Page 62 of Best Man
ZEB
The knock on the door makes my stomach fill with butterflies but it doesn’t make me slow down in my rush to answer it. Just the knowledge that Jesse is on the other side makes my pace pick up.
I fling open the door and grin at him. “Somehow I thought that when I specified thirties dress you’d still come in thatSesame StreetT-shirt.”
He grins at me, his smile wide and white. “Sesame Streetwasn’t around in the thirties.” He pauses. “Or was it? You’d know, being a child of that era.”
He saunters past me, squawking when I grab and kiss him. He relaxes against me and for a few minutes I lose track of time. When I put him away from me, his eyes are heavy-lidded, and I can feel my lips tingling. “Hello,” I whisper.
He steps closer and hugs me. “Hello,” he says with a smile. It’s powerful at such close range, and I swallow hard before stepping back.
“You look great,” I say hoarsely. He’s wearing a white shirt with a dickie bow, grey flannel trousers, and braces. His hair is pulled back loosely in a high topknot.
He grins. “Do you like the shoes? Charlie and I found them in a vintage shop in Islington.”
I smile down at the two-tone brogues. “They’re fantastic.”
“Never mind me,” he says slowly. “Look at you.”
I shrug, feeling suddenly awkward. “You like?”
He nods, slowly walking round me, examining the pinstripe suit, white shirt, and black tie.
“You look gorgeous,” he says and unselfconsciously rearranges the bulge in his trousers. “Tell me you’ve got a hat.”
I grin and reach for the black fedora on the side table and put it on, tilting it at a rakish angle.
“If I hadn’t instituted a no-sex ban, I would so fuck you right at this moment,” he breathes.
I grin at him. Somehow it’s become second nature to smile at him. He brings them out of me like the sun brings out the daisies.
“I could always alter the stupid parameters,” he suggests. “Fit in a blowjob.”
“I am notfitting ina blowjob,” I say indignantly. “They should be slow.” I wink at him. “And savoured.” He swallows hard, staring at me as if hypnotised, and I laugh. “As much as I hate to say it, there’s no time for sex, Jesse Reed. We’ve got a secret date to go to.”
He grins at me and then cocks his head, listening to the music drifting through the flat on the speakers. “What’s this song you’re playing?”
“Tim Booth and Angelo Badalamenti. It’s called ‘Fall in Love with Me’.” I swallow hard, hearing the words fall into the air between us.
He listens for a few seconds. “I like it.”
“My life is complete.” I laugh and edge out of his way as he pinches me. “Okay, are we ready?” I pick up my phone. “I’ve given the secret code, and they’ve sent me a location.”
“Are you intending to sell me or my organs?” he asks, and I choke on my spit.
“Not really,” I say mock apologetically. “I don’t think I’d get much cash for you, and I’m pretty sure you should maybe look at paying money for other people’s organs given your drinking history.”
He laughs. “Okay, not that. How about a secret sex den?”
I make a buzzer noise. “It’s not very often you’re right, but you’re wrong again.” I hold out my hand. “Come on. I’ll tell you in the taxi. He’ll bugger off if we don’t go down soon.”
Once we’re in the taxi, I hold out my phone. “That’s where we’re going.”
He looks at the address. “That doesn’t tell me much.”
“Well, to be honest, you know as much as I do. I only get the address and a secret word to share to get in.”
“Is this like one of those films where foolish teenagers go somewhere to play a game and get picked off one by one? In which case I’m done for. I’m pretty, and I’ve had sex with you. I obviously therefore deserve to be struck through with a ship’s anchor.”
