Page 80 of Wedding Crasher

She glanced up at Gabe again through her lashes.

‘I don’t know what to say. This is …’ She touched the basket and shaded her eyes with her hand. ‘I love it. Thank you. You didn’t make all this stuff yourself, did you?’

He nodded just for a second, and then cracked into laughter. ‘Did you really think I might have?’

She shrugged. ‘I honestly never know what to expect with you.’

Gabe grinned, glad that at least she didn’t find him dull. ‘Okay, well, it was my idea, but someone much cleverer put it together for me after I bumped into your mum yesterday.’

‘Yesterday? Someone made this overnight?’

He nodded, and she mulled over his reply for a couple of seconds.

‘What if I’d refused to let you in?’

‘Then I’d have had one hell of an interesting dinner.’

She laughed. Gabe had a way of making everything sound so uncomplicated, and right now, uncomplicated was good. She drained the last of her champagne and her stomach growled in noisy protest at the lack of food and overload of fizz.

She scooted back on the blanket and pulled the basket with her. ‘I’m starving. Let’s eat.’

‘You’re sure? You don’t need to rush out? Only, earlier you said …’ He trailed off with a knowing gleam in his eye.

She leaned back on her hands with her chin jutting out and eyed him beadily.

‘If you’ve spoken to my mother, then you know perfectly well that I don’t have plans.’

He shrugged noncommittally. ‘She might have said something along those lines, yeah.’

He was practically laughing, but she could hardly blame him.

‘Right. So now that’s sorted, get down here and eat.’

He emptied the last of the champagne into their glasses with a mock salute, then joined her as she unpacked the basket on the stars and stripes. She stole a glance at him, long legs stretched out, his face tipped up to bask in the warmth of the sun. Thoughts of Helios, the hot and handsome sun god ran through her mind, and heat gathered between her thighs that had nothing at all to do with the afternoon sun that shimmered above them.

A couple of minutes later Gabe slid the pale blue china plates and cutlery from their straps inside the wicker lid, and Marla spooned generous servings of chicken salad onto them.

He tweaked the little flag on the container.

‘Tell me then. What’s ranch dressing?’

‘Heavenly. Kind of like garlic mayo, but better. Try it, you’ll see.’

Marla ate her first mouthful with closed eyes, an involuntary smile on her face as the familiar flavours reacquainted themselves with her taste buds. She was transported straight back to Saturday afternoon BBQs in the back yard – or in her friends’ yards, as was most often the case. Her own folks didn’t really go in for family dinners back then. They were never really inclined to spend their spare time together. Gabe handed her the open rib carton and licked sticky sauce from the end of his fingers.

‘These are seriously good.’

Marla could feel the food soaking up the alcohol in her belly, rescuing her from the brink of being far too tipsy for Gabe’s company.

‘Why were you so intent on spending your birthday alone?’ he asked.

Marla placed her rib bone down on her plate and looked at him levelly. ‘I like to be alone sometimes.’

‘I get that. But on your birthday?’

She sighed and reached for her glass. ‘It’s no big mystery, Gabe … it’s been a tiring few weeks, that’s all. Mom going to London, this was too good an opportunity to pass up.’

He nodded and seemed to accept her explanation. ‘Your mum’s pretty full on.’

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