by Alix Kelso
“He just calls me that so I’ll have to tip him,” Bruce whispered as they got into the car.
She laughed and looked around the beautiful interior. “This is a really amazing surprise, Bruce.”
“There’s more to come.”
“You didn’t say where we’re going.”
“You’ll find out when we get there.”
Jack got in behind the wheel, and soon they were moving. She looked out the window as they turned on to Shaw Street and saw Valentino’s rush past, the tables filled with Saturday night diners, the place buzzing, and she saw Natalie, too, framed in the windows and waving at the passing car. Delighted, and realising that Natalie must have known the details of this part of the evening, she waved back.
She decided the start of her first date with Bruce couldn’t have gone any better.
She was wrong.
“I thought of bringing you flowers,” he said as they sped along Shaw Street. “But I brought you this instead.”
He handed her a gift box, pale pink wrapped in a lavender ribbon.
“You didn’t have to do that.”
“Open it.”
She untied the ribbon, and let out a cry at the sweet little porcelain giraffe inside. “This is so lovely,” she said, admiring its impossibly slim legs and long, elegant neck.
“When I saw it, it made me think of your—”
“Pyjamas!” they both said at the same time, and laughed.
“I don’t know whether to be embarrassed about the pyjamas or pleased about the gift.”
“You like it?”
“I do.”
“Then that’s all that matters.” He reached over and laid a hand on hers. “I hope you have a wonderful time tonight, Laura.”
As the car glided along the road, the summer’s evening stretching before them like a promise, she glanced at Bruce as he looked out the window. She’d felt something shift inside her heart when he’d stepped out of the car and looked up and smiled.
Now, as she ran her fingers over the silly, sweet little giraffe gift he’d bought her, and marvelled at the man he must be to know how much she’d like it, she thought she could feel herself beginning to slip, beginning to slide.
Beginning to fall.
Chapter 15
They drove west out of the city, headed south towards the Ayrshire coast, and when the Jaguar finally pulled up at the luxury beachfront hotel, Laura could only stare.
The grand building stood elegantly elevated above the stretch of sand dunes that swept down to the shoreline, set in grounds that had been landscaped to perfection. Jack rolled the Jaguar to the entrance, lit along its length by concealed illuminations that glowed softly in the deepening summer evening.
A doorman opened the car door on Laura’s side, while Jack exited the driver’s seat and opened the door for Bruce. Taking it all in as she stood beneath the entrance canopy, she felt light-headed. It was like something out of a fairy tale.
“Have a good evening, sir, ma’am,” Jack said with a wide grin, before tipping his cap and getting back into the car.
Bruce took her hand, and they walked through the brass-trimmed door held open by the doorman and into a marble floored reception space, and on again until they reached the restaurant in the south wing. As they were greeted by the maître d’, Laura gazed around the beautiful room. Banks of windows looked out towards the sea, tables draped in pristine white table covers were spread across the room, and glittering crystal chandeliers hung from one end of the ceiling to the other.
She was happy she’d splurged for the new dress. Nothing else in her wardrobe would have looked even remotely appropriate.
A waiter led them to their table by the windows – and the stunning sea views beyond. Her breath caught when Bruce rested his hand on the small of her back as he stepped around to pull out her chair.
“You really know how to treat a woman. I’m officially seduced.”
“Terrific. In that case, we can leave.”
She laughed and tried to focus on the menu, but found her attention being drawn to those beautiful sunset views across the sea.
And to Bruce. It was almost indecent how good he looked in that suit.
What on earth had his wife – ex-wife, she once more reminded herself – been thinking when she’d left him for another man?
Laura found the seduction continued when he ordered champagne, but she began fidgeting when he suggested oysters to start.
“You don’t like them?” he asked.
“Actually ... well, the truth is, I’ve never had one. But I can’t imagine eating anything more disgusting.”
“Thank God. I can’t stand them either. The one time I ate them, I had to make my excuses and sprint for the bathroom. That’s a true story.”
She laughed, enjoying the way his eyes danced. “So why’d you suggest we order them?”
“I want this to be a romantic evening. People say oysters are romantic.” He paused and grinned. “I don’t know who these people are, exactly, but it’s what they say. Anyway, I just want tonight to be perfect.”
“It already is.”
The waiter arrived with their champagne, filled their glasses, and Bruce touched his against hers.
“Thanks for letting me take you out to dinner.”
“After you kissed me the other night, I would’ve agreed to anything.”
“Damn, I wish I’d known.”
She laughed again – already, she’d probably laughed more in the time she’d spent with Bruce than during the entirety of any previous relationship she’d had – and sipped the champagne, enjoying its sparkling fun.
“I like you, Bruce.”
Gazing over his glass, he smiled. “I like you too. More than like you, actually. The way you look in that dress is ... well, you look beautiful.”
“Thank you.”
“And I like what you’ve done to your hair.”
She raised a hand and patted the soft curls she’d spent almost forty-five minutes working into the style – and cursing every time she burned herself with the edge of the curling tongs.
“If we’re trading compliments, you should know I think you look amazing in that suit. And the chauffeur-driven Jag was really something special.”
“The Jag was Jack’s idea, although I should’ve thought of it myself. If I’d driven, I couldn’t have enjoyed this champagne with you.”
“I’m glad you are enjoying it with me. It wouldn’t have been as much fun otherwise. And this place is wonderful. I’ve never been anywhere like it.”
He frowned. “I find that hard to believe.”
She shrugged and looked out of the window to where the sea sparkled golden beneath the setting sun.
“What kind of men have you been going out with that they didn’t see sense and take you to the places you deserved to go?”
She shifted in her seat. “Not everyone has money to afford chauffeur-driven cars and luxury restaurants. That doesn’t make them bad people.”
“No, it doesn’t. And the truth is that it’s got nothing to do with money or how much is spent. But first dates are important, and they ought to be special. Especially when the woman is as wonderful as you are.”
The compliment tripped her up. “My first dates haven’t been much to write home about.”
“Tell me.”
“It’s too embarrassing, especially as you seem to know so much about these things.”
He set down his champagne glass and laid his hand on hers. “I’m sorry. I sounded like an arrogant twat just then, and I didn’t mean to. My plan tonight was to sweep you off your feet, but I’m not flash, that’s not me.”
She met his gaze and thought she saw agitation in his eyes. Maybe he was just as nervous about this date as she was.
“I don’t think you’re flash,” she said. “And I don’t think tonight is flash, either. It’s beautiful and romantic. I’m not used to that. The guy I was seeing, John? He was a big movie fan, and we went to the ci
nema on our first date, which was fine. That’s a nice first date. Or it would have been, if he hadn’t tripped getting into his seat and spilled his bucket of popcorn all over me.”
Bruce attempted, and failed, to hide his grin. “Sorry.”
She felt her own smile widen. “It’s funny now, looking back. It wasn’t at the time, which is a shame. It could’ve been funny, you know? One of those cute stories you look back at and laugh about. But John was just upset he wouldn’t have a full metric tonne of popcorn to chew during the movie. Maybe I should’ve recognised that for the sign it was. Although John was an improvement on the last guy I’d gone out with, Lee. For our first date, he took me for a Sunday afternoon walk in the park, which sounds lovely, until the part where he asked to borrow money so he could buy us both an ice cream cone.”
More suppressed laughter from Bruce. Laura shook her head, finding herself amused to recall these hideous incidents from her extremely limited and vanilla love life. “And before Lee, there was Steve, who arranged for us to have our first date at this late-night jazz club. Again, it sounded promising, and the perfect opportunity for budding romance. Except he spent the entire night doing this jazz rhythm thing with his hand on his thigh and shushing me any time I tried to start up a conversation.”
Now Bruce was shaking with laughter. “Laura, where did you find these guys?”
“I don’t know. It’s like I have some kind of moron magnet. Although, that’s not really fair, at least not on John. Movie Boy,” she added when Bruce looked confused. “He wasn’t a moron. He just liked spending his time at the movies, and I didn’t. I’m glad we’re not together any more, but I really only wish him well. I hope he finds someone he can be happy with.”
“You’re incredibly sweet.”
“Gullible, you mean.”
“No, I mean sweet.”
“Anyway, enough about me.” She gestured to the restaurant and the sea views. “Is this your routine for first dates? Full shock and awe?”
Bruce sat back in his chair and blew out a breath. “Actually, I don’t have a routine. The last woman I took on a first date was my wife. My ex-wife. I don’t know why it still feels strange to call her that.”
“How long were you married?”
“Two years, but we were together a while before that.”
Seeing the sadness creeping into his expression, Laura regretted the turn the conversation had taken. “We don’t have to talk about it.”
“Good. In that case, we won’t.”
The waiter arrived to take their orders, and by the time the starters arrived the conversation had shifted.
“How’s your pub search going?” she asked.
“It’s not. I haven’t seen anywhere that comes even close to what I want. My Uncle Keith and Jack both think I’m looking for somewhere that doesn’t exist. They may be right.”
“Don’t give up, and don’t compromise.”
“To be honest, compromise is inevitable, I know that. We can’t have everything just the way we imagine it. But …”
“But what?”
He waved a hand and glanced towards the sea. “This will sound insane. But I had this dream. Actually, I’ve had it a few times. And in it, there’s a tumbledown old building and a beautiful tree next to a stream. And I feel like I know the place, except when I wake up I don’t recognise it. I can’t get it out of my head, and now whenever I view a commercial property for sale, I measure it against this place I’ve dreamt about. That’s madness from a business perspective. But somehow I can’t help myself.”
She watched him and thought about what he’d said. “You want the perfect place. There’s nothing wrong with that. And maybe your perfect place is out there waiting for you to come along and find it.”
“That’s a nice thought. I hope it’s true.”
“It is. You just have to believe.”
Bruce looked at her, a smile at the edge of his lips. He laid down his fork. “What perfect place is waiting out there for you, Laura?”
Glancing up, she thought about it. “For a long time, I thought I’d found it in Valentino’s. I love it there. I know that will change when Natalie moves on. If she moves on. She’s had a lot of potential buyers visit, but nothing has come of it yet. And I can’t help but hope that maybe, just maybe, something will happen with your uncle, and Natalie will fall in love with him and change her mind about selling. That would be my perfect happily ever after.”
Bruce sipped some wine. “Once upon a time, though, you had a different happily ever after in mind.”
She picked up her napkin and fussed with it. “Yeah, that’s true. Listen, Bruce, there’s something I wanted to say. When you came to my flat and looked after me while I was ill, and I got all weepy when those university forms fell on the floor, and I made a fool of myself—”
“You didn’t make a fool of yourself, Laura.”
“Well, anyway, I’m sorry.”
“I don’t know why you think you have to keep saying sorry to me, because you don’t.”
She shrugged. “That night, I garbled something about once having a dream for my life, and how it disappeared after my parents died.”
He nodded, and when she looked up and into his eyes, she wondered at how it could be so easy to talk to him about these things when she’d never been able to talk to anyone about them before.
“My plan had been to go to university and study history,” she continued. “I loved history and wanted to become a teacher. Just like my parents. They were both teachers. My mum taught high school chemistry, and my dad was a primary school teacher. They were always around during the school holidays, and I didn’t realise how unusual that was until I was older. We had amazing summers, the three of us, with day trips and picnics and silly little adventures. And when I decided to go to university, that’s what I wanted. To have the same life they’d had. A job I loved, teaching something I loved, and being able to spend all those long school breaks off with my kids, whenever I got around to having them.”
She glanced towards the sea. “That was the perfect life I’d been working for. I think it would’ve been nice.”
“It still could be. You could still finish your degree.”
But she shook her head. “I’m twenty-nine years old. I can’t imagine going back to university now, alongside all those kids in their teens. I’d be in my mid-thirties before I was even qualified to teach.”
“So?”
“Don’t you think it’d be a bit sad?”
“Not sad. Brave. Starting again and taking a chance on a dream you thought you’d lost? That’s brave. That takes courage.”
“More courage than I’ve got.”
“You doubt yourself too much. Look at all the amazing things you do, Laura. You’re running a ten-kilometre race, for God’s sake. That takes guts.”
“Yeah, it’ll take guts and also a team of paramedics to resuscitate me. I haven’t gone for a training run since I got sick.”
“You’ve been recovering. You’ll get back to it soon.”
“I think I might just cut my losses and forget about the race.”
“That’s a shame. I was planning to come along and cheer you on.”
“You were?”
“I’m kind of interested to see how you look in tight running shorts and a skimpy T-shirt.”
She laughed, but stopped when she saw his serious expression return.
“Seriously, Laura. Believe in yourself. And don’t think the future you hoped for is lost. You just told me a minute ago that I had to believe my perfect place was out there, waiting for me. You should believe the same thing.”
Smiling, she picked up her fork and began eating again. “I don’t know how you do it, but you make me feel better about myself, Bruce.”
“I could say the same thing about you. Maybe that makes us a perfect fit.”
Before she knew it, they’d finished their main courses and the champagne and the waiter was delivering dessert menus.
“I can’t believe how fast tonight has gone,” Laura said, looking out to where night had fallen across the sea, leaving raspberry twists of summer sunset along the horizon.
“Shall we order dessert?”
“I couldn’t eat another thing.”
“How about we split something and have brandy?”
“After the champagne, I’m already tipsy.”
“I like you tipsy. And I think I’d like you even tipsier.”
“Believe me, Bruce, if you want to take me to bed, you don’t have to get me drunk.”
Her eyes popped wide, and she clapped her hands to her mouth and stared in shock across the table to where Bruce sat grinning.
“Oh my God, I can’t believe I just said that.” She lowered her head to her hands. “I never say things like that. See, this is what happens when I’m tipsy.”
“Good to know. Okay, no brandy, we’ll order coffee instead. If we’re going to bed together in a while, I want to be at my best, too.”
“Oh God, I’m mortified.”
But he just laughed. By the time the chocolate torte arrived, with two spoons, she thought her cheeks might no longer be burning hot enough to risk setting the table cloth on fire.
“Laura, I’ve had a wonderful time,” Bruce said a little while later as he paid the bill and dealt with the tip.
“Me too.”
“You should know I’m planning on kissing you very soon.”
“Thank God.”
Laughing, he pulled out his phone when it pinged and checked the screen. “Jack’s nearly here. How about we go outside and get some fresh sea air?”
After the candlelight and wine, the night air was refreshing and cooling. Bruce took her hand, and they walked along the front of the hotel, admiring the lights of the building against the dark sky, and found a little illuminated waterfall set in the middle of a pretty garden terrace.
Bruce turned towards her, and her skin tingled as he moved his hands around her waist and pulled her close. When he kissed her, her head spun deliciously.
The moment was interrupted when Bruce’s phone began ringing. Giving her a wry smile, he pulled out the phone and answered.
