Page 34 of A Simple Mistake
“So, you didn’t enjoy the ball?Did anything happen?”
“It was okay,” Daniel said.“Jess looked amazing.”
Gareth’s eyes met Jack’s and found his own thoughts reflected there.Neither boy was hurt or in distress, so he continued asking.“Want to tell us about it?”
“Hang on.”Jack ducked out of the room and returned moments later with water, lemonade, and a bottle of wine on a tray.While Nico and Daniel reached for the water, Jack uncorked the wine and poured himself a glass.
Gareth was glad to see it.While a stressed-out Jack could be fun to level out, he hated seeing Jack anxious and worried.
“Right,” Jack said after he’d taken a sip.“Tell all.How did the girls look?Did they like their gifts?”
Tired nods answered both questions.
“They had a buffet with finger food,” Daniel volunteered after a while.“Mini sausage rolls, and tiny Yorkshire puddings, and such.”
“I thought there was going to be proper music, but they had a DJ,” Nico added.“A DJ who played waltz and tango.That was weird.”
“No weirder than Jess asking him to play the Charleston.”
“That was the dress.”
“Or that it’s the only dance she’s good at.”
Gareth chuckled.Daniel noticed the food, Nico paid attention to the music—and the day ended in y.“I thought the ball was running longer,” he said.
“We ducked out as soon as we could,” Nico said.“Manville didn’t stop moving all evening.Keeping eyes on him was tricky.And hanging out on the dance floor for hours on end was tiring.”
Gareth really,reallywanted to hit someone.Barrington Manville, preferably, for making the kids’ first ball an exercise in anxiety.Fortunately, he had a Jack, and Jack had it covered.
“Well, I hope you’ll enjoy tomorrow’s ridotto a little better.”
“Oh my god, is that tomorrow?”
“It is.And here’s something Skylar left with me before he buggered off to Japan.”Jack handed over two bags and leaned back in his chair.And as Nico and Daniel unwrapped the tissue paper from four stunning half masks, he smiled for the first time that night.
“These are amazing!”
“Jess will have a cow!”
Gareth hid his amusement when Nico and Daniel disappeared up the stairs with a perfunctory wave and comments about hanging up their suits.“The masks went down a treat.”
“Yeah.”Jack’s fingers flew over his phone.“I’m letting Payne know he scored a hit.”
“All the kudos,” Gareth agreed.“We should take photos for him tomorrow.”
“Oh, definitely.”
Gareth sipped his whisky.He watched as Jack’s tight muscles unwound a little more with each sip of wine and breathed out his own tension in a long rush of air.He’d never regretted rescuing two scared kids from a nightclub, nor had he regretted a day since.But some days were harder than others.
He started when Jack dropped into his lap without warning and wound his arms around his neck.Their kiss was a mix of berries and smoke.It held no urgency and only a hint of heat, was as comforting as it was familiar.
Gareth could have stayed like this for the rest of the night, content to have Jack close.
Jack had other ideas.Mischief sparkled in his eyes when he ended the kiss and touched their foreheads together.“Remember our discussion about dessert?”he said, voice low and a touch rough.“How about it?”
“I’m so glad I skipped lunch,” Jack said as he spread another scone with rose petal jam.Jam made from flowers had never come his way, but he knew two people who would relish a challenge if he but asked.Though they’d probably make him murder roses.
Jack sipped his coffee and let his gaze roam the ballroom.The mix of pillars, palm trees, and gold-accented walls could have come from a documentary about the Roaring Twenties, as could the elegant guests in half-masks dancing to the music played by a small orchestra.The four teenagers sported genuine smiles, and in his line of sight, Gareth waltzed with Jess’s mother as if this was the most natural way to spend a Sunday.Jack was in full agreement, even if he paid more attention to the tiered stands of slim-cut sandwiches, scones, pastries, and trays of handmade chocolates than the dancing.
