Page 34 of The Night Before Christmas
Felicity laughed and hit him on the arm lightly.
‘It felt like you meant to do it,’ she said, after a moment.
‘Okay, fine, I meant to do it, I meant every second of it… but I didn’t mean to make things even more complicated.’
‘I think it was already pretty complicated.’
‘It was, you’re right. It is. And I don’t just mean with you and your hundreds of exes turning up out of the blue.’
Her heart gave a lurch. ‘What does that mean, exactly? And it was just the one ex, may I remind you?’
‘Ha ha, you say that, but I bet you’ve got hundreds out there, all lurking, waiting for exactly the right moment to turn up out of the blue and beg you to take them back.’
‘Hardly. Trust me. And you’re avoiding my question.’
James dropped his eyes and kicked at the ground with one foot. ‘Am I? I suppose I am. I’ll explain another time, don’t want to ruin the moment and all that.’
What does that mean?
‘Please just tell me.’
‘Don’t worry. It’s nothing.’ He put his hands on her shoulders and lifted his eyes to look her square in the face. ‘Felicity Brooks, thank you, it’s been a lovely night.’
‘It really has.’
They stared at each other and, God, she wanted him to kiss her again. More than that. She never wanted to be without him again. Wanted to run off to the Bahamas with him and live in a wooden hut by the sea.
It was so tempting to invite him upstairs.
She nearly did. So nearly. The words were right there.
But, deep down, she knew he was right, that kiss hadn’t changed the fact that she needed to get her head straight. Oh, how badly she needed that. And now she had some serious alarm bells.What had he meant by ‘even more complicated’?
Besides, she needed a plaster and a bath. She was absolutely jam-packed full of Trinity cream and vegetable pie and onion soup and although it had been a fantastic meal, it perhaps wasn’t the sexiest preparation for a night of passion.
Mental note:Next time you go out for a non-date with Penguin Man… eat fewer carbs. Oh, and try not to fall over and make a complete tit of yourself.
She gave him one last lingering look, and then with great reluctance she turned and hobbled her painful way across the grass towards her building.
At least it hasn’t completely put him off. He’s still watching me walk away.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
The next day was Saturday.It was just Felicity and Andrea at the shelter and Felicity was very grateful for the quiet and the space and the lack of men hanging about the place with their manliness and their delicious smell and their general ability to mess with her head. It was almost boring, in fact. How things had changed! Just a few weeks ago she was seriously contemplating crazy cat lady spinsterhood and wondering if she should purchase a footbath and day robe but now… now what? A world of possibilities.
The memory of The Kiss danced in her head all morning as she – somewhat gingerly – went about the familiar routine with the animals and fussed over the new arrivals, and every so often her phone buzzed in her pocket with another message from Bex or Sophie trying to get some – any – juicy details. So far, she hadn’t replied, but she was enjoying mentally writing replies in her head as she cleaned out the cat cages. Never mind the awkward conversation about Adam, never mind the fact she’d gone arse over tit in front of James just when she was trying to be sexy; never mind that he clearly had his own complications going on; still, that kiss had to be a good sign, surely?On somelevel, he must… want me, she thought, and even just thinking those words made her tingle all over.
Every few minutes though, memories of the falling over situation would pop into her head unbidden, and – bingo – she was back to total mortification. Or her grazed knee would throb in an accusatory fashion, and after a few moments of shame she would have to remind it firmly that hehad still kissed her.
As she moved gingerly around the cat nursery after coffee break, there was a chirrup from the table behind her. She looked around and to her surprise it was Mummy Gennaro who was giving her a little cat-greeting and rubbing along the side of the cage, demanding attention. Felicity was touched. That was the first time Gennie had ever made a noise of greeting that she was aware of, she had generally been very quiet since she arrived, other than that horrendous howling when they first caught her, of course. She gave her a little tickle through the bars and Gennie chirruped again and started purring at her touch. She couldn’t resist glancing over at Holly curled up in their basket and her heart constricted. Just a ball of fluff. So tiny still. She was getting stronger by the day, but Felicity knew it would be a long time before they could be sure she was well enough to rehome.
‘You two,’ she whispered, shaking her head fondly. ‘You were the ones who started it all, you know that?’
‘Started what?’ said Andrea, coming abruptly into the room with a mop and bucket for the floors.
Felicity blushed. ‘Started, well, making me feel better,’ she said hastily. Andrea’s eyes narrowed slightly but she didn’t question this response.
‘You have been more cheerful lately,’ she observed in her brisk way. ‘I’m glad.’
