Page 64 of Knots About You
Eilidh set a saucer by my elbow a shade too firmly. ‘You all right, sweetheart?’
‘I will be.’ I leant into Owen’s touch.
‘Back in a tick,’ he told me, his lips near my ear. ‘Text if you want me back in thirty seconds. Or less.’
He followed Isla outside. He laughed at something she said, the sound threading through the window.
Marty and Becky angled themselves to block the most convenient path to the door. Like it was some game to them both.
Scruff lifted his head onto my knee, and I scratched his ear.
‘Let them at each other,’ Eilidh said under her breath, sitting across from me. ‘We know who’s a bad egg around here.’
She reached over and squeezed my hand, and it felt a little like having an army of my own on my side, for the first time ever.
twenty-five
OWEN
Eilidh’s kitchensmelled like coffee, butter, and the lemon peels I’d curled into perfect twists. I mixed Claire and my chosen cocktails, giving them a test run on the book club.
‘If you don’t pick up the pace, the ladies will be too tipsy on wine to give you any useful feedback on your cocktails.’ Eilidh leant around the door frame, looking rather tipsy herself.
‘What happened to discussing the books?’ I said, dropping a zesty strip into the ginger syrup and whisky mix.
‘Well… this week’s one was dull as dishwater, so we’ve moved into the booze and cake section rather swiftly.’
Eilidh swished back to the group, who filled the sofas by the floor-to-ceiling shelves. I had the perfect view of Claire. Tight jeans, a slouchy jumper, hair tied in a loose bun at the nape of her neck, wild sections misbehaving and framing her face. She’d tucked herself next to Lola and Emma, Scruff snoozing on her lap like a tawny cushion. Her shoulders were loose, and her laughter came easily, bliss filling her perfect face. Seeing hersurrounded by the people I’d known and adored for so long, with them accepting her like one of their own, had my chest vibrating like Meowrse’s most throaty purr.
‘You’re staring,’ Eilidh muttered, bumping my hip as she popped back into the kitchen for a washcloth to fight a wine spill.
‘I can’t help it,’ I said. ‘She’s something else.’
Eilidh’s eyes softened. ‘She sure is. Don’t let her leave.’
‘I’m doing my best to convince her to stay.’
‘Seriously, tie her to your bed if you have to.’ Eilidh gave me a look that had my ears burning. ‘Relax, Becky came in bragging once about what you were into. She soon shut up when I told her I wasn’t a stranger to handcuffs. And not in the arresting manner. Lighten up, Owen. Half the country are kinky fuckers.’
‘I—’
I’d been dragging around my sexual proclivities like a ball and chain, and people… didn’t care?
‘Now, chop chop with those drinks. The women are definitely ready for a flash of those knees.’ She swished my kilt with one hand and winked.
Well.Shit. She’d known all this time and never once treated me any differently.
I brought out the first tray of drinks to a rapturous applause. Lemon, honey, and ginger swirled through the air, while eyes snagged on my kilted legs.
Claire bit her lip as I passed her a glass, suddenly looking shy amongst the group.
God help me, I wanted her to choose this.Choose me. Choose my daft cat and Isla’s lists and dust old bottles of whisky. To choose a life filled with sea-salted air and kisses that made her whimper.
‘Ladies,’ I said, and the giggles and cackles that filled the air slightly terrified me.
‘Thank God, the totty’s arrived,’ Emma said.
‘And refreshments,’ Lola added, reaching forward to grab a glass.
