Page 32 of The Night Before Christmas
‘Thanks for a lovely night, Mr Penguin Man. I absolutely loved that restaurant. What an incredible place. I can’t believeyou went to all that trouble. And you really didn’t need to pay but… but I really appreciate it. Best non-date ever.’
‘No problem.’
‘I just hope I didn’t ruin it.’
James pulled into the parking spot opposite her block and switched off the engine. They both stared straight ahead for a moment into the darkness of the night, which was lit only by an insipid orange street lamp, and then turned to look at each other at the same time and giggled.
He turned away again and spoke to the windscreen in front of him. ‘You didn’t ruin anything. I’m honoured you told me. I’m just a bit more cautious around women these days and, well, you know the reason why.’
She studied the side of his lovely face.
‘I do,’ she said, solemnly.
‘And… date or not,’ he continued, turning to look at her with such intensity this time that Felicity drew in a breath, ‘it’s complicated. For both of us. Like I said before, whatever it is that’s still between the two of you, whatever’s between you and this Adam guy, sort it out, okay? Just talk to him, spend some time with him, do whatever you need to do to work out if it’s really over.’
She opened her mouth to object and then shut it again.
‘No, don’t argue with me. I know it’s not your fault, I’m guessing he’s the one who is wanting to be back in your life, not the other way round, but you owe it to yourself to find out for sure. Trust me, you’ll regret it if you don’t.’
She looked at him, his blue-grey eyes half hidden in the shadows cast by the street lights outside, his lovely brow furrowed as he stared at her, his Brad Pitt lips.What did he mean?She knew it probably wasn’t the right moment and they were both so full of pastry… but despite what they hadjustbeen talking about, she found she was longing for him to kiss her.
He seemed to want it too. He was looking intently at her lips. In fact, he was leaning in.This is happening, thought Felicity, as he moved towards her, the air crackling between them and then, at virtually the last moment, he seemed to change his mind. He brushed her cheek softly with his lips, she got a waft of his aftershave, and her stomach did another little flip. He stayed close for a moment or two longer, his face right near hers, and then he seemed to collect himself and moved away and that was the end of the non-date or whatever it was. Felicity took a deep breath, her heart pounding.
‘As far as I’m concerned, it’s long over,’ she said quietly, hating herself for even articulating this. ‘But you’re right when you say that I probably need to make sure Adam knows that…’
Her voice tailed off. He nodded curtly in agreement, or thanks, it was hard to tell, and she opened the car door and told herself to leave even though her body didn’t seem to want to. Eventually she sighed and forced herself to clamber out in what she hoped was not a completely ungraceful manner. As she wobbled her way across the car park in her moderately high heels, she could feel his eyes on her. Burning into her.
Be sexy.
Wiggle your hips or something.
Don’t look back.
And whatever you do, Felicity, don’t fall over.
But even as that last thought popped into her head, the worst happened.
One minute she was upright and wiggling for all she was worth, the next she had a face full of grass.
Well, that’s that then.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Felicity lay there for a second.Or was it an hour? It felt like an hour.
She was praying fervently that maybe James had already driven off before it happened or,please, God,she’d fallen so far that she’d managed to end up in Australia where he couldn’t see her. But no. No, he was there, of course. He was still there and had seen the whole bloody thing and now he was getting out of his car and running over to her, and Felicity just wanted to die of shame. Her elbow and knee were on fire, but she hastily pulled herself up into a sitting position before he had to help her up like an old lady.
‘What are the chances that you didn’t just see that?’ she said, spitting out mud and grass as he approached.
James was standing over her now. He wasn’t laughing his head off, at least. ‘Um. Sure, okay. Yeah, I didn’t see anything.’
‘Liar.’
‘Are you okay?’
‘What, apart from the fact that I can never look at you again?’
James laughed then, but gently. ‘Yes, apart from that.’ He sat down beside her on the grass. ‘Are you hurt?’ he said, after a moment.
