Page 31 of Christmas Romance Galore!
She shook her head and twisted to look at me. “No. My intention was to come over here and smooth things over. Not take it up a notch.” She exhaled again before rubbing her hands together. “Like I said, nostalgia.”
She turned and took another swig of her beer before jumping up, smoothing herself down and tucking herself in. “I better be going if I want to stay engaged,” she said. She gave me a thin-lipped smile, but her gaze didn’t falter.
“And is that what you want?” I had to know. I had no idea if Nicola Sheen was what I wanted, but I had to know whether or not she wanted me.
Nicola blinked and bit her lip, before nodding slowly.
“Absolutely,” she said, looking away. “I’m marrying Melanie. I just — I wanted to apologise and then... this.” Her gaze bounced around the room before settling back on me. “I’m sorry for yesterday, for today, for back then — for it all.” She picked up her rucksack. “See you, Victoria.”
But she didn’t move.
I stood up. “Yeah, see you.”
We stared.
And stared.
Nicola went to say something, then shook her head.
“I’ve got to go,” she said. But her eyes told a different story as they dropped to my lips.
But this time, she did turn around and walk away.
Where Nicola Sheen was concerned, normal service had been resumed.
I was stood at the kitchen counter trying to put my thoughts in order when I heard Holly’s key in the door.
Shit. Nicola had only just left, and my emotions were strewn across the floor. I was too disoriented by everything that had happened, and I wasn’t sure I could explain it to Holly even if I tried.
Holly was frowning when she came into the lounge. She took one look at me and began shaking her head. “I was hoping that just bumping into Nicola on the stairs was a coincidence. Perhaps she knows someone else in the block, perhaps her sister lives here? But I know that look. You did it, didn’t you? You just fulfilled your teenage fantasy and had sex with your childhood sweetheart.”
I said nothing — it was all I could do to hang on to the kitchen counter and not collapse in a heap.
“Why do this? Why complicate your life?” Holly plucked a beer from the fridge and sat on the sofa. “Are you coming to sit down or are you going to just stand there?” She sounded hurt, wounded.
“Not if you’re just going to lecture me. It’s really not what I need right now.”
A gamut of emotions passed across Holly’s face before she settled on something between concerned friend and pissed off. “I’ll try not to. I’ll try to keep an open mind.” She paused, then held up three fingers in a Girl Guide salute. “I promise.”
Promise is what had got me into this mess in the first place.
I walked over and slumped on to the sofa, falling into Holly who had no choice but to acquiesce. She might still be boiling mad at me, but when push came to shove, I was still her best friend.
“So what happened?” Holly began stroking my hair. “And just so you know, this is not in the roadmap for getting a girlfriend by Christmas. The caveat I wasn’t aware I needed to point out was that the girl in question had to be single, and not engaged to be married.” I heard her take a swig of her beer and I burrowed my head deeper into her shoulder.
“I know,” I mumbled. “But we didn’t have sex. We nearly did, but we didn’t.”
Holly’s body went taut. “You didn’t?” She was holding her breath.
I pushed myself into a sitting position and ground the heels of both my hands into my eyes. When I refocused, my vision still wasn’t totally clear.
I shook my head. “Nope.”
Her hand rubbed my back as she exhaled. “Well that’s good. That’s really good. But what was she doing here?”
I turned to Holly and explained what happened the day before in the bridal shop.
She was silent the whole way through, her face turning a shade of grey when I relayed the kissing part.
