Page 50 of Not So Happily Ever After (British Bad Boys)
You don’t want her family guessing what you’re really doing.
Okay. I don’t. Two years ago, I played with fire, and it’s taken all this time before she’s forgiven me. And while what we do is our business and no one else’s, I don’t want to fuck up my friendship with Lucas. Or with Mac. I didn’t realize how much I’d missed having her in my life until she was back.
I glance at my phone as a reply from her comes through.Be right there!
All we’re having this week is fun. I don’t do serious, and she’s focused on gaining her degree.
The only question is—can we stay friends when it ends?
I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure we do.
She appears by my side, her familiar smile on her face. “Skulking in the shadows?”
“Didn’t think you’d want me knocking on the front door.”
“I suppose you have a point. Although Ididsay I’d meet you at the Electric.”
Since we’ve now crossed the road and out of danger of possible discovery, I sling my arm around her shoulders and pull her close. “Told you before. You’re not walking in the dark alone when I’m around.”
“Big bad protector.” She kisses my cheek. “When did you get so chivalrous?”
“Hey. I always have been.”
“If you say so.” We stroll along the Portobello Road until we reach the Electric Cinema. She pulls a couple of tickets from her pocket, and we go inside the Edwardian building. The décor is retro, and after I’ve bought us a couple of beers in the adjoining bar, she orders a double serving of nachos.
“How long before the movie starts?” I ask, because at this rate we’ll have to scarf the lot down.
“Ha,” she says. “We can take them in with us. Wait until you see the seats.”
The cinema is something else. Big leather seats with their own side tables and lamps. But she leads us to the back of the room, where there are double sofas paired with a luxurious footstool.
“Whoa. Okay, this is cool.”
“I know, right.” She places the nachos on one of the side tables, lifts the lid to the footstool, and pulls out a blanket. “Cashmere. Is this turning into the best movie experience of your life so far?”
“It’s definitely different.” I put our beers on the other side table and sprawl on the sofa. “Back row in the movies. Haven’t done this for a while.” I leer at her for good measure.
“Did you know there’re beds at the front? It was a toss-up between one of them, or this.”
I snort with laughter, lean across the sofa, and grab some nachos. “Are you going to sit down, or what?”
She flaps out the blanket. “Patience, grasshopper.”
I eye what she’s doing. “I’m not that cold, Mac.”
“Hopeless,” she mutters, before sitting next to me and tucking the soft blanket around us. Her hand snakes under the cashmere and grasps my thigh. “It’s so we can snuggle in the dark.”
This is completely insane.
Didn’t stop me taking Mac up on her suggestion I walk her home after the movie and right into her bedroom, though, did it?
Her dad was at Margo’s, so the house was empty. And how could I resist those big beautiful eyes of Mac?
Except now it’s two a.m., and I’m sneaking down the stairs like a thief in the night, with her breathing down my neck.
“Are you okay?” she whispers.
“I hope your dad didn’t come back and we just didn’t hear him.”
