‘I’m really sorry,’ Ben apologized, climbing out and walking quickly round to her. ‘I just spotted you at the last minute and had to slam the brakes on. Can we talk?’
Leanne’s chest tightened when she recognized him as the man who’d told Jake that Sally was on the phone. ‘About what?’ she snapped – as if she didn’t already know.
‘Jake.’
‘Not interested.’
‘Please?’ Ben pleaded. ‘I know you didn’t believe him about Sally, but he was telling the truth.’
‘It’s none of my business either way,’ Leanne said curtly. ‘And I’m supposed to be somewhere, so if you’ll excuse me . . .’
‘You know you broke his heart, don’t you?’ Ben blurted out when she started to walk away. ‘He was completely besotted with you. I’ve never seen him so cut up.’
Hesitating, Leanne said, ‘That was years ago. And I apologized for it last night, so you’re wasting your time if you’re trying to make me feel guilty.’
‘I’m honestly not,’ Ben assured her. ‘I just wanted you to know that he still likes you – a lot. And if you’d heard the way he spoke to Sally after you left, you’d know he’s not interested in her.’
‘He was interested enough to give her his number,’ Leanne pointed out. ‘And don’t bother saying he didn’t, because he’s already tried that one.’
Eager to get off the subject of Sally before he tripped himself up and let slip where his friend had spent the night, Ben said, ‘Look, I’ve no idea how she got hold of his number, but Jake said he didn’t give it to her, and I believe him. He’s a good man, and I’m asking you to give him a chance to explain, that’s all. And if you won’t do it for him, do it for me,’ he added cheekily. ‘I don’t think I can cope with him moping about like a sad-sack again. He was bad enough the first time round.’
Leanne folded her arms and peered at him thoughtfully. Chubby, with out-of-control curls, a soppy grin, and corduroy trousers that even her dad wouldn’t be seen dead in, he was the complete opposite of handsome, well-groomed Jake, and she would never have put them together as friends. But he had a genuine smile, and she respected him for going out of his way to help Jake out.
Taking her hesitation as a sign that he was winning her over, Ben tipped his head to one side and gave her his best puppy-dog eyes. ‘Have my powers of persuasion worked, or do I have to go back empty-handed and suffer the mighty sulk?’
‘Okay, fine, I’ll hear him out,’ Leanne agreed. ‘But if I find out that he was lying, that’ll be the end of it.’
‘Yes!’ Ben punched the air in jubilation and backed towards the car. ‘Oops, sorry, where are my manners?’ he said, pausing after opening the door. ‘Can I give you a lift somewhere?’
‘No, it’s all right.’ Leanne smiled. ‘I only live round the corner.’
‘Me too! Leighton Avenue. Oh, but of course you already know that, don’t you, seeing as you’ve just seen me there. Duh!’ Ben gave a self-deprecating grin and slapped himself on the forehead. ‘Right, well, I’d best stop waffling and let you go. Oh, but I should probably take your number first, so Jake can get hold of you.’
Laughing, because he had to be one of the ditziest men she’d ever met, Leanne gave him her number, and then watched as he jumped into his car and drove away, almost colliding with a bus in his haste to get back to Jake.
Desperate to tell Chrissie what had happened, but conscious that her friend wasn’t allowed to take personal calls during work hours, Leanne sent her a text message as she let herself into the bedsit a few minutes later, asking her to call ASAP.
Assuming that Chrissie must be on a break when, almost immediately, her phone started ringing, she answered it without checking the screen.
‘You’ll never guess what just happened . . . I only bumped into Jake Pearce on my way home from the job centre!’
‘I know. I was there.’
Mortified when she realized it was Jake, Leanne held the phone away from her mouth and let out a silent scream.
‘Leanne . . . ?’ His voice floated up to her. ‘Are you there?’
‘Yes, I’m here,’ she said, her cheeks blazing as she dropped the newspaper on to the bed and shrugged out of her jacket. ‘Sorry, I thought you were Chrissie.’
‘I kind of guessed that. So, Ben tells me he bumped into you at the shops?’
‘Almost literally.’ Leanne sat down to pull off her boots. ‘He practically ran me over, and then nearly crashed into a bus.’
‘He’s a disaster waiting to happen, that one.’ Jake chuckled. ‘Thanks for giving him your number, though. Does this mean we can forget about earlier and start again?’
‘I suppose so,’ she agreed. ‘But, like I said to your friend, if I find out you were lying about Sally, I’ll—’
‘I wasn’t,’ Jake cut in. ‘And I swear I didn’t give her my number. You’re the only girl I’m interested in, and I’ll prove it if you give me the chance.’
Leanne breathed in deeply when her stomach fluttered. ‘Okay, I suppose I’m willing to give you the benefit of the doubt.’
‘Great!’ Jake sounded relieved. ‘So are we still on for tonight? Only there’s a restaurant in town that I thought we could try. Ben took his mum there for her birthday, and he reckons the food’s really good.’
‘Oh . . .’ Leanne’s heart sank. ‘I didn’t realize you wanted to go to a restaurant. I thought we were just going for a coffee?’
‘In case you hadn’t heard, they sell coffee at restaurants these days,’ Jake quipped. ‘But I’m easy if you’d rather go to a cafe or something.’
Leanne caught a hint of disappointment in his voice, and said, ‘No, the restaurant will be fine. But I’ll pay my share,’ she added, praying as she said it that Chrissie would lend her some money.
‘Behave!’ Jake said sternly. ‘I invited you, so I’m paying – and don’t insult me by arguing about it. I’ll pick you up at eight, if that’s okay? What’s your address?’
Too embarrassed to let him come within sniffing distance of the house, Leanne said, ‘Eight’s fine, but I’ve got to nip round to drop something off at a friend’s place later, so why don’t I meet you on the corner where I saw you earlier.’
‘I’ll see you there, then,’ Jake agreed.
After saying goodbye, Leanne tossed the phone on to the bed and, rushing over to the wardrobe, yanked the door open. The drab collection of clothes that faced her killed her excitement stone dead. She’d had some lovely dresses when she was living with Dean, but she’d made the mistake of leaving everything behind when she stormed out after catching him screwing another woman in their bed, and by the time she’d felt able to confront him, the bastard had done a flit and the landlord had cleared the place out. And, just to add insult to injury, when Leanne had gone to the bank to withdraw her half of their joint savings, she’d found out that Dean had already emptied their account – and there hadn’t been a damn thing she could do about it.
Time was supposed to be a healer, but the hurt and anger were never too far from the surface, and Leanne doubted that she would ever truly get over it.
Which made her wonder if she’d made the right decision in agreeing to go out with Jake tonight.
As gorgeous as he was, and as undeniably flattering as it was to know that he still liked her after all these years, she didn’t know the first thing about him, and she wasn’t sure she could take it if he turned out to be another Dean.
Thinking that it would probably be better if she put a stop to this before it went any further and she ended up getting hurt again, Leanne reached for her phone to call Jake and tell him she’d changed her mind. But it started ringing before she had the chance, and this time it was Chrissie.
‘I’m rushed off my feet, so this will have to be quick. What’s up?’
‘It doesn’t matter.’ Leanne slumped down on the bed and flopped back against the pillows. ‘I was only going to tell you that I bumped into Jake Pearce this morning and ended up agreeing to go out for
dinner with him tonight. But—’
‘Whoa! Back up there a minute, lady! You agreed to do what?’
‘Go out for dinner with Jake.’
‘Really? And Sally’s okay with that is she?’
‘That was a misunderstanding. He told me he’s not seeing her.’
‘Oh, well, if he’s told you, then it must be true,’ Chrissie said sarcastically. ‘It’s not like he’d be stupid enough to admit he’s seeing another woman when he’s trying to get into your knickers, is it? And we obviously imagined they were all over each other last night.’
‘That wasn’t what it looked like,’ Leanne said defensively. ‘Sally approached him, and he was only being polite.’
‘Mmmm . . .’ Chrissie didn’t sound convinced. ‘Well, I hope that’s the truth, because I’d hate you to get messed about again. Just promise you won’t rush into anything, ’cos—’
‘If you’d let me speak, I was going to tell you that I’m not going,’ Leanne interrupted. ‘I was about to ring him when you called.’
‘Why?’
‘Because it’s not worth the risk.’
‘Don’t be daft,’ Chrissie argued. ‘I know you loved Dean and it broke your heart when he turned out to be the world’s biggest prick, but you can’t tar every man with the same brush, babe.’
‘Bloody hell, you’ve changed your tune, haven’t you?’ Leanne snorted. ‘A minute ago you were making out like I was an idiot for agreeing to go out with him, and now you’re trying to persuade me to go. Make your mind up.’
‘I don’t know him well him enough to have an opinion either way,’ Chrissie admitted. ‘But you spoke to him, and if you believed him, that’s fine by me.’
‘I actually did,’ Leanne said truthfully. ‘And I do really like him. I’m just not sure I’m ready to start dating again.’
‘Well, you’d best hurry up and get ready,’ Chrissie said bluntly. ‘You ain’t no spring chicken, baby.’
‘Thanks!’ Leanne spluttered. ‘I thought you were supposed to be making me feel better, not worse.’
‘Only trying to help.’ Chrissie was unapologetic. ‘Look at it this way: if you go out with Jake and it doesn’t work out, you won’t have lost anything, but you will have had a laugh and a nice dinner. And if you’re really lucky, you might even get a bit of dessert,’ she added with a sly chuckle.
‘I don’t think so!’ said Leanne. ‘This isn’t a date date, so there’ll be none of that, thank you very much.’
‘If you say so,’ Chrissie scoffed. Then, more seriously, ‘Just promise you’ll get him to walk you to the door if it’s late when you get home, ’cos there were a couple of shifty-looking blokes hanging about round the corner from yours last night. They didn’t do anything, but I could feel them watching me all the way down the street, and it really creeped me out.’
Unnerved by the sound of that, Leanne got up and wandered over to the window. There was nobody outside, apart from Speedy, who was kneeling on the pavement below fiddling with the bike that supposedly belonged to his friend. Afraid that he might spot her and accuse her of spying on him, she stepped back and gazed into her wardrobe again.
‘Jake wants to take me to a restaurant, but I’ve got nothing decent to wear. Do you think your Tina would lend me something? She’s around the same size as me, and she always looks good.’
‘She should look good, the amount she spends on clothes,’ Chrissie said scathingly. ‘Or, should I say, the amount the idiot men she goes out with spend on them. I swear she’s a prostitute on the sly.’
‘Don’t be wicked. She’s not that bad.’
‘Oh, she is, believe me.’
‘Will you ask her?’
‘No.’
‘Aw, please, Chrissie. I’m desperate.’
‘I said I’m not asking her, but I didn’t say I wouldn’t get you anything,’ Chrissie said slyly. ‘What kind of look are you going for?’
‘Something classy,’ said Leanne. ‘You know what suits me.’
‘Okay, leave it with me. I’ll nip home after work and grab something. What time’s Jake coming for you?’
‘I said I’d meet him on the corner of Leighton Ave at eight.’
‘How very romantic,’ Chrissie teased. ‘Are you sure he’s taking you to a restaurant and not down the park with a bottle of cider?’
‘Oh, ha ha, very funny,’ Leanne drawled. ‘It was my idea to meet him there, actually. I can’t let him come here while it stinks of drain, can I?’
‘Ah, I’d forgotten about that. Have you spoken to your landlord yet?’
‘Yeah, he came round this morning. Apparently, I called him last night when I was drunk and left a message. I haven’t got a clue what I said, but it did the trick, so it should get sorted in a month or so.’
‘A month?’ Chrissie was outraged. ‘He can’t leave it that long. Tell him you’re going to report him if he doesn’t do it sooner.’
‘I can’t,’ Leanne admitted sheepishly. ‘There’s a problem with my rent, and he’s already threatening to evict me.’
‘What problem?’
Reluctant to go into it now, Leanne said, ‘I’ll tell you when I see you. You’ve got to get back to work, and I need to start getting ready.’
‘It’s not even lunchtime yet,’ Chrissie pointed out. ‘I thought you weren’t going out till eight?’
‘I’m not. But I need to take a shower, and you know how long my hair takes to dry. And then I’ll have to do my make-up. And it’s been a while since I wore any, so I’ll probably need a few goes at it before I get it right.’
‘God, you’re hopeless.’ Chrissie tutted. ‘Leave it till I get there. I’ll do it for you.’
‘Thanks,’ Leanne said gratefully. ‘But no red lipstick.’
‘And what’s wrong with red?’
‘Nothing – on you. But it makes me look like a super slut.’
‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ Chrissie argued. ‘I’ve seen you in red and you look amazing. You’re just scared because you’ve forgotten what it feels like to have a man think you’re sexy.’
Leanne couldn’t deny that. She was scared. She hadn’t been intimate with a man since Dean, and she was scared of giving off the wrong signals: too tarty, and Jake would think she was up for instant sex; too conservative, he’d think he was on a date with his aunt. It was a minefield of uncertainties and, once again, she thought about calling it off.
After saying goodbye to Chrissie, Leanne went to the bathroom to check if the temperamental shower was running hot or cold today. Relieved when it started to heat up, she went back into the bedroom to get undressed. She would make a firm decision about Jake later, but there was no harm in getting ready in the meantime.
5
Excited about her friend’s impending date, because neither of them had had a whiff of male action in over a year – three, in her case – Chrissie rushed straight home after leaving work. Glad to find that Tina was out when she got there, she ran up to her bedroom to root out some decent clothes for Leanne from her sister’s vast collection.
Annoyed to find the room in a complete mess, with clothes strewn all over the floor and make-up and dirty cotton wool balls littering the dressing table, Chrissie cursed Tina under her breath. They had shared this room when they were growing up, but it had been Chrissie’s alone since she’d moved back home after losing her dad and her fiancé in quick succession three years earlier. This room had been her sanctuary, and she had relished the peace and order she’d managed to create. But that had all changed when Tina had turned up like the proverbial bad penny a few months ago, and it was now a constant battle to keep the room tidy.
At the sound of the front door opening, Chrissie cocked an ear when she heard Tina yell: ‘No, Jimmy, it is not okay. You promised to take me out tonight, and now you’re telling me you can’t, because your stupid girlfriend’s having her stupid friends round for stupid fucking dinner? Well, I hope it fucking chokes you! And don’t think I’ll be sitting aro
und waiting for you, ’cos I won’t. There are plenty of men who’d jump at the chance to take me out, and they’ve all got bigger dicks than you!’
When Tina abruptly cut the call and started stomping up the stairs, Chrissie snatched a handful of clothes from the heap on her bed and stuffed them into a plastic bag. Hiding it inside her coat, she walked out of the bedroom just as Tina reached the landing.
‘Everything okay?’
‘Mind your own fucking business!’ Tina snarled, pushing past her and going into the bathroom.
Smirking when Tina slammed the door in her face, Chrissie went downstairs and popped her head around the living room door to say hello. When she saw that her mum was fast asleep on the sofa with Tina’s two-year-old son, Dylan, in her arms, she quietly backed out again and set off for Leanne’s place.
*
Leanne hadn’t been joking when she’d told Chrissie that it was going to take a long time to get ready. Her dad had always joked that her mum must have had an affair with a gypsy, because her hair was so much darker and thicker than either of theirs. But that thickness made it an absolute nightmare to style, and it was even harder to manage since she’d let it grow so long.
She hadn’t been able to afford a trip to the hairdresser’s in months, and didn’t trust herself to go near it with scissors, so it was almost down to her waist by now. She usually kept it tied up in a pony or plait, but she wanted to make a special effort for Jake, so she’d spent the afternoon laboriously curling it one section at a time with her ancient heated rollers. It was hanging down her back in glossy waves now, and she’d pinned it up at the sides, leaving just two long tendrils loose to frame her face.
It had taken the better part of the day to achieve, and her arms were aching from lifting, rolling, unrolling, and rolling again, but she was pleased with the result. Now all she needed was for Chrissie to hurry up and get here, to finish the job and turn her into a restaurant-worthy date.
Still in her dressing gown when Chrissie arrived at last, Leanne was dismayed to see that her friend was still dressed in her smart work clothes.
‘Haven’t you been home yet?’ she asked as Chrissie flopped into the armchair and kicked off her stiletto-heeled shoes. ‘I’ve only got half an hour.’
Run Page 4
