Page 52 of Barging In
As the clapping subsided, Jasper emerged from the crowd holding two glasses of champagne. He handed one to her and air-kissed both cheeks.
“Happy first birthday to us.” He clinked his glass against hers, then stepped back. “Vic, you look stunning.” He turned to Clem. “As… do… you!”
The two exchanged a warm smile. Then, returning his attention to Victoria, Jasper took her free hand and gave it a playful tug, coaxing her into a twirl. She spun, half laughing, and caught the way Clem’s eyes followed her — a look that sent her stomach into a dizzying somersault. As she came to a stop, she looked Jasper over.
“You’re looking dapper as always. Is that another new waistcoat?”
With a dramatic flourish, Jasper slipped his suit jacket off one shoulder to reveal a crisp, white waistcoat. The back was in the style of a corset, with black satin ribbon laced through silver-rimmed eyelets.
“I brought it back from London — Liberty’s, in fact. It’s part of the new range I’m working on with them. The idea is to blend the elegance of corsetry into contemporary menswear.”
A gentle pressure on her elbow drew her attention. The clean scent of washing powder drifted beneath her nose. Clem leaned in, her breath grazing Victoria’s neck.
“I’ll leave you two to it,” she said with a nod towards the buffet table. “I’ve got my eye on those Victoria sponges. I think I’ll do a bit of quality control… see howmoistthey are.”
Victoria gave her a nod and a smile, appreciating that the woman was probably starving. As Clem walked away, she fanned herself with her hand. Was it hot in here, or was it just her?
Jasper sidled up beside Victoria as soon as Clem was out of earshot. “Where on earth is Drew?” he hissed. “I thought he was picking you up.”
“He got held up or something,” she said with a shrug. “I got a lift on Florence,” she added, her tone lighter, unable to stop the smile that was creeping in as she remembered the trip up the canal. It was far better than sitting in the frigid silence of a car shared with Drew.
Before Jasper could say anything, the chatter in the room fell sharply. All eyes turned to the café door. A tall man with a flawlessly classic side parting strode in, his brown hair perfectly in place. His tailored, navy blue, Savile Row suit shimmered, and his brown John Lobbshoes shone with a high polish. Victoria scowled. Of course, Drew had to make an entrance like that.
Without so much as a glance around the room for her, he moved through the crowd towards the bar, offering firm, two-handed handshakes that had always turned her stomach. Over-sincerity had always read as insincerity to her, especially when it came from her husband.
She turned to Jasper, noticing his full-body shudder as his gaze fixed on Drew. A flush of embarrassment crept up her neck.
“You’ve done a great job with the decorations and laying the food out,” she said to him, in need of a distraction. Her eyes scanned the room for Clem. She spotted her at the bar along with a new but familiar face. “I see you roped Max in to help on the bar,” Victoria added, nodding towards him. “He seems like a niceyoungman.”
“Would you like to emphasiseyoungany further?” Jasper intoned.
“What?”
“He’s not that much younger — and he’s very eager to please,” Jasper said, his grin unmistakably suggestive.
“I bet he is. But be gentle with him, Jasper.”
His eyes shimmered with mischief. “Oh, I intend to be.”
She rolled her eyes. Just then, Drew’s voice came low and steady behind her.
“Victoria, there you are. Happy birthday.”
“Thank you,” she said as she turned to her husband, resisting the urge to point out it was now almost the day after.
“We must mingle,” Drew said, taking a sip of champagne. “There are a lot of important people here.”
He gave a cursory nod in Jasper’s direction, then tookVictoria’s arm and began leading her away. She wanted to tell him,They’re not important to me.There were few who were. She glanced over her shoulder towards the bar and spotted Clem. Their eyes met, and something in Clem’s face shifted, pinching into tension. She looked away, leaving Victoria to wonder what was going through her mind.
As Drew introduced her to a couple nearby, Victoria kept one eye on Clem, who was now stepping behind the busy bar and slipping off her denim jacket. Did that woman ever stop working?
She had the sudden urge to pull her to her side, but mindful that Clem didn’t know many people, she resisted. She likely felt a little out of place, and knowing Clem, she probably wanted to help a friend. That seemed to be her way, Victoria thought with a smile.
“Are you sure you don’t mind helping? These people drink like fishes,” Max said, teasing the cork from a bottle of champagne. “I can’t keep up with filling the glasses. Emma has gone to wash some up in the kitchen.”
“Of course not. You’ve come to my rescue enough times. Plus, I don’t know anyone here, and Victoria’s tied up with… I assume her husband.”
She nodded in their direction as she covered a yawn.
