In all, she needed to be something she wasn’t very good at being; sneaky.
Chapter 22
Millie’s morning and early afternoon in the office flew by. All the better as otherwise she’d be stuck in a dreamlike daze thinking about her date with Kay that evening.
It was three in the afternoon when someone on her bank of desks mumbled an expletive. Joanna looked at Millie and raised an eyebrow before standing up and looking at Alex who sat opposite them.
“Problem?” She asked.
“Just Nightmare Nightingale at it again,” Alex said.
Millie felt the blush on her cheeks instantly. “W-what’s she done?” She asked, hoping she sounded casual.
“Johnsons, the local garden centre, have offered a Christmas tree for free,” Alex explained, obviously reading from a website. “She’s turned it down.”
Joanna shook her head. “Typical. She is just out to ruin Christmas, after all. Nothing to do with money.”
Millie frowned in confusion. “She turned down a free tree?”
Alex nodded. “Yep, it’s on the Bromford Gazette online. The manager said he offered to save Christmas and provide a tree for free, including delivery. But he was turned down by the council. The Gazette have approached the council for comment but nothing yet.” Alex threw his pen down. “Honestly, this fucking council does my head in.”
“It wasn’t like this before,” Joanna said. “I remember three previous councillors since I’ve lived here and not one of them has been this bad. Nightingale is really doing her best to destroy Bromford. She’s just got no idea.”
“Settle down, guys,” Christoph said as he passed their bank of desks. He gestured around the office. “Other people are trying to work.”
Joanna and Alex apologised and went back to their work. Millie tried but she couldn’t focus. She had no idea why Kay had turned down the tree, it seemed like a ridiculous thing to do. It was an easy solution to the issue, but Kay had chosen not to take it. And it didn’t look good.
Millie wanted to defend her but she had no idea what Kay was thinking, so that was impossible. She itched to mention that the anonymous donation had come from Kay, to prove that she wasn’t as bad as everyone thought. But she knew she couldn’t. It had been anonymous for a reason and she didn’t want to do anything that might upset Kay, or intrude on her private life. It was nothing to do with Millie and she had to respect that.
Even if it was killing her that everyone hated Kay and didn’t know the full story.
She thought about the date that evening and hoped that no one in the office ever frequented Juliet’s Wine Bar, she doubted it but worried nonetheless. She couldn’t imagine having to defend her decision to date someone so actively disliked by everyone she socialised and worked with.
That was a bridge she’d cross in the future, if anything came of it. Which was surely unlikely considering their differences. Millie fully expected that they would talk, realise they had nothing in common, and that would be the end of it.
Although, she hoped that wouldn’t be the case. There was something about Kay Nightingale that she just couldn’t ignore, something that had crept into her subconscious and taken root. And that kiss, that kiss had kept her awake for a couple of hours the previous evening. In the end she’d touched herself to thoughts of taking Kay up against that damn Mercedes of hers.
“You okay?” Joanna asked.
Millie realised she was smiling into nothingness, and wondered what she must have looked like.
“Yeah, sorry, just thinking of something I saw on television last night,” she lied.
“You were miles away,” Joanna said, grinning.
“Yeah, yeah, I was,” Millie admitted.
Chapter 23
It had been a long, long time since Kay had felt nerves like she was experiencing. She’d found a quiet corner table at the wine bar, a location she had chosen specifically because she never frequented it.
She’d heard good things and knew it would be sparsely populated just after work. It was a location that would no doubt be busy later in the evening, or over a weekend. But a Thursday at six in the evening was a quiet time. Just the way Kay wanted it, and presumably the way Millie would want it too.
She couldn’t imagine a young, charity worker would want to be seen on a date with the head of the conservative council.
She took another sip of wine. A tiny one. Not wanting to appear like she had been there that long, or as if she were nervous.
Although she was nervous, terribly so. And the wine was helping to take the edge off. She reached for the glass again before thinking about it and snatching her hand away, instead she looked down at her dress and fidgeted a little with the neckline. In a moment of madness that morning, she’d opted for a slightly more revealing dress. A higher hemline and a lower neckline. Something she now deeply regretted. She felt like an old fraud.
And to make matters worse; it was ten past six and Millie hadn’t shown up.
It was exactly what the tiny voice at the back of Kay’s mind had been saying, it was all a joke. Millie had no intention of showing up. She was messing with her, in fact, there was probably a journalist filming her sad display at that very moment.
She grabbed her handbag and stood up to leave, plucking her coat from the back of the chair.
“Hey, sorry I’m late!”
Kay spun around to see a breathless Millie standing in front of her. Her cheeks were red from the cold wind and the exertion. She was panting, had she been running?
“I’m sorry,” Millie repeated, looking at Kay’s hand grasping her coat. “I did text.”
“I…” Kay put her coat back down. “I thought you’d changed your mind.”
“Are you kidding?” Millie grinned. “Not likely.”
Kay felt a blush touch her cheeks. “Let me get you a drink?”
“Sure. Um. I don’t know anything about wine,” Millie looked embarrassed as she stared at the rows and rows of bottles behind the bar.
“Not a problem, red or white? Or non-alcoholic if you prefer?”
Millie smiled. “White?”
Kay chuckled at her indecisive answer. “Okay, let me get you something I think you’ll like.” She picked up her handbag and walked over to the bar.
Millie sat at the table and started to remove her layers.
Kay looked at the menu and ordered a relatively sweet, easy-drinking wine, remembering what her own palette had been like when she was Millie’s age. She also ordered some water for the table and a small snack-board to hopefully soak up some of the alcohol.
As she waited for the card machine to print a receipt, she looked at her phone and saw that Millie had text her. She apologised and said that she had left work a little late but was on her way.
Kay felt foolish for not checking her phone, and for instantly assuming that Millie had stood her up. It seemed that the fear of being stood up was strong. Which meant she was already invested in whatever this was.
She paid, took her receipt, and a deep breath, and returned to the table.
“This is a nice place,” Millie said when Kay had sat down.
“It is,” Kay agreed. “I’ve never been but heard good things.”
“Where do you usually hang out after work?” Millie asked.
Kay lightly chuckled. “I don’t really do much of that. I go wherever I need to for work events. Beyond that, I don’t really go out a lot.”
The waitress came to the table and placed the glass of wine, water, and snacks on the table.
“Ooo, breadsticks,” Millie said. “May I?”
“Of course, I got it for both of us.”
“Thank you, I’ll get the next one,” Millie promised, snatching up a breadstick.
“I wanted to apologise,” Kay said.
“For?” Millie asked.
“The kiss… I shouldn’t have…” Kay leaned in closer. “Without asking consent, I mean. I… don’t know what came over me.”
�
�I hope it comes over you again,” Millie said cheekily.
Kay rolled her eyes good-naturedly
“Consent is important,” Millie agreed, more serious this time. “But you didn’t do anything I didn’t want you to. Hell, I don’t know if it was me who initiated it. It kinda happened so fast.”
“It did,” Kay said. “I just don’t want you to think I’m like that.”
“I don’t think you’re like that,” Millie reassured. She sipped her wine and her eyes widened. “Wow, that’s good.”
“I thought you might like that, I used to enjoy it,” Kay said.
“Used to?”
“My palette changed as I… got older,” Kay sighed. “Now I’m… the age I am… I prefer bitter and sharp flavours. When I was your age I preferred sweet.”
Millie smiled at her. “How old are you?”
Kay blinked and laughed. “Do you know how rude it is to ask that?”
“Yep. It also sounds like you have an issue with it, so I want to just put it behind us rather than it being the big issue we never discuss. So, how old are you?”
Kay toyed with the stem of her glass. “Forty-eight.”
Millie didn’t bat an eyelash at the figure. “Cool. I’m twenty-six.”
Kay grabbed for the glass and swallowed a large mouthful. That was entirely more years between them than she’d like.
“Am I too young for you?” Millie asked.
Kay laughed. “I don’t know, but I’m far too old for you.”
“I don’t think so,” Millie said matter-of-factly.
Kay shook her head and laughed. “Very well, Miss Yates.”
“It’s sexy when you call me that,” Millie said.
Kay’s heart rate picked up. “Then I’ll do it more often,” she flirted.
“I hope you do.” Millie’s eyes flitted between Kay’s face and her chest.
Kay couldn’t help but be pleased with the fact that Millie obviously found her attractive. In the back of her mind, she’d naturally assumed that her days of being found attractive by another were behind her. But Millie seemed to be struggling to maintain eye contact.
Kay also found the task difficult. Millie was a natural beauty, soft skin and large sparkling eyes.
“I wanted to talk to you about something…” Millie trailed off. She started to examine the inside of her wine glass and Kay knew the subject would be a delicate one.
“Oh dear,” she muttered. “Go on…”
“The Christmas tree,” Millie started.
Kay straightened like lightening. “Oh, for gods sake,” she said before taking another sip of wine. It hadn’t even been ten minutes and already Millie was bringing up subjects they both knew they out to avoid.
“I’m sorry to bring it up,” Millie said. “It’s just that, at work, someone mentioned the council was offered a free tree?”
“That’s right.”
Millie blinked. “Then… why didn’t you take it? That would solve everything.”
Kay chuckled bitterly. “Would it?”
“Of course it would,” Millie explained. “The protests won’t stop until we get a tree. It’s not asking for much.”
Kay couldn’t believe she’d been foolish enough to fall for the ruse. This entire thing that Millie had suggested was between them was about the fucking Christmas tree. How could she be so stupid?
“I see,” Kay said bitterly. “I see what all of this was really about. Goodnight.”
She grabbed her bag and coat and stormed out of the wine bar, not caring who saw her. She heard Millie call after her but ignored her. She was still too angry that she’d fallen for such an obvious ploy.
She’d let slip that she was gay to a protestor. Paving the way for a ludicrous honey trap. What was she becoming? Was she really so lonely that she didn’t see the obvious right in front of her?
She turned the corner and entered the deserted outdoor car park where she had parked. It was mainly used for office workers and so was now completely empty save for her Mercedes.
It was a small car park, room for no more than fifty cars. Constructed by demolishing a dilapidated store from a row, meaning that it was surrounded by high brick walls.
It was only now that Kay realised how unsafe it seemed. She hurried towards her car, reaching into her bag for her keys.
“Kay!”
She rolled her eyes. Of course Millie Yates would be the kind of person to follow her.
She spun around. “What?”
Millie hurried after her, a puzzled look on her face. “Can’t we have a conversation?”
“If it revolves around you using my social time to demand a Christmas tree, then no.” She turned around and continued to cross the distance to her car.
“Wait, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have brought it up. I just… I didn’t understand.”
“No, no one does,” Kay threw over her shoulder.
“Then help me to understand,” Millie pleaded. “Why didn’t you accept the tree?”
“As if you have any interest in listening to reason.”
A hand gripped Kay’s upper arm and gently turned her around.
“Try me,” Millie requested.
Kay sighed and shook her head, looking skywards. “It’s not just the tree. It’s erecting it, providing lights and decoration, insuring the tree, the cost of power, providing health and safety certification, security… because every damned year I’ve been in office that tree has been vandalised. Every year. It’s not just the tree. The actual tree is about ten percent of the cost. And if I have to make a choice between children’s services, and a tree. Well, the tree isn’t going to win.”
Millie’s eyebrows knitted together. “I… didn’t know.”
“No, the local paper doesn’t report on that. Nor does it wait for, or print, my detailed press releases which explain the facts. You don’t sell too many papers, or get many clicks, for reasonable facts. ‘Nightmare Nightingale Hates Christmas’, now there’s a byline.”
“Don’t call yourself that,” Millie said.
“Everyone else does.” Kay shrugged.
Millie took a step closer, meaning there were mere millimetres between them. “I don’t.”
Kay licked her lips. “Well… maybe you should. I’m sure your friends would warn you off me.”
“I make my own decisions,” Millie said. She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply. “Fuck, what is that perfume? You smell so good.”
Kay chuckled.
Millie opened her eyes and Kay stopped laughing. She saw nothing but passion in Millie’s gaze and she knew what was coming. Millie was about to kiss her. For some reason, Kay wouldn’t allow her to have the upper-hand and decided to take it herself.
She closed the small gap between them and pressed her lips to Millie’s. A second later she found herself pressed up against the side of her car, Millie quickly deepening the kiss.
Desire washed over Kay and she wrapped one arm around Millie’s waist, pulling her impossibly closer to her. The other hand she used to cup Millie’s cheek, holding her in place and returning the kiss that was rapidly becoming a battle. One that she didn’t care who won.
Millie ran a firm hand up her side, from her hip to just beneath her breast. Kay was dying for Millie to grab it. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d just lost control and made out with someone. And she knew for sure that it had never happened in a public car park, which was thankfully dark and deserted.
She glanced towards the road to check no one was there. Millie pulled away and followed her gaze. The sound of her panting was ramping up Kay’s desire for her.
“Anyone getting a free show?” Millie asked.
“Not yet,” Kay said.
“We could… get in the car?” Millie suggested, the cheekiest grin Kay had ever seen emblazoned on her face. She knew exactly what Millie was proposing and it sent a jolt of wetness between her legs. She slid her hand into her pocket and pressed the unlock button on her keys.
&
nbsp; Millie grinned and opened the back passenger door. She took Kay’s hand and pulled her closer, pressing another kiss to her lips. Kay allowed herself to be pulled even closer.
The power Millie had over her was intoxicating. She wondered if she’d drunk the wine too quickly, but knew deep down that couldn’t be the reason for her loss of control. No, the reason was desire and need.
Before she had too long to analyse, Millie was softly pressing her into the car. Kay had every opportunity to stop, but she didn’t want to. She allowed Millie to lay her on the back seat of her car, climb in and close the door behind her.
“So you know,” Millie said. “I’m totally intending to make love to you on the back seat of this ridiculously ostentatious car.”
Kay laughed. “It’s not ostentatious!”
Millie straddled Kay’s hips and started to shrug out of her coat. “Absolutely unnecessary,” Millie argued with no bite.
“Are you always this argumentative?” Kay asked, reaching up to undo the buttons on Millie’s blouse.
“Always.”
The interior light went out just as Kay finally got the buttons undone. She groaned, desperately wanting to see Millie’s bra-clad torso but unable to in the dim light.
“Oh well,” Millie said brightly. “Looks like we’ll have to do this again later. Once we get this one out of the way.”
Kay reached up and ran her hands over Millie’s stomach and breasts. She wanted to rip the bra off and feel the mounds without the material in the way. But it seemed Millie had other ideas.
Millie ground her hips down on top of Kay’s. Kay tried to angle her hips up, wanting pressure in the right place but unable to get it. She cursed the small back seat and the fact her knees were bent to accommodate them.
“Eager,” Millie whispered.
“Very,” Kay admitted.
Millie sat on top of her, just a bra and her jeans on, and Kay felt like she might implode.
Millie lifted herself up a little. “Then let’s not waste any time.”
She reached down and grabbed hold of the hem of Kay’s dress, lifting it up. Kay lifted her hips and did what she could to help manoeuvre the material higher.
Christmas Lights Page 8
