Page 37 of It's Now or Never

‘Basically…’ His lip curled apologetically. ‘Well, she made a pass at me. And I knocked her back. That was all. But I wonder if she’s never really forgiven me.’

‘Noooo!’ I jumped back on the sofa looking at him accusingly. ‘I don’t believe it. She would have told me.’

He shrugged, his eyebrows lifting.

‘Right, well you must believe what you like.’ He gave me the benefit of his intense, soul searching gaze that cut through to the depths of my stomach. It made my insides swirl, and if I’d had any doubt that Alex was lying to me, that look told me he was telling the absolute truth.

‘No, I didn’t mean that,’ I said, trying to regain some ground, desperate to know more. ‘I’m just surprised, that’s all.’

‘Well, I don’t think there was anything serious to it. She was probably trying to get back at Tom for all the times he’d messed her around. And I think drink could have been involved too, but that’s beside the point. I would never get involved with a friend’s girlfriend or ex. Some things you just don’t do. Besides, Angie really isn’t my type. Despite what you may think, Jen, I do have some morals.’

‘Of course, I just…’ This snippet of juicy gossip had completely pole-axed me. Had Angie really been looking out for me? Was she concerned about my well-being and the state ofmy fragile heart, as she’d insisted, or was it just that she didn’t want me to have something she couldn’t have for herself: Alex.

‘Look…’ He reached out for my hand, interlocking his fingers through mine. There was a faint smile on his lips and a look of barely concealed desire in his eyes. With his other hand, he stroked his thumb down my cheekbone and traced a trail along the length of my jaw causing butterflies to stir in my stomach. ‘Why are we spending so much time talking about Angie and Tom? And dating other people? All I know is that I really like you and there’s no other person in the world I would want to have here with me right now than you.’

I repeated his words in my head, savouring their ripe deliciousness. Was it a line he used on other women? Did it work for him all the time? Quite honestly, I didn’t care if he meant it or not. In that moment, I knew I felt exactly the same way too.

He gave me a feather-light kiss on the lips, my body immediately responding to the promise and invitation in it. Our eyes locked together, appraising each other as though it was the first time we’d set eyes on one another. His hands ran through my hair, the tips of his fingers massaging my skull, guiding my head towards his mouth, the intent in the air heavy now with desire. His tongue prised open my lips and he kissed me again, gently at first, his mouth teasing and taunting mine, sending me into a heady spiral of abandon, until our lips were pressed firmly together, our kissing even more urgent now.

Alex pulled away from me, his face flushed, a look of concern on his features.

‘Listen, Jen, I’m going to be honest with you here.’

‘Uh-huh.’

He held me at arms’ length, but with one hand traced a finger from the top of my head down the side of my face, across myneckline and along the curve of my body. I squirmed as my whole being responded to the lightness of his touch.

‘I want to take you to bed right now and get you out of those clothes.’

‘O-kay.’

‘I want to lay you down on my bed and kiss your entire body from top to toe and then back again and when I’m finished with doing that, which would obviously be a long and labour intensive procedure, I would like to make love to you through the night.’

‘I see.’ I blinked a couple of times to deflect the intensity of his gaze.

‘Now, I know we’ve been here before and, I don’t know about you, Jen, but the memories of that night we spent together are still imprinted vividly in my memory. I want to revisit that place right here and now. How would you feel about that?’

I breathed a reply, but no sound came from my mouth.

‘The thing is I want to make sure you want the same thing too.’

I nodded.

‘Because I know you mentioned to me before that you weren’t happy with the one-night stand aspect of that evening and how you don’t do casual relationships so I want to make sure, if we are going to do this, that you are one hundred per cent happy with the arrangement. Not that it would qualify in any regard as a one-night stand now. And as for a casual relationship, well, I think I would have to put that decision fairly squarely into your hands now.’

‘Yes,’ I whispered, uncertain if there was even a question waiting to be answered but knowing that there was only one possible answer. ‘Alex?’

‘Yes.’

‘Would you take me to bed now please?’

18

‘So, we’ve got a Victoria sponge, some rock cakes and a lemon drizzle tray bake. Where would you like to start, love?’ Gramps handed me a cup of tea rattling around in a saucer from the posh Wedgwood tea set which had been a wedding gift to him and Nan. It rarely got an outing these days, but Nan always used to bring it out for high days and holidays, including family birthdays when she would bake one of her special chocolate sponges oozing with buttercream filling.

I took a rock cake and popped it on a pretty floral plate. I was still a bit bemused as to what I was doing here. I’d been summoned for afternoon tea which was lovely but so totally out of the ordinary as to be slightly worrying. Gramps and I didn’t do arranged meetings or at least we hadn’t done before Marcia arrived on the scene. I generally popped in to see him on a daily basis and, if for some reason I didn’t, he’d be on the phone to me checking I was okay. So when Gramps invited me for afternoon tea saying it would be a good opportunity to catch up I knew something must be afoot.

‘This all looks wonderful,’ I said, taking a delicious mouthful of cake. ‘Is this your handiwork then, Gramps?’

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