really didn’t know who she was any more.
Bella was waiting for her in the kitchen. They started with an update on Lowbridge’s own plans – some positive, some not so good. Adam had opened up accommodation bookings for New Year on the estate website, apparently after a nudge from Pavel to up the price a notch. Jodie bit back her explanation for that. Three new groups had booked for the party. And one more had cancelled because they now had ‘other plans’. ‘I wish we knew for certain that they were going to McKenzie.’
