by Nell Dixon
An electric blue Mini pulled to a halt in front of the café. Erin sighed and continued to scan the street for Dan. She hadn’t asked him what kind of car he drove, but she expected it would be something dull, like her dad’s car.
The Mini beeped its horn, making her jump. She peered through the glass. The driver looked a lot like Dan, except Dan couldn’t possibly own such a cool car, could he?
Erin grabbed her coat and purse from the table. “Dan’s here, Kelly. I’m just off.”
Kelly bustled through from the kitchen to peer through the window. “Mmm, fine car! Have a good time.” She waved to Dan, who lifted a hand in reply as he smiled at Erin.
“Sorry I’m late. The traffic was bad in town,” he said as he opened the door for her.
Erin slid onto the passenger seat and pulled the door shut. She snuck a quick peek at Dan. Wow. Out of the boring navy suit he usually wore, he looked totally different. Instead of his pinstripes he was dressed in the latest style cargo pants and a fashionable tee-shirt, a knotted leather necklace completed his gear.
Erin settled back in her seat with a smile. It looked as if the concert might not be such a washout as she’d feared. She smoothed the aqua patterned material of her top down over her midriff. It was a good thing she’d made the effort and dressed up, Dan looked quite a hunk in normal clothes.
“You never said how come you had a spare ticket?” he asked as they headed out of town.
“My friend Zoë intended to come with me, but she caught glandular fever.” The nerves in Erin’s stomach tingled whenever Dan glanced her way. This was crazy. She’d served him coffee and cake every morning for months now and had never batted an eyelid at him. So why was he having this effect on her now all of a sudden?
“I guess her bad luck is my good fortune.” Dan flashed a smile that sent a sizzle right down to her toes.
Erin smiled back, and heat crept along her cheeks when she caught Dan’s eye.
“What brought you to New Bay?” he asked.
“I’m on a year out from university. I decided to do some travelling and earn a little money before my final year.”
“I see. So you’ll be moving on again, now the season’s almost finished?”
“I don’t know. I like New Bay and Kelly wants me to stay. I do some relief reception work at one of the hotels and Kelly pays me well.” Erin pleated the edge of her new top between her fingers.
“What are you studying at Uni?” Dan swung the car onto the slip road leading to the motorway.
“History of art.”
“Wow, and here you are serving coffee in New Bay.”
Erin shot him a glance, but there was no sarcasm in his tone, just mild amusement. She squashed down the frisson of attraction that tingled in her stomach every time he smiled at her.
“I never asked you about your job?”
Dan accelerated into the outside lane to overtake a lorry. “I work for the probation service.”
“I thought you were a teacher.”
Dan laughed out loud. “I’ve got clients who could teach me a thing or two.”
Erin’s face grew hotter still, and she feigned an interest in the passing traffic.
“What made you think I was a teacher? Or did you just think I looked like one?”
Dan’s question came uncomfortably close to the truth, and she guessed her glowing cheeks had probably given her away. Kelly had been right; she was too apt at jumping to conclusions based on appearances. Now he would think she was a real airhead, and suddenly, it mattered what Dan thought of her.
CHAPTER TWO
An awkward silence filled the car. Dan smiled to himself when he saw Erin’s pink face. He wondered how many more misconceptions she held about him.
The traffic in front slowed as they approached the city outskirts, and he winced as the seatbelt caught the scars on his shoulder. If Erin was the kind of girl to whom outward appearances mattered, then he had to be kidding himself if he thought she might be interested in him.
“Do you want to put some music on?” He pressed the button for the CD storage. “Take a look and see if you like anything in there.”
Erin leaned forward and flipped through the small selection in the box. “You’ve got good taste. There are a few of my favourites in here.” She peeked up at him from behind the blonde silky curtain of her hair.
Dan swallowed hard and forced himself to focus on the car in front. “Pop one in the player.” He was aware of her fiddling with the CD box, then the melodious sounds of one of his favourite female singers filled the car.
He let out a slow, controlled breath. Erin fidgeted on her seat and wriggled out of her thin, pastel coloured jacket to reveal pale gold, bare arms. He smelt the soft scent of peaches from the fragrance she wore and a primitive sense of arousal rose in his stomach.
“I’m looking forward to the concert,” Erin said.
“Yeah, I’m really grateful for the ticket.” He took the turn off that led towards the venue. Erin hummed and sang along to the CD, her body swaying in her seat. Dan wondered if she knew how sexy she looked as she moved subtly to the rhythm, her aqua top clinging to her curves. He pressed the control button for the window next to him. The glass cracked open and a welcome rush of air flooded through and cooled him down. She chattered on about the bands she liked, and he was pleased to find they had so much in common.
The heavy traffic trickled to a slow stream as they edged down the feeder road that led to the car park. Erin looked out of the windows, her pretty face bright and alert as she surveyed the volume of cars.
“It’s hard to visualise what this many people looks like until you actually see them. I’ve never been to a concert this big. No wonder they’re holding it at the sports stadium.”
“I haven’t been for a couple of years. I saw the band when I was at Uni and haven’t managed to get tickets again since. Until now.” He smiled at Erin. The marshals directed them into the car park and they pulled to a halt in the allocated space.
Erin unfastened her seatbelt and gathered her bag and jacket. Dan rolled his shoulder cautiously. Driving any distance always made the muscles go tense. Fortunately, Erin appeared to be too busy looking around to notice his discomfort.
“Shall we go and get something to eat and drink before it starts? There’s plenty of time,” he asked as he pulled his own jacket from the back seat and slipped it on. He was still self-conscious in a tee-shirt, aware that his damaged shoulder wasn’t level with the uninjured one. The scarring was extensive from the reconstructive surgery he’d had after the accident.
“Good idea.” Erin slipped her bag onto her shoulder as he locked the car.
They started to walk up the slope towards the stadium, tagging on to the end of a crowd that was already headed in the same direction. A variety of concession stands were clustered outside the entrance gates. There seemed to be everything on sale from burgers to tee-shirts.
“Shall we get food first? We can get drinks to take inside for later.” Dan asked. Erin walked alongside him on dainty little heels, her bag swinging jauntily.
“Food please. I only had time to grab a sandwich before you picked me up.”
They joined the queue for the hotdog stall. Dan brushed aside Erin’s offer to pay and handed her a cone of fries and a hotdog.
“Thanks, I’m famished.”
He watched as she took a generous bite of the hotdog, licking her mouth as the sauce squirted out onto her pink lips.
“I am such a messy eater!” She laughed up at him and his heart squeezed.
“Um, you have ketchup on your chin.” Without thinking, he wiped the tiny smear away with his thumb. Her lips parted in an ‘o’ of surprise and a rush of heat moved through Dan’s body.
“Thank you.” She turned away from him and began to walk towards the entrance. He followed her with a heavy heart. It looked as if he’d misread the signals he thought he’d picked up earlier after all. For a time in the car, he’d thought that perhaps she mi
ght be warming towards him.
Once inside the stadium they paused to look for the signs directing them to the seat numbers. “It looks as if we’re up in the Gods.” Erin pointed to the notice.
“We’d better go and find them then. The concerts due to start in five minutes.”
Erin led the way up the steps. The stairway was crowded and Dan struggled to keep up with Erin and retain his balance, which had been poor since the accident. He put out a hand instinctively to steady himself and found himself cupping a curvy, denim-clad behind. Erin. She turned her head and hot colour flooded into his face. She must think he was a real idiot.
* * * *
Erin felt a hand brush her bottom and turned to see Dan’s scarlet face. Desire pooled in her stomach. It looked as if she hadn’t been mistaken earlier when he’d wiped the ketchup from her chin with his thumb. Her heart had thudded so loudly against her ribs when he’d touched her. She’d been certain he would hear.
“Sorry, went off balance.” He caught up to her and they climbed the last few steps side by side.
“It’s busy.” She guessed her face was probably as scarlet as Dan’s. Her pulse fluttered madly when he nudged against her as they made their way past a row of people to reach their seats. This was crazy. If Kelly had asked her she wouldn’t even have been able to tell her the colour of his eyes until he’d smiled at her yesterday. Now she knew only too well that they were deep velvet brown with long thick dark lashes.
Excitement ran in a shiver along her spine. She owed Kelly a huge apology and a thank you for offering Dan the spare ticket. Sometimes her boss knew her better than she knew herself. They took their seats and Erin pulled one of the plastic bottles of water they’d purchased from her bag.
“Would you like a drink?” she offered.
“Thanks.” He took the bottle from her and unscrewed the top.
Erin watched as he put it to his lips, tipped his head back and took a long draught. She licked her lips as his Adam’s apple moved as he swallowed. Aware she might be caught staring, she switched her gaze to the stage as the support band made their entrance. The distraction was welcome. Being so close to Dan had sent all her senses into overdrive.
He bent to place the bottle under his seat and his leg brushed against hers. Heat blazed at the contact and Erin fumbled in her bag for her own drink. She needed something to cool her down before she made a complete fool of herself.
The band started to play and the crowd rose to their feet. Everyone around them began to clap and sway along to the music. Erin sang along with the lyrics. Ever since she’d been small, she’d loved to sing. She was conscious of Dan standing next to her. Every now and then their hips or arms would touch, sending a jolt along her body which took her breath away.
Warmed by the exercise, she slipped off her jacket and rested it on her seat. She was surprised Dan wasn’t hot. His coat was made of a heavy-looking canvas material and must be warm. She would have liked a closer look at Dan in his tee-shirt if she were honest. The glimpse she’d had in the car had shown her a broad, muscular chest and strong, lightly tanned arms.
The band did two encores, and then the crowd around them began to disperse. Erin shivered. It had grown dark during the show and the night air had cooled considerably without the shelter of the crowd around her.
“Here, let me help you.” Dan held her jacket out.
The sensitive skin of her neck tingled as he straightened out her collar for her.
“Thanks. It was a great concert, wasn’t it?” She bit her bottom lip uncertainly. His eyes met hers, deep, dark pools in the light of the stadium. For a brief wonderful moment, she thought he was about to kiss her, but then he moved away along the row of seats.
“Yeah, it was really good. We’d better get to the car.”
Her spirits plummeted as she followed him to the top of the steps to descend to the exit. It looked as if she’d misjudged his intentions. He waited for her to make it through the throng to his side.
“Do you want anything else to eat or drink before we go?” he asked.
She shook her head as a group of people rushed past her, throwing her off balance. She lurched against Dan as he placed his hand on her arm to steady her. For a sweet all-too-brief second, her head rested against the broad plain of his chest, and she heard the wild tattoo of his heartbeat.
“Time we got out of here, I think,” he said.
Her pulse raced as he held her hand all the way along the path to the car. His fingers warmed her cold flesh and she enjoyed the feeling of closeness, the intimacy of his fingers interlaced with hers. Her heart pitter-patted in time with their footsteps on the paved surface, the butterflies in her stomach dancing like the moths in the beams from the lights that lined the path. They halted at the side of his car and he drew her closer to him.
“It’s been a lovely night,” she murmured.
He dipped his head and his lips claimed hers. His arms were around her, pulling her gently towards him. She quivered with pleasure as her hips bumped against his, her body pressed against his lean firm length. Her tongue explored his mouth and she revelled in the sweet heat of his lips against hers.
He broke away from her. “I’d better take you home.” His voice sounded gruff as he opened the passenger door.
Erin slid inside, lips tingling and excitement humming in her blood. She didn’t want the night to end. Dan got in beside her and started the engine. The CD they’d been listening to earlier started up, and she sighed with pleasure. He reduced the volume so the music formed a pleasant backdrop. There didn’t seem any need for conversation. It would only have spoiled the mood.
To her disappointment, the journey home seemed to fly past and they were back on the sea front at New Bay before she realised it. The sea looked dark and mysterious under the autumn moon.
“Where do you live, Erin?”
“Just around the corner from the café. I rent a room at Mrs Fuller’s bed and breakfast in Kirby Street.”
He turned the car round the street corner and pulled up at the side of the road.
“I’ll see you in the morning, I suppose?” Now that the date was almost over, shyness prevailed.
“I’ll be there.” Dan promised as his lips found hers again and she undid her seat belt in order to move nearer. The heat from his body met and matched hers, and she revelled in the musky scent of his body. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt this way about a guy.
“You’d better go in. The curtains will start to twitch, and you don’t want to get yourself a reputation.” He smiled at her.
Erin glanced at the front of the boarding house, Mrs Fuller was well-known as a gossip and the net curtains in the front bay window were indeed moving.
“See you tomorrow.” He kissed her again and she climbed out of the car, her body still tingling with pleasure. His car remained at the curb until she opened the front door, then he drove off into the night. Erin couldn’t stop smiling as she ran up the stairs to her room.
Kelly offering Dan the spare ticket was the best thing that could possibly have happened. She flung herself down on her bed and rolled around, hugging her pillow with sheer joy. It was a shame she had to wear the regulation café polo shirt for work, with the café logo emblazoned across her back. Still, she could wear her best silver earrings tomorrow and get up extra early to do her hair and make-up.
She set her alarm for an early start before heading for the bathroom with a broad smile still on her lips.
* * * *
Dan drove back to his flat with a smile on his face. His date with Erin had gone better than he could have ever hoped. It was a good job her landlady was so nosey or he might have been carried away in the front seat of his car. Next time, he would take Erin to Whispering Point, the cove by the sea where all of New Bay’s courting couples headed. Just the thought of holding Erin in his arms in the moonlight under the pine trees of Whispering Point made the blood sing in his veins. His smile broadened till he guessed he prob
ably looked like a fool, grinning to himself in the dark.
Dan pulled up outside his apartment and locked his car. He bounded up the stairs to the first floor two at a time. It had been over eighteen months since he’d been on a date. His surfing accident and the subsequent drastic surgery on his shoulder had shattered his confidence. He had never dreamed he might stand a chance with a girl like Erin.
He slipped his key in the lock and opened the door. Inside he heard the sound of the television. He couldn’t have left it on, could he? He crept along the hallway and opened the lounge door a crack. A familiar male figure lounged in his favourite armchair, remote control in hand.
“Yo, bro, did you know you were out of beer?”
Dan opened the door and glared at his brother. “When did you get out?” he snatched the remote from his brother’s hand.
“Chill, will you? I only dropped round to say hi and bye.” Will grinned at him, totally unfazed by Dan’s reaction.
Dan’s good mood from his date evaporated. “Where are you going? And how did you get in here?”
Will swung his booted feet up onto the coffee table. Dan immediately knocked them onto the floor.
“Dude, you need a better lock. I got out yesterday. Like I said, I dropped by to let you know I’m going to Spain to stay with Mom.”
Dan sat down heavily on the sofa and looked at his brother. “Do you need any money?”
Will shook his head. “Mom sent me some funds. I’m flying out tomorrow. You don’t have to worry about me hanging around here and embarrassing you.”
Dan sighed. “Have you eaten?”
“Found some baked beans in your cupboard. Is it okay if I crash here? I’ll be gone in the morning, I swear.”
The kitchen door stood open and Dan caught a glimpse of his previously tidy kitchen counter piled high with dirty crockery. “Sure.” He resigned himself to the inevitable. Will had always been his total opposite in everything. Where Dan had been hardworking and responsible, Will had drifted through life from job to job. Will also had a gift for attracting trouble. His last lot of trouble had resulted with Will serving six weeks at one of Her Majesty’s Penal institutes. Dan looked at his brother, sprawled out in the armchair and sighed again.
