Mills & Boon Christmas Delights Collection. Rebecca Winters

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       Chapter Thirteen

      ‘It’s all right.’ Mark squeezed my shoulders as I did my best not to cry in front of him. ‘He’s going to be just fine, I promise.’

      I nodded. ‘Yep, I know. I was just…so sure.’

      ‘I know. Now, go on before he leaves without you.’

      ‘That’s not beyond the realms of possibility, so I better had.’

      ‘See you next week.’

      I gave him a quick hug and did a fast walk to the car park, where the pickup’s engine was now running. Pulling open the door, I jumped in and grabbed the seat belt, quickly plugging it in.

      ‘Sorry. Had a couple of things to do.’

      ‘No problem.’ Michael put a hand on the gearstick and then shifted a little in his seat. ‘You OK?’

      ‘Mmmhmm.’ I nodded, pasting a smile on. ‘It’s nice and warm in here.’

      Michael’s hand curved around the gearstick, then uncurled again. I looked up at him.

      ‘He’ll be OK, you know.’

      ‘Huh? Oh yes! I know! Of course I know!’ I made light of it. ‘It was just a suggestion anyway. And it was nice to get out of the city and have a walk anyway, wasn’t it?’

      ‘It was. And thanks for lunch.’

      ‘I didn’t pay.’

      ‘You kind of did, in a way.’

      I brushed my jeans, the stains obvious. It was a hell of a good job I wasn’t trying to impress Michael O’Farrell because between the serving disaster, stained jeans, frozen nose and what I was pretty sure now were at least marginally puffy eyes, I would most definitely have failed.

      ‘Worse things happen at sea and all that.’

      ‘That is true.’ Selecting reverse, he backed the truck out of the car park and headed back in the direction of London.

      We’d only been going about five minutes when Michael started smiling. Obviously I was way more upset about leaving the dog behind than he was. But remembering that I was supposed to not be taking this to heart, I went along with it.

      ‘What are you smiling at?’ I asked.

      ‘You.’

      Now I frowned, suspicious. ‘Me? Why?’

      ‘You’re making me hungry.’

      ‘What?’ I squeaked, scooching around in my seat to face him. My reply seemed to amuse him even more.

      ‘Calm down. It’s your jeans. The warmth from the car is bringing out the food smell in your clothing again. You smell edible.’

      ‘Ha ha.’

      We drove for a few more minutes in silence before Michael spoke.

      ‘Katie look, I really appreciate what you – ’

      My phone started ringing, cutting him off. ‘I’m sorry,’ I said, fishing it out of my jacket. I checked the screen: Calum.

      ‘Hi!’

      ‘Hi babe. I’m so sorry I haven’t called. Work’s been so crazy.’

      ‘That’s OK. I’ve been pretty busy here too anyway. Are you back?’

      ‘I am. I wondered if you wanted to get together? I thought as I’ve been so crap lately I’d splash out on a nice room somewhere.’

      ‘Are the builders still working on your house?’

      ‘Yeah. They’ve only gone and put down the wrong flooring whilst I was away. Can you believe it? So it’s going to be even longer now before I get rid of them.’

      ‘I don’t mind the mess, really.’

      ‘No, I know. But I don’t want you to see it all like this. I want to show it to you all perfect and finished. Hopefully it won’t be too much longer.’

      ‘OK. But you don’t need to get a room. You can just come to my flat.’

      ‘Too late. It’s all booked. And dinner. Can you meet me at the restaurant at seven? I’d come and pick you up but this way is much easier.’

       For you.

      ‘When?’

      ‘Tomorrow, of course!’ he laughed.

      ‘Oh. I wasn’t sure when you were back exactly. I have an appointment. I’ll have to see what I can do.’

      ‘But it’s all booked, babe.’

      ‘I know Calum. I’m sorry. I will try but I can’t arrange things around you if I don’t know when you’re going to be here.’

      ‘We’re not going to go over that again, are we? You know I’m swamped with work.’

      ‘No,’ I said, quietly, acutely aware that in the confines of the pickup’s cab, Michael could likely hear every word. ‘I’m just saying…look. I’ll sort something out, OK? Which restaurant is it?’

      ‘Marco’s.’

      ‘OK. I’ll meet you there at seven tomorrow.’

      ‘I’ll make it up to you.’ His voice dropped, ‘I promise.’ I heard something in the background. ‘OK. Got to go. Looking forward to it, babe.’

      ‘Yes. I –’ But he was already gone.

      Michael drove on and although neither of us said a word, I had a feeling we were both thinking a similar thing: The appointment I’d mentioned to Calum was with Michael and scheduled from three until seven. I calculated how long it would take me to get home, change, then get to the restaurant. Way too long. I could squash a dress in my bag, change in the loo at the station and then…I was still going to be late but…

      ‘We СКАЧАТЬ