Page 19 of Strawberry Kisses

At least the coffee gave it a bit of balance.

We headed back to the car, and Connor bounced ahead, clutching the bag of sweets he’d bought from WHSmith. I chuckled and shook my head as I realised I was going to be in the car for another two hours with a highly caffeinated and over-sugared Connor. I wondered how long it would be before he started asking me questions. Inappropriate or otherwise. Although after he’d dropped the “top or bottom” question on me, I didn’t think it would be possible to surprise me anymore. I’d been absolutely mortified at the time, but at least Connor hadn’t laughed at me, which was the reaction I’d almost expected when I’d admitted I was still a virgin at almost thirty.

“Hey, can I ask you a question?” Connor asked as I pulled the car back onto the motorway, attempting not to get squashed by several lorries.

I smiled. He hadn’t even lasted five minutes. “Er, sure.”

“Do you think your family will mind that I wear make-up?” There was a slight catch at the end of his voice, and when I glanced over at him, it wasn’t hard to spot the worry behind his eyes. I thought for a second. I didn’t just want to blithely tell him it would all be fine when it might not be, but on the other hand, I was genuinely struggling to think of who might cause problems.

“I don’t think so. I mean, Mum, Da, and the girls won’t mind, and they all know already.”

“Oh?”

“Well, I mean, um, I’m guessing they do anyway. There’s a lot of photos of us together on Facebook and Instagram.” I felt my face heating and quickly ploughed on before Connor could start poking at why my face was pink. “So I doubt they’ll say anything except how pretty you look. Most of my sisters have kids, and the oldest is in his twenties, so I don’t think any of them will mind. Maybe a couple of the younger ones might ask about it, but I think that’ll just be curiosity more than anything.”

“That’s okay. I can handle kids.”

“And as for the older lot? I don’t know. I mean, some of my uncles might.” I sighed. The last thing I wanted was to make Connor feel uncomfortable. I should have thought of this earlier, but I didn’t want Connor to even consider changing who he was or how he dressed just because one of my uncles might be a twat about it. “I’m sorry. I should have thought of this, but honestly, if they say anything, I’ll just tell them to fuck off.”

“You, Patrick Evans, the sweetest and nicest man in the universe, would tell someone to fuck off?”

“For you I would. Yes. Fuck ’em. I’m not having some old gasbag making you feel inferior. And if that fails, I’ll set my mum on them.” I grinned. “Everyone’s a little bit scared of her.”

“Really?”

“Yep. When I was growing up and Da was training racehorses with my uncle, all the stable lads and jockeys were terrified of my mum. Don’t get me wrong, she’s not mean or anything, and she’d have done anything for them, but heaven forbid they put a toe out of line. My mum is like a hippie with a steel core.”

“I’ll have to remember that,” Connor said, and out of the corner of my eye I saw him smile. Some of the worry in my chest eased. “She sounds like an interesting woman.”

“Something like that. But seriously, Connor, wear your make-up. You always look amazing, and I don’t want anyone to take that away from you.”

“Thanks, babe. I have no plans to look anything less than absolutely fucking fabulous, and if I get any looks, then I shall just put on brighter lipstick and more glitter.”

“I wouldn’t expect anything less.”

“And don’t worry,” he said, his tone turning teasing, “I brought my best liquid lips with me. The ones that don’t leave a mark or transfer when you kiss someone. Although… I bet you’d look super cute with lipstick kisses all over you. And that would definitely do something to silence the haters.”

Connor giggled, and I tried not to think about how much I wanted to see his lipstick kisses all down my chest.

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