“I’ll always be here, whenever you want to talk.” His arms tightened around me, their hold intoxicating even after the conversation we’d just had.
Pulling back, we shared a weak smile. “I was such a dick to you. I can’t believe I punched you...” he trailed off, cringing as his eyes studied the tiny yellow mark that remained around my eye. It would be gone in a couple of days.
“I already told you I don’t care and I meant it.” My attempt to soothe his doubts seemed successful and his face loosened up a bit, crystal blue eyes brightening.
My smile was automatic in response and I didn’t have the effort to drag myself away from his handsome face. It was only when I was this drunk that I even allowed myself to realise just how attractive I found him. Not just his looks, but everything. I just liked everything about him, really.
Jack turned back around, clearly about to say something, but something in my expression stopped him. My eyebrows knitted in response to his change of heart, but instead he leant forwards and pressed his lips to mine.
It wasn’t exactly a sudden move, considering our position, but it still sent a shock of surprise through me. That wasn’t to say I wasn’t more than enthusiastic in my response. I’d never had a real kiss before, but the drink and the many films I’d watched loosened me up and I wrapped my arms around Jack’s neck, allowing him to pry my mouth open.
Skin on fire and heart pounding out of my chest, I was completely alight with my proper first kiss. A shiver passed through me when his hands dipped beneath my shirt to caress the bare skin of my back, nails barely grazing against my feverish skin. I had never felt this before, never had this heat pooling in my stomach and this utter need to be as close to Jack as possible. I arched my back into him in an attempt to fulfil this desire.
Too soon, we were forced to pull back to breathe. My ragged breaths gave way to a grin. “I knew it would be better when you kissed me back.”
He laughed, a perfectly joyous sound, before our smiles dissolved. Removing his arm from me, I took the cue to return my legs to my own half of the sofa. Jack buried his head in his hands, whilst I kept mine to myself in my lap. “I’m going to head to bed.” He’d brought down a blanket and pillow earlier and I grabbed them now, happy to keep my hands occupied.
“Okay.”
He spared me a single glance when he stood up, face utterly conflicted. I did my best to stay neutral. I’d cry and lament about the situation when he was safely upstairs.
“Ilona...” his tone was strained at the doorway and his expression equally as pained. “I really don’t want your boss to move you.” He left me with that tantalising statement; it was just so awfully close to an admittance of feelings for me.
Chapter Eleven
If there was one thing going to get my spirits up after the recent rough events, it was my birthday. Tapping my feet in excitement, I couldn’t stop the smile that played across my lips. It wasn’t even that I wanted my present, I was just looking forward to the happy atmosphere that would come with Jenny and I celebrating.
I spied her in the distance, carrying an extra bag and wearing a grin. She’d apparently followed my line of thinking and decided to show up at school just a bit earlier than normal too. “Happy birthday!”
Embracing me in a short hug, Jenny passed me the bag. There was no hesitation before I ripped into the present. Mouth hanging open, I admired the burgundy dress, hanging it in front of me to admire the entire thing. It was tight and littered with large flowers, the top and sleeves lacy. “Oh, it’s gorgeous.” I hung it against my frame and knew it would fit. “Thank you so much.”
“I’m so glad you like it. I wasn’t entirely sure, but I knew it would suit you. I mean, everything suits you, but I thought this would especially.”
In my abnormal happiness, I hugged her again. “I love it! I can’t wait for the next party.”
That was when Tom appeared. “No need to wait, I’m taking you out tonight. Can’t not go round town on your eighteenth.”
I tried not to sound too awkward. “Jenny and I already had plans tonight.”
“Had,” Tom emphasised, “but we worked it out and Jenny didn’t mind me borrowing you for the night.”
Jenny nodded enthusiastically, only a tiny bit of disappointment at not being able to join us evident.
“Well, then cool! Sounds fun. You can text me the details and stuff later, right?”
“Sure, and it’s my plan to buy you drinks tonight, which is why I haven’t got a real present.”
I chuckled as he walked off, put off by the way Jenny’s lips suddenly turned up in the biggest smirk I’d ever seen and I frowned at her suspiciously, not expecting Jack to appear beside me. “Happy Birthday.”
Blinking, I accepted the bag he’d handed me. “Wow, thanks. I wasn’t expecting anything.”
“Yeah, I know.” He waited for me to open it and I couldn’t help but laugh at the bottle of whiskey and Stardust DVD. “Someone had to get you alcohol for your birthday.”
I surprised even myself by reaching out and giving him a quick hug. I hadn’t really seen or spoken to Jack since our awkward kiss a few nights ago, so this present was far from what I’d been expecting. “Thank you.”
“Anyway, have a good day, I have to go and hand something in. See you around.”
“See you.”
“Oh, I like the hair,” he called back over his shoulder, causing a flood of heat to rise in my cheeks. My birthday excitement had woken me up earlier than normal, so I’d curled it into perfect ringlets.
“There’s nothing going on, I swear,” Jenny mocked, continuing on with that annoying smirk. If only he hadn’t made that last comment I might have had a chance of convincing her otherwise.
“He has a girlfriend, I already told you.”
“He still likes you. Don’t be an idiot, Ilona,” she cut me off when I opened my mouth to argue. “He’s so into you, it’s obvious.”
It was frustrating that I couldn’t explain everything to her. Even if he did fancy me a little bit, I was sure most of it was born out of pity. “Well, it doesn’t matter even if he does, he has a girlfriend.”
“Do you like him? He is cute.”
I shook my head, biting my lip and putting the present in my bag. “I’m not answering that.”
***
Daniel was completely adorable. We were currently waiting for Jenny’s mum to bring the food through, and he was chatting animatedly to Jenny, eyes wide and excited. I didn’t think I’d ever seen anyone happier. He was incredibly shy when it came to actually talking to me, but my presence clearly didn’t put him off and he simply adored Jenny.
“Jenny said anything with meat was good, so I’ve got a variety.”
My eyes widened at the two huge homemade pizzas she placed on the table, the delectable smell wafting straight to my nostrils. “Wow. This is awesome. Thank you!” They’d gone out of their way to make my favourite food and I felt my stomach rumble in response.
“So, how’s the birthday going?” Jenny’s dad inquired, wafting his finger that he’d just burnt on the steaming pizza. “Get anything nice?”
“Jenny’s gorgeous dress, of course. Then some whisky, a DVD, some maths equipment.” I decided to omit the new knife that the Guild had chipped in for. It had come wrapped and on top of the case file for my next job. Though I loathed to admit it, they had actually picked out a beautiful engraving on the handle and knife itself; still, it wouldn’t look good when it was dripping with blood.
“Very nice!” Jenny’s mum agreed. “Just make sure not to drink it all at once.”
“I’m sure I won’t.” It was likely to be tempting some nights, though.
“I can’t wait to see you in that dress,” her mum continued. “Tom is going to be in for the shock of his life when he comes to pick you up.”
My cheeks reddened just a tiny bit and I quickly stuffed a large mouthful in, preventing any kind of response.
“Ilona’s only got eyes for o
ne person anyway,” Jenny teased with a smug face.
“Oh, do tell. I was always a sucker for gossip.”
“Jack Cooke.”
“I know Jack! Well... I haven’t seen him since he was about thirteen, but I’m sure I remember him being a good looking lad. Good for you.”
Mortified, I attempted not to slam my hand down too hard on the table. “We are just friends. Wouldn’t you rather talk about Jenny, who actually has a boyfriend?”
Choking on the sip of water she was taking, Jenny’s eyes widened helplessly. In my defence, I had absolutely no idea whether she’d told her mum about having been out with this guy a couple of times. They certainly weren’t official yet, but she had to take what she gave. “He is not my boyfriend,” she denied futilely, before taking a brief glance at her dad. “Not yet anyway.”
“Jenny!” Her mother practically bubbled with excitement at my comment. Her father remained impassive. “You didn’t tell me anything about this. Come on, what’s he like? What’s he even called?”
“His names Ryan. We’ve just been out a couple of times, it’s not really a big deal.”
“Of course it is. As I may have mentioned, I do like gossip.” The curve at the corner of her lip also explained that she didn’t particularly like Jenny hiding things from her. “When do I get to meet him?”
“Oh my God, maybe never, seriously. He might never call me again yet.”
“We both know that’s not going to happen.” From what I understood, they’d spent more time making out in his car after ditching some rubbishy romantic film neither had been interested in on the last date.
A timer sounding from the kitchen prevented her mum from speaking again. “I’ll be right back.”
“Seriously, though, this guy you’re seeing better be all right.” I wasn’t even sure where Jenny’s dad had gotten the fork he was now waving at her, we were all eating with our hands.
“He’s fine, really.” Jenny’s smile was weak. He likely wouldn’t think that if he knew what they’d been getting up to.
“And this guy you’re so obviously into, he’d better be all right too.” It was the first time I’d ever had a fatherly telling off. It was a lot nicer than being warned not to get caught murdering someone.
I found myself releasing a small chuckle. “He’s nice, don’t worry.”
Jenny’s eyebrows shot up, but I was more than happy to ignore her. That wasn’t really a confession.
Lights suddenly dimmer, my attention was drawn to the excessively large cake that Jenny’s mum was bringing in. The singing sprang up and holding back the tears was an almost impossible task. I’d never had a cake before.
Blowing out the candles in one go, my laugh was more than emotional. Jenny offered me a large smile. “Thanks guys.”
Despite being full from the pizza, I made myself have a large slice of the chocolate cake Jenny’s mum had made. They’d gone all out on my favourites, even including raspberries and cream in the middle. We all laughed as Daniel managed to get it all over his face.
I’d never really been so emotionally overwhelmed in a positive way before.
“And this is from us,” Jenny’s mum handed me a bag. Opening it, a large bottle of Prosecco greeted me. “You can’t get ready for a night out without some fizz!”
“Thank you so much.” I walked around the table to give both of her parents a large hug. There was more than one box of chocolates in the bottom of the bag, too.
“I’m glad you’ve had a good birthday,” a startling amount of guilt addled my mind as Jenny’s mum offered me a motherly smile and these were definitely the hardest tears to hold back. “Now, go and get tipsy and enjoy your night.”
“So,” Jenny’s cheeky grin didn’t leave much ambiguity as she brought the hair curlers out. “You really do fancy him, huh?”
“I was just appeasing your father.” I slipped into the dress, not caring if Jenny saw my underwear, then grabbed the champagne glasses her mum had provided and the chocolates.
“Yeah, right. You can just tell me, you know. I told you when I fancied Ben,” Jenny mock gagged at this now. “Even though look how embarrassing that turned out.” Ben had been caught having sex in the school toilets, which hadn’t done much for Jenny’s attraction.
“Fine, just don’t tell anyone that I do.” My cheeks turned a shameful red despite the layer of foundation I’d taken to wearing. “He has a girlfriend and that isn’t about to change.”
“He likes you too, though,” Jenny was utterly convinced of it, despite only having seen a few of our interactions. “Don’t you think? I mean, really?”
I thought that Jack pitied me, but there was no way to explain it to Jenny so it would make sense. “No,” I answered instead, settling myself into the corner of the bed and pouring the wine. “I think these are about even,” I put one flute on the desk next to Jenny, who was rummaging around in her wardrobe for something.
“Wow, this stuff is really nice.” And pretty strong, too. I plopped a chocolate into my mouth. “How do you all have such good taste?”
“I’m just really glad you’re having a good time, I wanted to make sure it was special, considering, you know. And just because I love you, of course.” She gave me a playful jab in the ribs, stopping me commenting on my parent’s supposed tragic death and almost emptying the contents of both our glasses all over my brand new dress. “Now put those chocolates down so that we can put you some lipstick on.”
She brought out a new lipstick in the perfect shade to match the dress – it wasn’t a cherry red, it was a seductive, darker shade that I could already imagine on my lips. My appearance wasn’t normally my main concern, but for my first night out I wanted to look as good as possible and I knew this lipstick would just top everything off.
I applied it to the best of my ability and Jenny grinned. “Tom is going to be so pleased.”
Speaking of the devil, there was a knock on the front door. It was a good job expensive hairspray was one of the few things I’d invested in – my curls were still perfect from this morning. “Well, I guess it’s time to go, thanks so much for tonight Jenny, it’s been great,” I pulled her into a hug with tears in my eyes once again.
“It was my pleasure,” she grinned and pulled out a final present from her cupboard. “This is from my parents.”
I ripped into the box and picked out one of the high heels in awe. They were black, still going with the dress and the old clutch bag I’d been forced to dig out, but perfect for wearing with just about any other dress I might own, too. “They’re gorgeous.” I slipped them onto my feet and they fit as comfortably as a pair of heels could.
“I agree, now come on! We need to get downstairs. Tom will be wondering where you are.”
Chapter Twelve
Tom whistled. “Looking good, birthday girl.”
I slipped into the car and he followed. “What are you planning on doing with the car? You are drinking, right?”
“Of course,” Tom scoffed, “I’ll just park it outside Alan’s house. We always do that when we go out. It’s just us going, by the way, I hope you don’t mind. I didn’t make plans to meet anyone there, but we almost always see people. Your birthday fell on student night, so it’s going to be packed.”
“That’s cool,” I’d never hung out with Tom’s friends and I’d never had the urge to. No doubt I’d enjoy seeing them when I’d already had a bit to drink.
Tom turned down the music a bit and cast another glance over my body. “So, get anything nice?”
“My whole outfit, courtesy of Jenny’s family, right down to the lipstick,” I pouted for effect, excitement quickly taking over me. The glass of wine I’d wolfed down probably helped, too. Either way, I had no shyness in me tonight. I was on top of the world for a change and nothing could bring me down.
“I think it’s time for me to repeat that you look gorgeous, then.”
I grinned. “They got me some wine and chocolates, too. Jack got me a DVD and some wh
isky, and you’re going to be buying me drinks, too. So enough to leave me hungover for days, by the looks of it.”
Tom raised a none too subtle eyebrow and I realised I maybe should tone down the excitement a little bit. It wasn’t my intention to flirt, but maybe it could be seen that way. “Jack got you something? I didn’t realise you were friends.”
“We are,” and it really didn’t need to go any further than that.
I tactically swayed the conversation back towards the gossip Tom probably didn’t care about after that, trying my hardest to forget any mention of Jack. We’d kissed and he’d given me a birthday present, but I still had to try not to think about him all the time. It wasn’t healthy.
The Reluctant Assassin Page 9
