Page 101 of The Twelve Dates of Christmas
Richard texted to confirm their meeting place and Kate began the process of layering the pieces of herself together. The hill down to Great Blexley had been cleared, but Kate decided to leave the Mini where it was; she didn’t want to risk getting it stuck again this close to the holidays. It was a long walk but she decided she needed it. She needed to stretch out and she needed to clear her mind, and a long cold walk was just the thing to do it.
The pub was like walking into a wall of noise when Kate pushed the door open, red-cheeked and exhilarated by the cold. She looked aroundand recognized plenty of faces from previous activities; clearly lots of people had decided to stop in for some liquid courage before the date started. She hoped her date for tonight wasn’t one of them; she wouldn’t like to be spotted having a cozy tête-à-tête with someone else. It didn’t seem very sporting.
Richard must have seen her through the crowd because after a moment he appeared in front of her. He bent and kissed her hello, a slow tender kiss that Kate found herself leaning into with more enthusiasm than she’d have thought possible this morning.
Richard was attentive and tactile and Kate was surprised by how receptive she was to his advances. And the way he gently rubbed his hand up and down her back as they sat side by side on the corner sofa was not at all unwelcome. Perhaps Richard was just the man to distract her.
“I wish we could just blow this escape room thing off and get merrily and deliciously drunk together,” Richard said quietly into her ear.
He ran his finger along Kate’s jawbone and Kate found herself moved to kiss him, tentatively at first and then with a hunger that she could barely contain. Richard broke away first.
“Wow,” he said. “Well, that’s me done in for the evening. I won’t be able to concentrate on escaping anything now.”
Kate laughed.
“It’s all part of my master plan,” she said. “Disabling the other team so that my team wins.” She grinned.
“I had no idea you were so competitive,” said Richard.
“You don’t know the half of it,” said Kate.
All too soon it was time for them to move next door to the escape rooms.
“So who is your date tonight?” asked Kate.
“Her name is Echo,” said Richard. “She’s a dance teacher.”
“Echo,” said Kate. “What a fantastic name.”
“I prefer the name Kate,” said Richard. And Kate felt warmth returning to her cold bones.
•••••
The escape rooms were housed in an old music hall that had been saved from demolition; the quirky floorplans were just what the company required to create a maze of rooms. Moulin Rouge–style bars dotted each floor, low-lit with voluptuous trappings, tassels, and silk and crimson draperies.
The reception hall boasted a stage framed with red velvet swags. The Lightning Strikes reps stood—looking uncomfortable in the glare of the spotlights—on the stage with their clipboards.
The hopeful daters formed two orderly queues beside the staircases at either end and took turns mounting the stage to be given their team name. Richard discreetly took Kate’s hand and squeezed it before letting it drop so that they could ease into the crowd separately to be partnered up.
Kate checked her phone for the picture of Edward. He had a tall wiry frame, an amiable smile that showed laugh lines around his eyes, and a shaved head, the shadow of which insinuated light brown hair. The spotlights were hot and when it was Kate’s turn to take to the stage, she realized the reps were glistening with sweat.
Kate’s team was called the Snow Leopards and when she found Edward, he was already with the other members. Mandy and Todd had taken an instant shine to each other; they grinned maniacally at each other and everyone else in the room.
Mandy explained—while Todd held both of her hands and gazed at her dreamily as if every word that fell from her lips were the greatest thing he’d ever heard—that they had seen each other on the first dateand felt an instant connection. From then on, they had been on all the same dates but had never been paired with each other until tonight. The reps hadn’t been able to divulge their personal information, and both Mandy and Todd had been too shy to approach each other personally.
“We just kept locking eyes across the room,” said Mandy, looking at Todd.
“It was like we were drawn to one another,” said Todd, looking at Mandy.
“Like star-crossed lovers!” Mandy said.
And with that they began kissing in a way that didn’t seem appropriate outside the bedroom.
“Blimey,” said Kate to Edward. “Looks like escaping these rooms is going to be down to us.”
Edward looked embarrassed and alarmed, and he smiled nervously at Kate as if she might actually be a snow leopard and was planning to devour him.Crikey!Kate thought.I must be unwittingly giving off terrifying sex vibes tonight.
Entry into the escape rooms was staggered. Kate’s team was due to start in forty-five minutes, so they took themselves off to one of the bars.
