Page 134 of My Year of Saying No
His eyes were suddenly heavy-lidded and he leaned into me, moving us back a little behind one of the fairy-light wrapped trees. ‘I know we’ve been planning this for months, and you’ve worked so hard on it, but right now I’d happily leave to get you alone.’ He rested a hand at my waist and I felt the warmth of it through the fine fabric of my dress, his touch setting off a fizzing and tantalising warmth that began in my stomach and radiated in every direction.
‘I know you’ve turned me down once this year, so I probably shouldn’t even be thinking this, let alone saying it.’ He ran a hand back over his hair, freshly cropped for the event. ‘But, honestly, none of those feelings have gone away and seeing you standing there tonight…’ he swallowed, then smiled. ‘You took my breath away, Lottie. I don’t know what else to say. I was floored. And if I’m wrecking everything by telling you all this, I’m sorry and I’ll do my best to fix it again. But I just can’t not tell you how beautiful you are.’
Neither of us said anything for a moment. I opened my mouth to say something, then closed it again. Seb shifted his weight.
‘And now you can tell me “no” again.’ He smiled, a hint of resignation showing in the dark eyes.
I looked up at him. ‘Do you think we could do that?’
His brow wrinkled. ‘What?’
‘You get me alone somewhere?’ I was going for teasingly sexy, but all that happened was a bloody great grin.
Seb studied me for a moment, before his smile matched mine. Then he gave a groan and dropped his head to my shoulder, closer to him now with the help of the five inch heels.
‘No.’ He ground the word out. ‘Unfortunately.’
‘Damn.’
‘My thoughts exactly. Except a little stronger.’
‘Double damn?’
He moved, his breath tickling my bare neck. ‘Something like that.’ Seb pushed himself back and pulled a face.
‘You all right?’
‘Mmmhmm,’ he replied, shifting again.
‘Oh… oh. I see.’
‘That’s kind of what I was hoping to avoid.’
I giggled.
‘It’s not funny,’ he said, with a massive grin on his face.
‘Then why are you smiling?’
‘Because I’m thinking about getting you alone.’
‘Then you’d better stop doing that or you’re going to be stuck behind this tree all evening.’
‘So long as you’re with me, I can think of worse places to be.’
‘Seb.’ I leant my head on his arm for a moment. ‘You really need to be out there schmoozing.’
‘I know.’ He let out a sigh. ‘I know, I know.’ He cleared his throat, gave one more shuffle, looked at the heavens for a few moments and then back at me. ‘OK. We’ll pick this back up later.’
‘Sounds like a plan.’
* * *
The evening passed in a whirl of introductions, expensive champagne and delicious food. The auction did even better than we’d hoped for, even without the delectable Seb as a prize, a fact that Petunia was still miffed about, judging by her expression, but I’d lost sympathy on that particular front. Saying no to bothering about rude, spoilt brats was one of the easier tasks of the year, it turned out. I glanced back at the object of her desire, who was laughing with Harry about something. Saying no to Seb Marshall was not going to be an easy task. Luckily. I didn’t want to. He was now most definitely on my Yes list.
As the night wore on, the dance floor began to fill. Jess and I had already had a few goes at shaking our things out there. Then the band segued in to a slower melody and Harry appeared on the floor to sweep Jess into a romantic embrace. I smiled as I walked away, watching the love shining out of both their faces. And then I stopped suddenly as I bounced off something. Or rather someone. His arm came out to steady me.
‘Oops!’ I said, as Seb’s arm rested at my waist. ‘I was just coming to sit with you.’
