‘Hey.’ Seb, his face wreathed with smiles, jogged over. ‘Perfect timing, as always.’ He bent to give her a chaste, yet perfectly natural, kiss on the mouth. ‘Belinda’s just gone to get herself a drink. Why don’t I introduce you?’
As she struggled to find her composure, he took her hand and turned to the dozen or so kids – youths – who stood in a group, watching them. ‘This is Maggie, everyone. She’s going to be my dance partner in the competition.’ He gave her a sidelong glance, and smiled. ‘She’s also my girlfriend.’
Well, that resolved who she was here as, Maggie thought as she listened to the chorus of whoops and whistles.
‘You kept that secret.’ A girl/young woman with dyed black hair and huge hoop earrings looked her over.
‘Maggie, this is Hayley. She’s the one who asked to meet you.’
‘Yeah, only ’cos he was acting all coy, messaging you while he forced us to watch that Strictly programme.’
‘There was no forcing, Hayley.’ Seb laughed, shaking his head. ‘And I seem to remember you enjoyed some parts of it.’
Hayley started to laugh, and as the others around joined in, Maggie had the feeling they were sharing a secret joke.
‘Oh yeah, the parts where we watched that guy with the see-through shirt.’ She flicked a look a Maggie. ‘The shirt Maggie wants you to wear.’
Maggie froze, dread pooling in her stomach. Had he really shown them her text? Embarrassment hurtled through her and she didn’t know where to look, what to say.
Thankfully at that moment Belinda came in, clutching a mug. ‘Right then, class, today, as we have Maggie joining us, I thought we’d do the rumba.’ She threw a warm smile in Maggie’s direction. ‘It’s the dance Maggie and Seb have chosen to do for the competition.’
Belinda went on to discuss the origins of rumba, and the kids, thank God, turned their focus towards her, and away from Maggie.
‘Hey.’ Seb stepped up to her, reaching for her hand. ‘It isn’t like it sounds.’
Maggie snatched her hand away, too hurt, too angry to be consoled right now. ‘I hope not. Because it sounds like you were discussing a private text with a group of kids.’ It was more than that. Maggie could vividly recall how long and hard she’d considered her words. The first time she’d tried flirting again for so, so long.
‘It wasn’t like that.’
He had no chance to explain any further though, because Belinda had said their name. And oh joy, now she and Seb were going to have to demonstrate the most sensual, sexy dance in ballroom, when all she wanted to do was run out of the room, back to her car, and return to the sanctuary of her home.
Seb’s hips wouldn’t glide, his body wouldn’t bend. He felt stiff and inflexible. About as sexy as a sheet of MDF.
It didn’t help that the group were laughing at him, though in all honesty he’d have been happy to have the piss taken out of him, if Maggie had been laughing, too. She wasn’t, because she believed he was the sort of guy who got a flirty text from a woman and then, what, bragged about it to everyone he saw?
‘Seb, you’ve missed the spot turn to the left.’
Shit, there he went again. He gave Belinda an apologetic smile.
‘What’s wrong with you this evening? I’ve seen Maggie dance better, but you Seb, you’re more wooden than my pine dresser.’
The group tittered. ‘Yeah, sorry, Miss but I don’t get this rumba thing.’ Rylan smirked over at him. ‘Seb’s kind of hard to watch.’
‘Umm, on tonight’s performance I have to agree. Why don’t you dance with Maggie instead, Rylan,’ Belinda suggested. ‘I’ll show you what to do. Heaven knows, you can’t do a worse job.’
His humiliation now complete, Seb reluctantly stepped back. Rylan strutted over and took Maggie’s hand. The worse of it was, she actually looked relieved.
‘You’re pretty rubbish,’ Hayley told him as he went to stand next to her.
‘Tonight, yes.’
He was aware of her studying him. ‘Is that ’cos of what I said, about you messaging her? Are you, like, angry with me?’
Hayley was tough as nails, but there was something in the defensive way she stood, the way she didn’t meet his eyes, that told him she was worried. ‘No, Hayley, I’m not angry with you.’
She was silent for a moment, chewing on the inevitable gum. ‘You didn’t tell her I read the text, did you?’
‘No. To be honest, I’d forgotten all about it.’ Not the text itself, that had been a real high spot. It simply hadn’t occurred to him how she might feel about others seeing it. It wasn’t as if it was crude, or wildly intimate.
‘I don’t think she was happy when I mentioned the see-through shirt.’ Another few chews. ‘Sorry.’
Surprised, he glanced at Hayley. ‘What for?’
‘I shouldn’t have read what was on your phone.’
‘No.’ He dug his hands into his pockets. ‘But it’s not like you deliberately hacked into it. You stole it for a laugh, and then read it because it was there, on the screen.’
Whatever Hayley had been about to say was interrupted when the doors to the hall swung open and Winston, one of the other youth workers, ran in, carrying a kid in his arms. ‘Is there a Maggie here, Seb’s friend? The Maggie who’s a doctor?’
Maggie, who’d been in the middle of demonstrating an underarm turn, cleared her throat. ‘That’s me.’
‘Thank God. Seb said you were coming tonight, and I remembered him saying you were a doctor.’ He nodded down to the kid he was carrying in his arms. ‘Josh here was complaining of feeling tired and then he started fitting.’
Immediately Maggie rushed over, and Seb watched in a kind of awed fascination as she calmly took over. Josh was laid on the ground and Maggie began to talk to Winston, asking questions. Seb could hear bits of the conversation: epileptic, diabetic, injection.
‘Is he gonna be okay?’ Kiara stared, almost in a daze, and Seb realised this was probably the first time most of them would have seen such a trauma.
‘He’s in great hands.’ He squeezed Kiara’s shoulder. ‘Come on, everyone, let’s go to another room and give them some privacy.’
Belinda was brilliant, her no-nonsense attitude the perfect distraction. In no time she had them dancing again, and Seb couldn’t help but notice the way Rylan’s gaze never strayed far from Hayley.
‘You were pretty good dancing with Maggie earlier,’ he told the boy as they watched Hayley and Belinda demonstrate a short routine.
Rylan snorted. ‘You’re only saying that ’cos you were an epic fail.’
‘I’m saying it because it’s true.’ He nodded over to Hayley. ‘Why don’t you enter the competition and ask Hayley to be your partner?’
Rylan shoved his hands in his pockets. ‘Not interested.’
‘That would make sense, if I hadn’t spent the last five minutes watching you watch her.’ Seb paused, trying to order his thoughts. ‘You saw how rubbish I was this evening, but the world didn’t end. You all had a bit of a laugh, but that’s okay, I deserved it. I suspect you’ll continue to rib me about it next time I see you, but again that’s okay, because I’m going to keep practising. And maybe when it comes to the final, I’ll be better.’
‘Couldn’t be worse,’ Rylan muttered.
Seb laughed. ‘True, but the thing is, worrying about looking stupid, about failing, isn’t going to stop me from doing what I want to do.’ He paused, trying to catch Rylan’s eye, but not succeeding. ‘Don’t let it stop you, either.’
It was half an hour later when Maggie popped her head around the door. Immediately Seb left Belinda’s side, where he’d been watching the group dance, or more particularly watching Hayley trying, and failing, to get Rylan to dance. So much for his pep talk.
‘How’s Josh?’ he asked, studying her face, trying to gauge how serious the situation was.
She smiled, eyes calm. ‘He’s fine. He’s a diabetic and experienced a hypoglycaemic attack. Winston found his glucagon injection
and he came round straight away. His parents have just picked him up.’
‘Thank God.’ Seb ran a hand through his hair, and then laughed softly. ‘Or maybe I should say thank you.’
‘No need, believe me. Winston and Josh’s parents have said it far too many times already. I only gave him an injection.’
‘You worked out what was wrong first.’ He wanted to hug her, but it wasn’t the right place, and she was still unhappy with him, so he pushed his hands into his pockets.
‘Winston would have got there in the end.’ She glanced up at him. ‘I suspect you’ve done first aid as well, so you would have done too.’
‘Yeah, maybe.’ He could still remember the way his heart had raced when Winston had come rushing in. ‘It’s one thing learning about it, another dealing with it when it happens in front of you.’ His eyes found hers and just in case she couldn’t read what he was feeling, he told her. ‘I’m in awe of you.’
Her breath hitched, but anything she might have said was halted when Hayley suddenly appeared in front of them.
‘Is Josh…’ She swallowed. ‘Is he okay?’
‘He’s fine, Hayley.’ Maggie gave her a warm smile. ‘His blood sugar just got too low, so we gave it a boost.’
‘Cool.’ Hayley’s eyes darted to Seb. ‘Can I talk to Maggie for a minute? Like, by ourselves?’
Seb’s heart bounced. What on earth was that about? The last thing his relationship with Maggie needed was a dose of Hayley’s subtle-as-a-brick, though no doubt well-intentioned, help. Yet if he said no, wasn’t he just doing what he suspected others in Hayley’s life had done: dismissing her?
‘Sure.’
With a last, lingering look at Maggie, he turned and walked back to the group.
Maggie was quiet as Seb walked her back to her car. He itched to ask what she and Hayley had talked about, but realised it was none of his business. When they reached her car, he gave her a tight smile. ‘Thanks for coming tonight.’ Placing a hand on the roof of the car, he leant in towards her, his body wanting the connection though his mind knew he shouldn’t push it. ‘It’s not usually so… fraught.’ Maggie nodded, fiddling with the car keys in her hand, and Seb wondered if that was it. She was just going to get in the car and leave him in limbo land. ‘Look, about—’
‘Hayley told me she’d pinched your phone and read the message I sent.’
‘Yeah.’ He pushed his hand off the car roof and took a step away from her. ‘I’m sorry. I was distracted and didn’t realise what she’d done, until it was too late.’ He found her eyes. ‘I should have told you, but at the time it didn’t seem important.’
‘No.’ She sighed, and he waited tensely, knowing her well enough now to realise she was picking out the words she wanted to use. ‘I overreacted.’ Again, she began to play with the keys. ‘I’m so out of practice at all this: messaging, flirting. I imagined you all laughing at what I’d written.’ She winced, shaking her head. ‘It made me feel stupid, and foolish, and old.’
His hands flew to her shoulders. ‘Good God, Mags.’ He tried to order his thoughts, like she had, but his brain was going a million miles an hour. ‘Sure, I laughed at it, that’s what got me into trouble, made them realise I was messaging you, but it wasn’t laughter in the way you mean. I remember feeling so happy, I almost punched the air. I was so high I didn’t even care that Hayley was blabbing about it to everyone a few minutes later.’ He forced his hands to relax their death grip on her, his voice to soften. ‘It was the first time I felt I really had a chance with you.’
On a soft exhale, Maggie leant forward and rested her head against his chest. ‘I’m sorry. I should have let you explain before assuming the worst.’ Placing her hands on his chest, she looked up at him with sad eyes. ‘I really put the kibosh on our rumba, didn’t I?’
He tucked a wayward piece of hair behind her ear. ‘It is kind of hard to dance sexily with someone when you’re half afraid they’re about to knee you in the groin.’
She laughed, the sound muffled against his chest. ‘I wasn’t about to do that. In fact, I was rather hoping to play with those important parts next weekend.’
He groaned, hugging her closer, feeling his body twitch and harden. ‘How can you say you’re out of practice at flirting? From what I’ve seen, you’re a real pro.’ And only then did her words sink in. ‘What’s happening next weekend?’
‘Paul is taking the girls to see his parents. They live in Cornwall, so they’ll…’ He felt her body heave as she sighed. ‘They’ll be staying overnight.’
‘Something you’re not looking forward to, I suspect.’
‘It’s the first time I’ll have been away from them in, well, so long I can hardly remember. I’m trying to be stoic, and plan how I can use the time, so I don’t spend it sitting at home and fretting.’
He kissed her nose, her cheeks, and finally her lips, his mind already plotting. ‘Leave it to me. I have an idea how to distract you.’
She smiled up at him. ‘Does it involve a bed?’
‘Absolutely.’
And maybe that’s all she really wanted from him, the fun she’d been at pains to point out. A break from the stress of parenting, and the hard career she’d chosen. A distraction when things got tough. It wasn’t all he wanted though, and this was his chance to show her.
Chapter Twenty-Six
This was the worst moment. No, scrub that, watching Penny and Tabby climb into Paul’s Jaguar had been the worst moment. This, sitting by herself, twiddling her thumbs while waiting for Seb to come and pick her up, was only awful because she couldn’t stop thinking about her daughters. Had she reminded Paul that Penny got car sick if she read? That Tabby liked a light on in the landing and her bedroom door open just a little to let the light in at night?
Paul’s got your mobile number. He’ll phone if he has a problem.
Shaking off her worries, she tried to focus on the positive. She had a weekend to look forward to. One she hadn’t organised, didn’t even know where she was going. She was trying to see that as exciting, though the not knowing, being a passive passenger rather than the driver, was rubbing against every instinct.
Where was Seb? How was she, always on time, dating a guy who had such a fluid concept of it? ‘I’ll pick you up at ten’ meant at any time between ten and eleven.
Finally, she saw his car pull up, and his long, lean body jump out of the driver’s side. Dressed casually in a hoodie and jeans, his hair in its characteristic loose style around his face, he looked sexy, handsome. Young. So different to Paul, who’d turned up in smart chino trousers, collared shirt and cashmere jumper. One was raw, vital. The other sophisticated, yet now, with the benefit of distance, she could see her ex was also staid.
‘Hey.’ Seb greeted her with a kiss that made her breathless. ‘All packed?’
Heart pounding, knees weak, she glanced at the case next to the door. The one containing new, matching lacy underwear. Not flesh-coloured, or white, oh no, nothing so sensible. These were in shades of black, midnight blue and red. ‘I wasn’t sure what to take, as you’ve not told me anything about where we’re going.’
‘Ah, the great planner being forced to sit back and let someone else take over.’ He smoothed a hand over her hair, and down her ponytail and smiled. ‘Do I sense some tetchiness?’
‘Maybe,’ she grumbled, handing him the case.
‘Well, we’ve got a bit of a car journey ahead of us, so plenty of time for you to interrogate me.’
It was the first clue that he really had planned something. ‘Can you define a bit? Far enough that we’d be better taking my car?’
His shoulders sagged, just a little. ‘My surprise, Mags, my car.’
Guilt pricked. He was right. No matter how hard it was, she had to take a step back. He’d planned this, he had a right to expect her not to interfere. Damn it, and a right to expect her not to belittle him. ‘Sorry.’ Reaching up, she kissed his cheek. ‘I’m not used to someone else taking over, I’m finding
it a bit of an adjustment. I should warn you it probably won’t be the last time I’ll get on your nerves this weekend.’
He didn’t say anything until he’d settled her case in the boot. Then he pushed her gently against the side of the car, crowding her, his eyes locked on hers. ‘The only thing that will get on my nerves this weekend is you assuming I’m anything like your ex.’ Planting a soft kiss on her lips, he straightened up. ‘I’m a pretty laid-back guy. It takes a lot to annoy me and you haven’t even come close to my threshold.’
She thought back over the time she’d known him. She’d seen him upset, when she’d treated him clumsily, frustrated, too, but she’d not seen him angry. ‘Just wait till you’re locked in a car with me asking you a million questions about where we’re heading.’
He laughed, opening the door for her. ‘Bring it on.’
For the first two hours, the only clue she got out of him was that he hadn’t been there before. Thinking she might be onto something, she phoned Alice to ask where in the North, because that appeared to be the direction they were heading, Seb hadn’t visited.
‘Look at a map, cross off York because I know he went to the transport museum there once, and after that, it could be anywhere,’ Alison had replied.
‘I want a better clue.’
He flicked her a grin. ‘What do you mean? You know we’re not going to York.’
‘I knew that because we’re on the M6 now and not the M1.’
‘Well then, you’re ahead of the game.’
Okay, this was starting to become a competition. Instead of getting the hump, she needed to think. ‘The Lake District.’
‘A quaint old cottage with a four-poster bed and a wood-burning stove? Just across the road from a cosy pub? All that beautiful scenery?’ He let out a dramatic sigh. ‘It would be romantic, wouldn’t it?’
Strictly Come Dating (The Kathryn Freeman Romcom Collection, Book 3) Page 22
