Time After Time: A heart-warming novel about love, loss and second chances. Hannah McKinnon Mary
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Название: Time After Time: A heart-warming novel about love, loss and second chances
Автор: Hannah McKinnon Mary
Издательство: HarperCollins
Жанр: Современные любовные романы
isbn: 9780008191849
isbn:
‘Me too,’ Hayley whispered as she closed her eyes and put her head on his shoulder.
They didn’t stop dancing until the crowd thinned out, the lights came on and the music stopped. Chris helped Hayley into her coat and they walked up the stairs behind Ellen and Mark, who were holding hands.
‘Right then,’ said Chris, ‘I’d better go. See you next Saturday?’
‘Yes please, that would be ace.’
Oh shut up you pathetic, desperate cow!
Chris grinned, then leaned over, gently put his index finger under her chin and softly kissed her cheek.
‘I’ll look forward to it,’ he said.
Hayley’s legs trembled and she leaned against the wall. As she watched Chris walk away, he turned and winked at her, and the butterflies in her stomach turned into psychotic bats.
Ellen rushed over. ‘Well? Did he kiss you? Did he? What was it like?’
Hayley shook her head. ‘Only on the cheek.’ She sighed. ‘I’m still waiting for my first kiss.’
‘You’ve been kissed before,’ Ellen said, the corners of her mouth twitching.
‘No I haven’t!’
Ellen put her hands on her hips. ‘Oh yes you have,’ she said in a pantomime villain voice.
‘Oh no I haven’t.’ Hayley laughed. ‘Bobby Hill behind the bike sheds doesn’t count. That slimy tongue and his groping hands. Ugh.’
‘Wotcha!’ Mark appeared behind them, making Hayley jump. ‘You were showing Chris some right old moves.’
‘You know him?’ Hayley said.
‘We went to the same comprehensive for a while.’ Mark shrugged. ‘He’s got a bit of a reputation. With the lay-dees.’
Hayley’s heart sank.
Of course he’s a player. He’s probably forgotten me already.
While Ellen and Mark said goodbye with a rather long and very public snog, she sat on the wall, swinging her legs and thinking about what Mark had said. So Chris had a reputation – that was hardly ground breaking news, surely. He was gorgeous, all the girls would be after him, they’d be mad not to. She frowned. There had been dozens of prettier girls at the disco and yet Chris had chosen her, danced with her, only had eyes for her.
Hayley sucked in a lungful of cold air and puffed out her cheeks, then felt herself sit up that little bit straighter with an inch of freshly grown backbone.
Hayley stood perfectly still in Chris’ kitchen, unable to move despite her instincts telling her to get the hell out of there. The steady tick-tock from the clock on the kitchen wall was deafening.
What the … how …? Did I meet Chris somewhere and go home with him?
She shook her head. That wasn’t something she’d do. Maybe she’d spotted Chris on her way home, asked the taxi driver to give him a ride and ended up at his place? She tried forcing her memory but nothing came.
It doesn’t make sense.
Nothing made sense. Cold sweat trickled down her back and the dressing gown stuck to her body, making her shiver, so she pulled it away from her skin.
I need to get back to Rick and the kids. Oh shit.
She’d never cheated on Rick, never even kissed another man since they’d met. Yes, they were having problems, but cheat on him? She hadn’t seen, let alone spoken to Chris in almost twenty years but now she’d woken up in bed with him. Images of his bobbing penis flashed through her mind and she shook her head again in an attempt to get them out of her brain.
What did I do? Why can’t I remember? Did I go to a club? Or a bar?
She dismissed the theory as quickly as it had entered her muddled brain. She’d been at Ellen and Mark’s. They’d had drinks. She’d gone straight home.
Unless … unless I went on somewhere afterwards and someone spiked my drink?
She reached for the counter to steady herself.
What am I going to tell Rick? He must be frantic. Do the kids know I’m not home?
Hayley’s eyes darted around the kitchen for her mobile and when she couldn’t find it, she grabbed the phone on the kitchen counter and punched in her home number.
Before she heard it ring on the other end, she slammed the phone down.
No! We have caller ID.
Taking in big gulps of air, she closed her eyes and breathed out through her nose.
Think, Hayley, think.
She ran to the bathroom by the front door. Her head pounded, and as she sat on the toilet her stomach twisted itself into knots the size of tennis balls.
How could I let this happen?
She washed her hands and splashed cold water on her face. It slowed her breathing down, but only until she looked in the mirror.
‘Argh! What the hell?’
Her hair was cut in a cropped bob, much shorter than it had been the night before.
Why can’t I remember Ellen cutting it?
She smoothed it down with her damp hands and swallowed. Of course it would grow back eventually, but Rick was in for a surprise. He loved her long hair.
Will he think I did it to spite him? How many lies am I going to have to spin?
Rick would assume she’d spent the night at Ellen and Mark’s. After all, she had said, ‘Don’t wait up.’
Maybe he hasn’t phoned Ellen yet. Hang on, that’s it! Phone Ellen.
Hayley rushed back to the kitchen, snatched up the phone and dialled Ellen’s number.
‘Hello?’ a male voice said.
‘Mark?’ Hayley whispered into the phone.
‘Hayley,’ Mark said. ‘Trust you to be the first to call for the gossip. How are you?’
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