As Weekends Go (Choc Lit) (17 page)

Rebecca was grateful she hadn’t mentioned she lived in Purley. It might not be on Eddie and Marina’s doorstep, as such, but the thought of them pitching up uninvited on her drive gave her goosebumps. Eddie Mills would be Greg’s worst nightmare.

After saying goodbye to Ian and Yolanda, whom Alex had discreetly settled the bill with – small price to pay as they were shooting off early, he’d said to Rebecca – they finally made it to the door, by which time everyone was staring at them.

Rebecca’s hand flew to her chest as a flash went off. The culprit – a diehard Statton Rangers fan – merely wanted a snap of his idol, but she wasn’t to know that, and almost took out a coat stand in her hurry to duck.

Alex shielded her out of the door and into the back of a shiny black Audi.

‘Hawksley Manor please, Mick,’ he said, shaking the driver’s hand.

‘No problem, Alex.’

Rebecca only just managed to put on her seat belt, they pulled away so fast. Why hadn’t Alex mentioned he knew the driver? And why was a partition screen sliding down, separating him from them? Didn’t they want to talk to each other? Mind you, at the speed they were going, it might be best the driver kept his eyes on the road.

Oh, well, at least they’d escaped The Mills mob.

‘I should have warned you, shouldn’t I?’ said Alex, echoing her thoughts. Joking apart, she could tell he felt guilty by the way he kept running his hand over his hair and swivelling his eyes left to right.

‘Don’t be silly,’ she said, unable to bring herself to chastise him. ‘It’s not your fault.’

‘Yes, it is. I could have scripted what would happen.’ He slid an arm across the back of the seat. ‘Go on. Admit it,’ he said, smiling down at her. ‘It was painful.’

Rebecca bit her top lip, then finally let her laughter escape. ‘Oh, I’m sure Eddie and Marina’s hearts are in the right places,’ she said, more comfortable with Alex than she’d felt with Greg in a long time. ‘It would be boring if we were all the same, wouldn’t it?’

‘Are you trying to make me feel better?’

As Alex said this, they took a sharp bend. Rebecca swayed sideways towards him, her neckline billowing enough to flash him a healthy view of her plumped breasts encased in her new lace balconette bra.

She straightened up, knowing he couldn’t have avoided looking, the ensuing silence between them rousing rather than awkward as the cab drew up in front of the hotel.

The partition screen flew up.

‘Cheers, Mick,’ said Alex, patting the driver on the shoulder. He got out of the car, walked round the back of it and opened Rebecca’s door for her.

‘Don’t we need to pay him?’ she asked, instantly digging through her bag for her purse.

‘It’s on account.’ Alex ducked his head in the car. ‘I didn’t say anything before, because I thought it might spook you. Mick does some chauffeuring for the suits at Statton Rangers, said if I ever needed a lift anywhere to give him a call, no questions asked. We struck lucky. He was stationary.’

‘Oh, right.’
Gosh! Talk about think of everything.
Rebecca turned to the driver. ‘Thank you very much, Mick.’

‘No problem,’ he replied, without looking at her.

‘Come on,’ said Alex. ‘Let’s have that drink.’

The on-duty female receptionist’s smile gave nothing away.

‘Are you all right?’ asked Alex, seeing Rebecca falter.

The implications of walking into the bar alone with him hadn’t hit her until now. She could see Danny looking their way. With a heart as heavy as her dilemma, she said, ‘I’m so sorry to muck you about, Alex, but I don’t think I can go in there. I could do with some air, actually.’

She stood there, uncertain, confused, part of her wishing she could go home and end these dangerously muddled, emotionally ridiculous thoughts she was harbouring, the other part desperate to stay in his company.

He cast a look back at the main entrance. ‘We could have that chat walking round the grounds, if you prefer? Be more private.’

She saw the hope in his eyes.

It’s a walk and a chat, Rebecca, no more than that.

She smiled up at him, adrenalin fizzing through her. ‘I’d like that.’

Abi didn’t fancy going to the club now that Rebecca and Alex had gone, and rafted off an excuse to Kenny, who seemed more than happy to jointly uphold it.

After saying their goodbyes to Eddie and Marina, neither of whom seemed overly bothered by the change of plan, the two of them returned to Kenny’s Range Rover.

‘Any word from Bex yet?’ he asked, revving the engine. Abi hadn’t stopped checking her phone. ‘Must have forgotten you, babe. Probably got her hands full.’

Abi poked him in the ribs.

‘Ow! What was that for?’

‘Insinuating things!’

Kenny sniggered. ‘So you don’t think they fancy each other then?’

‘I didn’t say that.’ Abi rocked forward in her seat as he reversed out of their bay, then braked. Of course they fancied each other. Rebecca had positively come alive.

‘And your thoughts on Uncle Fester?’ Kenny asked, burning rubber out of the car park.

‘Anyone would think you didn’t like him.’

‘I don’t.’ Kenny tore across a mini roundabout, cutting up a Ford Fiesta. ‘It’s hard to tell who’s worse, really, Eddie or my old man. They’re both dickheads.’

‘I take it they’re brothers?’

‘Yeah. Dad’s a year older. The only reason I came tonight was to help Ian out.’

‘Why? Don’t he and Eddie get on?’

‘Oh, yeah, they’ve just got very different views on things. Eddie thought Ian was mad to open a restaurant, wanted him to go into sales, like him. That’s why Ian chose York. To get as far away from him as possible.’

‘And what about you and your dad?’

‘Don’t know. I haven’t seen him for years. Not since he dumped Mum for some barmaid from Watford.’ Without indicating, Kenny swung through the gates of Hawksley Manor.

‘And I thought my lot were dysfunctional,’ said Abi. ‘My younger brother’s a bit of a rebel. Stresses Mum out something chronic. My parents divorced when we were kids. Our biological dad’s got no time for him at all. Rebecca’s the only person who seems to be able to get through to him. When he can be bothered to surface, that is.’

‘How old is he?’

‘Twenty-five going on twelve and a half.’

‘Same age as my sister, Tanya,’ said Kenny, bombing round the fountain into the car park. ‘Families, eh? Good job Alex’s lot are so normal. His mum and dad treat me like one of their own.’

‘Yeah, Rebecca’s lot are the same with me,’ said Abi. ‘I do hope she’s okay. She still hasn’t texted me. Perhaps I’ll just check she’s in the bar.’

‘Trust me, if she’s with Alex, she’ll be fine,’ said Kenny, showing no sign of leaving the car. ‘Besides, we don’t want to gatecrash their little party, now, do we?’ He fixed her with those eyes of his again.

‘Fair point,’ Abi relented.

Alex knew his suggestion to Rebecca was completely foolhardy, but it had given him his only realistic chance of spending any time alone with her. When he’d seen her walk into that bar with Abi tonight, it had virtually battered his ethics into submission and, despite mentally punishing himself for it, gut instinct had told him that to ignore it would be madness.

Her blushes when he’d told her how lovely she looked had enhanced her vulnerability; enhanced how easy it would be to take advantage of her. It made Alex wonder how her husband treated her.

They took a detour past the pool.

‘Looks so inviting, doesn’t it?’ said Rebecca, heels tapping along the terrace. ‘All green and tropical, like something you’d see abroad.’

‘Fibre optic lights,’ said Alex, pointing them out to her. ‘Clever, eh?’

‘Sure is.’ She ducked in front of him, stepping through the archway. ‘Thanks for the meal tonight. It was very kind of you.’

Kind.

A word she used a lot, he’d noticed.

Was her husband kind to her? How could anyone not be?

‘Pleasure,’ he said, indicating the wooden bridge that led into the gardens.

They crossed it, and sat on a bench beside a manmade stream.

‘What a lovely setting,’ said Rebecca, gazing round. ‘Those pretty white tree lights pick out all the little features.’ She drew his attention to a horizontal brass sundial on display in the small clearing at the end of a semi-lit shingle pathway.

Alex saw her hand trembling. He wanted to take it in his own, lift it to his lips and kiss each of her slender fingers.

‘I’m sorry again for not warning you about Kenny’s lot,’ he said.

‘Believe it or not, it was quite an education. Not that I’m snotty-nosed or anything. I just hadn’t realised how forthright they were, especially Eddie, when he started talking about …’ she floundered, circling her hand in front of her, her words sticking.

‘Lap dancing clubs?’ Alex finished her sentence for her. ‘Not quite sure where he got the idea that I visit them regularly.’ He saw her eyes widen. ‘I’ve only been twice, and that was a long time ago.’ He held up his hands. ‘What can I say?’

‘I must admit, I’ve never read anything, you know …
naughty
 … about you. Nothing negative at all.’

‘Naughty?’ said Alex, teasing her.

‘Oh, all right then, seedy,’ she said, looking down at her toes.

Whether she was too polite to expand on what Marina had said in the restaurant about his ex-girlfriend’s kiss ’n tell, or had simply never read it, Alex thought it best to refocus on what he really wanted to know more about. Her. That’s why they’d originally come back to the hotel, wasn’t it? To have a chat. No big mystery or hidden agenda. Well, none he could risk airing.

They sat in silence for a moment, the lights from the back of the hotel casting an intimate glow across everything.

‘The jasmine smells gorgeous, doesn’t it?’ said Rebecca, tilting her face upwards, inhaling and closing her eyes.

Not as gorgeous as you, Alex thought.

She opened her eyes, catching him mid-comparison. ‘I’ll have to take some photos of these gardens in daylight tomorrow for Mum. She loves all this topiary stuff.’

‘Yeah, mine’s the same. Every time I go round there she’s got a pair of shears in her hand.’ The urge to lean over and kiss her, burned deep as their eyes met. ‘Close to your parents, are you?’

‘Very. All four of us are.’

‘Four?’

‘Yes, I’ve got an older and younger sister, plus an older brother. We see each other as much as we can.’

‘It’s your older sister with the party shop, though, yeah?’

‘Yes. She’s owned it for five years. I’m helping her to dress the window when I get back, get the summer theme going ahead of the school holidays.’

‘You sound very creative, going on what was said last night about your studying and quiz writing.’

‘Yes, I love it. Design is my passion, really. The upside of losing my job was being able to plough the redundancy money into doing the courses. The hardest bit is keeping on top of all the ever-changing software.’

‘Was it something you always wanted to do then? From leaving school, I mean.’

‘Well, yes, it’d be nice to have obtained a degree, which was my intention, but after leaving college I worked for a bit, then went off travelling with Abi for a while, and then as so often happens at that age, life took another turn, hence me playing catch up studies-wise. I need to crack on with setting up my website, add some testimonials. We’ve had so much going on at home … it’s all gone a bit haywire.’

The shine faded from her eyes, the eagerness she’d radiated right up until that last sentence, diminishing with it. She probably wasn’t even aware of it, she was smiling again now, but Alex had seen it there again. Sadness.

‘How long have you known Abi?’ he asked, trying to gauge Rebecca’s age, wanting to cram his head full of as much information about her as possible.

‘Twenty-two years.’ The joy returned to her face. ‘Her family moved into our road when she was eight. She was in the year below me at school. We’ve been friends ever since.’

Thirty-one, Alex calculated. Younger than her husband, he wondered?

‘So, what about you? Only I couldn’t help overhearing your conversation with Marina. Sounds like you’re pretty close to your family too.’

‘Yeah, they’re all fairly local. We lived down south for ten years when I was younger. Dad was offered some building work in Reading. It was ongoing, so instead of commuting back and forth every weekend, he took us all with him. We moved back to Leeds when Dad started working for a different firm. My best friend, Scott, still lives in Reading.’

‘Which explains your accent.’

‘Why? Do I sound like Kenny?’ He couldn’t resist teasing her again.

‘No, of course not. I just knew it wasn’t “Sean Bean northern”. Oh, no, that sounds rude, doesn’t it?’ She ran her hand round the back of her neck. ‘I love the Yorkshire accent, it’s one of my favourites.’ He heard the anxiety in her voice, the needless over-compensating. ‘I just noticed that yours wasn’t that pronounced.’

Alex felt like the big bad wolf. ‘Hey, I was joking. And you’re right. So, stop worrying that you’ve insulted me. You haven’t.’

She took a deep breath, looking so relieved that it was all he could do not to hug her.

They both went to speak at the same time.

‘You first,’ said Alex.

‘It’s a bit nosy, really.’ Rebecca fidgeted in her seat, every movement wafting delicious bursts of Organza his way.
He’d remember that scent forever
. ‘I wondered how old you were when you started playing football.’

‘What, professionally?’ Alex stretched out his legs in front of him.

‘Yes, and prior, if you don’t mind me asking. I mean, were you always good at it, or was it a gradual thing?’

‘Well, I was spotted at nine, originally,’ he said, vaguely aware of his damn tooth niggling him again. ‘A couple of local scouts were at an under ten’s match I was playing in. They told the coach that I had potential. Nothing serious happened though until we came back to Leeds and I joined Kelsey Town’s training academy. Made my debut for them at seventeen. Came on as a sub in the sixty-fourth minute and scored. Perfect, really.’

‘And now here you are playing for Statton Rangers,’ she said, sharing his enthusiasm.

‘Yeah, well I’ve got Kenny to partly thank for that. If he hadn’t helped sort out my back injury for me, they might never have signed me.’

‘Oh, I don’t know. The passion in your eyes and in your voice when you talk about it suggests you’d have made it anyway.’

Alex felt something shift deep within the core of him. ‘You reckon?’

‘Oh, definitely. I mean, I know we don’t know each other that well, but even I can see …’ Her voice wavered as he drew his legs in again, faced her full on and stared at her, mesmerised.

‘See what?’ he asked.

‘Oh, dear, I think I’d better change the subject.’

‘Can I kiss you?’ he said, changing it for her.

Abi had quite enjoyed her little chat with Kenny in the car park, even if she had found it increasingly difficult to swerve his charm. They’d carried on sitting there after he’d switched off the engine, laughing and swapping tales of outrageous family-related bust-ups. She could certainly think of less comfortable vehicles to be sat in having a chinwag, that was for sure.

They jumped out to stretch their legs. Abi leaned against the closed passenger door, gazing back at the fountain as Kenny lit up a cigarette and walked round to join her.

Something rustled in the bushes to their right.

‘Shit! What was that,’ said Abi.

‘Must be your boyfriend,’ said Kenny, craning round. ‘I hope he’s not the jealous type, or I might have to mess up my hair.’

‘No don’t worry,’ she said. ‘Nick’s pretty laid back. Unlike Rebecca’s husband.’ She shouldn’t have mentioned Greg, but she couldn’t keep it in.

‘Possessive, is he?’

‘Manipulative is the word I’d use. Particularly over the last year or so.’

‘She doesn’t strike me as being a doormat at all.’

‘Oh, far from it. Bex can be ballsy if she needs to be,’ said Abi, praying her friend would demonstrate this on Greg sooner rather than later. ‘She’s more confused, I’d say. And totally neglected. He’s so busy smarming his way up the corporate ladder, he’s left her behind. In my opinion, Mr Stafford is walking the thinnest of tightropes. The phrase, bite the hand that feeds, springs to mind.’

‘Not your favourite person, then?’

‘Oh, I must sound like a right old moaning Minnie. It just peeves me how he emotionally blackmails her. Something he’s done from day one, I’m afraid, except Bex was too young and in love to realise. He’s nine years older than her. I suppose he had that added wisdom and experience.’

‘He didn’t mind her coming to York, then?’ Kenny crushed his cigarette butt underfoot on the gravel.

‘Good question. No one was more shocked than me. Makes me think there’s more to it. I’m sure it’s got something to do with this conference he’s gone to. He couldn’t get down there quick enough.’

‘Probably got a bird down there. He’s a salesman, isn’t he?’

‘Hey! My cousin’s a salesman. Stop stereotyping!’

‘Just voicing what you’re thinking,’ said Kenny, holding his arms out wide. Abi couldn’t deny it. ‘So, what’s she said to you about Alex?’

‘Oh, she likes him. Nothing will happen though. Bex couldn’t live with herself. Still, it’s nice to see her getting some attention for once.’

‘And you?’

‘Me what?’ she said, frowning at him.

‘Would you play away from home?’

‘Oi, cheeky!’

‘Just checkin’.’

They dawdled their way over to the fountain. ‘This place is magical,’ said Abi, thinking how grateful she was to her boss and his wife for offering her and Rebecca the chance to come.

‘Isn’t it just.’ Kenny moved behind her, wound his arms around her waist and kissed her neck.

Ripples of desire travelled the length of her body.

‘Best not,’ she said, pulling away. ‘I ought to check on Rebecca. You don’t mind, do you?’ He clearly did. She could tell by the bulge in his trousers. Mind you, could she blame him? One minute she was all over him, the next, brushing him off. Anyone would think she didn’t love Nick, the way she behaved sometimes.

A great whoosh of emotion gripped her. It didn’t matter how sexy Kenny was, or that she’d smooched with him and snogged him last night. Compared to what she had with Nick, it was superficial.