Page 34 of You Only Live Once
‘Not a problem. You need it more than me. I’ll just have an orange juice, please.’ I smiled at the young woman behind the bar.
Within a couple of minutes, we both had our drinks and made our way to a quieter part of the room. Jack took a large swig of his drink, appearing to enjoy the burn of the liquor as it went down. ‘I don’t even know where to start in apologising for my mother.’
‘You don’t need to. I can handle her. I might not enjoy socialising, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to be trodden on when I do go out, or let my friends be embarrassed on my behalf.’ I looked up at him and winked. He smiled for the first time since we’d entered the grand old house.
‘You’re full of surprises.’
‘Am I really?’
‘Yes.’
I opened my mouth to reply but was cut off by the approach of an uber-glamorous woman, wearing six-inch heels and what was clearly a couture outfit that accentuated and made the best of her slim figure.
‘So this is where you’re hiding.’ The cut-glass accented words were followed up with a full-lipped smile that had definitely had some help from a cosmetic surgeon.
Jack turned away from me to greet her. ‘Persephone. How lovely to see you. Looking stunning as always.’ He took a step back so as not to completely exclude me from the conversation. It was hard to tell from his face as to whether the compliment had been genuine, but it was clear her delight at seeing Jack was definitely real.
‘Oh, Jack.’ She batted him on the arm, leaving a hand to rest there for just that little bit too long. ‘You always were such a flatterer.’
She turned to me. ‘They say flattery gets you nowhere, but I’m afraid it gets people everywhere with me.’ She laughed a high, tinkly laugh and curled her arm around Jack’s bicep a little more.
Jack, in contrast, was studying the bottom of his glass intently. Clearly there was history here and I had to admit to being intrigued as to what kind, and how deep it ran. As a writer, I was inherently interested in people, how they worked and how they thought. My self-imposed isolation had put rather a damper on my ability to do such things and I realised now how much I had missed watching the interaction between others and the inspiration that could be gained from it.
The woman stuck out her hand. ‘Lady Persephone Forbes.’ She smiled as she took my hand and shook it. ‘I’ll introduce myself, as clearly Jack’s not going to do the honours. Honestly. It’s just as well he’s so good-looking, otherwise he’d never get away with half of the things he does.’
I gave a noncommittal smile. ‘Lily Thomas.’
‘Wonderful to meet you, Lily. I hear Jack is staying with you?’ It appeared that news travelled fast at this party.
‘That’s right. He’s helping me redesign my garden, too.’
‘Oh! How lovely and… helpful. He always was good with his hands.’ She squeezed the bicep and looked doe-eyed at him. I turned away towards the rest of the party for a moment, trying to smother the smile that was threatening to break on my face. It appeared that Jack Coulsdon-Hart’s lothario history was coming back to haunt him. I knew I shouldn’t really laugh, but my one attempt at trying to seduce him had resulted in a pat on the head in front of all my friends, so although I wasn’t prepared to stand and let his mother run either of us down, I also wasn’t beyond enjoying a little bit of his discomfort at the hands of one of his many ex-girlfriends. Lady Persephone turned away from us momentarily to call a couple of people over. Jack ducked his head towards me. ‘Don’t think I can’t see you smirking over there.’
‘I don’t know what you mean,’ I replied, looking directly into those striking eyes and keeping an innocent look on my face.
He gave the tiniest shake of his head. ‘And don’t think you can fool me with that expression either. You’re clearly nowhere near as artless as you look.’
I placed a hand on my chest and made a shocked ‘O’ with my mouth. The flicker of a smile played around his lips, which I believe I had once very drunkenly declared to be sensuous. Looking objectively, they probably still were, but it was kind of hard to look objectively at a man as beautiful as Jack Coulsdon-Hart. He moved again so that this time his lips almost brushed my ear as he whispered, ‘You don’t fool me…’ into my hair before straightening and turning back to where Persephone was trying to get his attention.
‘I’m going to get myself another drink.’
‘I’ll come with you,’ Jack said, making an attempt to escape, but Persephone was one step ahead of him. ‘I’m sure Lily won’t mind getting yours. You can’t just disappear for years on end and then not expect to be fêted at your own homecoming party.’
‘It’s not a homecoming party.’ Jack tried valiantly but his objection was resolutely dismissed, and several others joined the small throng that was now beginning to surround him, edging me out as they did so. Whether that was intentional or not, I couldn’t tell, but I could see Jack’s brow crease as it happened and his hand reached out, catching my fingers as I made a move to walk behind him and head towards the bar. I squeezed his fingers in a mixed gesture of support and reassurance. Reaching up on my tiptoes, I rested a hand on his shoulder to balance myself and whispered in his ear that I was OK. He turned his head, met my eyes and gave return squeeze of my fingers before I let go and headed off to get a drink.
11
‘Whoever left someone as beautiful as you sitting on their own deserves to lose you. They obviously can’t have heard that the prodigal son is returned and, by the looks, is back to his old tricks.’
I exchanged a look with the barmaid I’d been chatting to before inclining my head slightly towards the speaker. ‘I’m pretty sure I can handle myself against Jack.’
‘Brave words. Can I get you a drink?’
‘Just an orange juice, please. Isn’t it rather unkind to speak about your older brother in such a way?’
He turned, surprised. ‘And what makes you think I’m related?’
‘Because I know you are, Edward. I grew up in this village a long time ago.’
