Page 9 of Christmas Ever After
The scent of his aftershave, dark peppermint and clove with a hint of orange, fills my senses, and the strength of his body surrounds me. I focus on the softness of his hoodie under my fingertips and absolutelynoton the solid feel of the muscles underneath it as his arm slides under my knees and the other goes around my back, and he lifts me easily to my feet. I appreciate the way he tries to keep his grunting to a minimum. I know I’ve put on weight since I left the ballet but it’s nice not to be made to feel like it for once. And I ignore the little frizzle that goes up my spine as he sets me back right and his hands hover to make sure I’ve got my balance. That was both hot and surprising – because I never imagined Raphael Dardenne could be so gentlemanly, and so attractive while doing it.
I dust myself down one-handed and try to ignore the embarrassment as the shame of needing help creeps back in. It’s so humiliating to be caught in such a vulnerable position byhimand to be… so grateful that he came along when he did. ‘Thank you.’
‘You’re welcome. See how easy it is to be civil to each other if we both try really hard?’
I square my shoulders and walk back behind the counter like he hasn’t just rescued me from almost certain death. ‘Now, what did you say about regularly scheduled loathing?’
‘Ah, yes, right. I came to apologise. I actually thought…’ He spreads his hands open on the counter. ‘I thought maybe we could start over. Hi, I’m Raff.’
‘I know who you are. We’re bitter rivals,’ I say, wondering where he’s going with this. If there’s one person on Christmas Ever After who needsnointroduction, it’s Raphael Dardenne.
‘I know, but we’ve never been properly introduced, have we?’ He looks at his hands and then at mine, calculating which is the right one to hold out so he can shake my left hand.
I humour him, both amused and curious about this new approach, trying to ignore the warm feeling as his fingers close carefully around mine.
‘And you’re Franca, right?’
‘You know who I am, Raphael.’
‘Raff, please.’
‘First name Riff?’ I ask sweetly as I pull my hand out of his. I don’t know what game he’s trying to play here, but he’s not going to get anywhere with me.
‘How clever you are to come up with such an original, hilarious, and entertaining quip. I’veneverheard that one before. Oh, quick, do lend me a pen so I can write that down, I wouldn’t want to forget it.’
I give him a scornful look. ‘If you’ve heard it before, it suggests thatmanyother people have had the same thought.’
‘If I had a quid for every time I’ve heard it, I’d be retired and living on my own private island by now. Whydon’tpeople give you money in return for making you listen to tired old jokes that are nowhere near as funny as they think they are?’
He might have been kind to me so far today, but my patience is wearing thin with his sarcasm. ‘What are you trying to achieve by coming here, Raphael?’
‘The coolest Ninja Turtle to be named after, I’m sure you’ll agree?’
I don’t intend to laugh, but it makes me let out a snort. ‘I think hemayhave been something else before being immortalised as a Ninja Turtle…’
‘One of the archangels, a renaissance painter, a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, and now, a snow globe maker from Herefordshire. A decent legacy, I’m sure you’ll agree. But please call me Raff. Raphael always sounds so formal and I’m not a very formal kind of person.’
‘So I see,’ I mutter, letting my eyes run over him, even though there’s something kind of charming about his unkempt hair and unassuming jeans, T-shirt, and hoodie combo.
He’s got long-ish and floppy brown hair in a grown-out style that wouldn’t be out of place on a nineties boyband member, dark eyes that are almost the exact same colour as his hair, and a straight, sharp nose that makes him look elegant and suave. ‘Why are you here, Raff?’
‘Apart from to save fair maidens in distress from being savaged by itty-bitty mice?’
I narrow my eyes at him.
‘Believe it or not, I came to apologise. I’m sorry about yesterday, Franca.’ At least he has the decency to look genuinely remorseful. ‘I didn’t mean for you to get hurt and I didn’t mean to run off. I didn’t realise how bad things were at the time, and you were surrounded by everyone else. I didn’t think you’d want another person fussing over you. I thought it was better to get out of there. I’m sorry. I feel horrible.’
‘Not as bad as I feel.’ I wave my splint in front of him again, more carefully this time, and the movement still makes mewince. ‘There you go, you’ve done what you came to do. Off you go.’
He looks taken aback by my sharpness, but I don’t know what else he expected. It’s nice that he hasn’t made fun of me. He could have ridiculed me when he found me in that state. After yesterday, I can only imagine what Jorge would have done, hadhewalked in at that moment. Raff has been thoroughly decent about it all, but under normal circumstances, I’d have thrown him out long ago. No matter how much his kindness has caught me off guard, he is still a Dardenne, and I can’t forget that.
‘Can I ask you something?’ he says instead of leaving. His hands are still on the counter, and his thumbnail scratches at another nail like he doesn’t know where to put them. ‘Why do you have such a problem with me?’
‘Because you’re…’ I flounder for an answer. I was unprepared for such a direct question and don’t want to get into my whole family history with him, and it doesn’t seem like the right moment to repeat any of the accusations I’ve thrown around at previous council meetings. ‘…bollocks.’
His laugh says he clearly wasn’t expectingthatanswer. ‘BecauseI’mbollocks or because ofmybollocks? Because I don’t think my bollocks have ever caused you any trouble, but feel free to correct me if I’m wrong.’
My face flares red yet again. Thinking about Raff’s bollocks in this much detail was really not on my to-do list for today. ‘Well, why do you have such a problem with me?’
