Page 45 of Teacakes & Tangos
Minnie had told me she was a WI member. Maybe I could ask Mavis if she knew where Minnie lived so I could return her cash? Mavis seemed to know everything about everybody, so she was sure to know...
‘What are you smiling at?’ Xander asked, his arms still loosely around me.
‘Oh, nothing,’ I murmured, knowing what Xander thought about me returning the money. He thought I should accept Minnie’s kind offer of help. ‘So... does that kiss mean we’re an item?’
‘An item?’ He grinned. ‘You make us sound like we’re a parcel the Royal Mail were unable to deliver.’
I chuckled. ‘Funny.’
‘No, but seriously, I’d very much like it if we were... an item. I’ve been wanting to kiss you properly for a while now.’
‘Have you?’ Feeling suddenly shy, I gazed up into his handsome, smiling face.
‘I have. And I’d kiss you again if that nosy woman wasn’t twitching her net curtains over there.’ He nodded in the direction of number eight.
‘Mavis is a pain in the proverbial. She’s probably got her binoculars out by now.’
His eyes twinkled with mischief. ‘In that case, I say we give her something even more juicy to gossip about.’ And with that, he pulled me against him, grabbing my bum and pretending to be gnawing on my neck. As I shrieked with laughter, we lost our balance and tumbled against the slightly open door, all of which resulted in us landing in a tangle of arms and legs on the floor of the hallway.
We lay there laughing for a moment.
Then Xander got up and reached for my hand to haul me to my feet. This turned out to be not quite the simple job it should have been, mainly because I was still feeling quite weak with laughing so much.
‘Sorry,’ I gasped, leaning my head against his shoulder. ‘I think I’m a bit hyper.’
He smiled. ‘It’ll be relief because of your dad.’
I nodded. ‘I still can’t believe he’s woken up from the coma. I feel like I’m dreaming after all the worry of the past few weeks.’
‘You should sleep well tonight.’
‘You think? I might just be counting down the hours until I can get back to the hospital again.’
‘Maybe.’
‘And by the way, my happy mood isn’t just because of Dad.’ I reached up and kissed him on the mouth. ‘You have a lot to do with it as well.’
He smiled. ‘Good. How about we plan a proper date?’
‘A proper date? That sounds nice. Are you going to wine and dine me?’
‘Maybe.’
‘Actually, no, you’ve been far too generous already, paying for the ballet and everything and driving me everywhere. It’s time I treated you.’
‘You can’t afford it.’
‘I can! I’ve got a job now, remember?’
‘Yes, but you won’t get paid for a while.’ He leaned down and kissed me softly and lingeringly on the lips. ‘So in the meantime, let me treat you. You can return the favour later, okay?’
‘Okay.’ I smiled reluctantly.
He frowned at something over my shoulder. ‘What’s that?’
I looked round and it was the plant I’d bought for him, which I’d dumped on the hall table after I’d decided it wasn’t a good enough gift.
I grinned. ‘I bought it for you, actually, as a little thank you for the ballet. But then I decided I couldn’t possibly give it to you because its leaves were already going brown.’
