B01ESFW7JE

by Cathy Bramley

  ‘If you step up closer to the edge,’ continued the little boy, clearly not interested in the answer to his own question, ‘you can see the Statue of Liberty.’

  ‘Really?’ She raised an eyebrow. Her breathing was almost normal now. Seven out of ten.

  ‘It’s the Roman goddess of liberty,’ he recited. ‘A memorial to our independence. We just did it in school,’ he added as an aside. ‘See it?’

  ‘Yes, I can see.’ Jo flicked her eyes quickly out to the right over the river and back to meet his challenging stare.

  ‘No, you can’t.’ The little boy rolled his eyes at her as if he’d just caught her out lying about washing behind her ears.

  She laughed at his cheekiness. The fear factor had slipped a notch. She was now down to six. Six, if she was honest with herself, was naff all. She must have been at around nine out of ten that time she realized she’d switched USB sticks at Global and she’d survived that ordeal, hadn’t she?

  Her stretch of the observation deck was pretty empty, just herself, the boy and the boy’s mother, who was scanning the horizon through the viewfinder of the telescope. Carrie and Sarah must be round the opposite side somewhere. She wished they could see her now; they’d be so proud. Jo took a shaky step towards the edge. The wind had picked up a bit; she shivered and pulled her cardigan tight.

  ‘Way to go, ma’am,’ said the security guard, nodding encouragingly at her.

  ‘Closer. You need to go right to the edge,’ the little boy urged her.

  ‘OK, OK,’ snapped Jo.

  She lurched in one fast movement towards the metal fence and clutched on to it. Her heart was hammering so hard in her chest that she had to look down to check it wasn’t actually visible through the fabric of her T-shirt.

  Deep breaths, deep breaths. She inhaled and exhaled until her grip on the fence lessened. She’d done it. She, Jo Gold, had made it to the top of the Empire State Building. By herself. OK, with a small amount of input from a bossy child and a security guard. She laughed out loud with pride. All she had to do now was open her eyes.

  ‘Jo!’

  She released one hand from the fence and whirled round to come face to face with Patrick. He was grinning at her, red-faced and a bit sweaty and weighed down with shopping bags.

  ‘Patrick!’ she gasped, realizing that she was completely overjoyed to see him.

  ‘Urgh,’ muttered the little boy. He turned away and folded his arms.

  ‘I’ve just seen Carrie and Sarah round the other side. They said you were indoors. Aren’t you terrified of heights?’

  Jo cast her eye through the fence, feigning nonchalance. ‘I was.’ A rogue wave of dizziness caused her to sway precariously. ‘Still am.’

  ‘Whoa!’ Patrick dropped his bags and caught hold of her waist. ‘I’ve got you.’

  ‘Thank you,’ she whispered. Her heart was doing that hammering thing again, but this time it had nothing to do with the fact that she was nearly a quarter of a mile above New York.

  ‘What would you do without me, Gold?’ he quipped, grinning at her.

  This was her cue to tease him, say something like how she could manage perfectly well without him, thank you very much. But her mouth was dry, her head was spinning and her legs felt leaden.

  He was looking at her very strangely, with a sincerity that made her cheeks flush. He had lovely eyes, she thought. Why hadn’t she noticed that before? Sort of smoky and intense.

  Patrick still had his hands round her waist. Her hands were braced against his chest. It should have been awkward but it wasn’t. It was reassuring. It felt right. She took a deep breath and blew out sharply. Stay brave, Jo, she told herself, although inexplicably, her fear had crept back up to seven out of ten and adrenalin was doing a Zumba class through her veins.

  ‘I had to come and find you,’ he said.

  He was still smiling but his voice was trembling. Unfit, obviously.

  ‘Did you?’ Various worrying scenarios raced through Jo’s mind. She forced herself to calm down; he was smiling. It couldn’t be bad news. Which meant by a process of elimination that it must be good news. Relax. Six out of ten.

  She was glad she had flat shoes on. In heels, she was nearly the same height as Patrick. It was quite nice looking up at him for a change. She felt uncharacteristically girlie.

  Patrick’s grin grew wider. ‘Global Duty Free have cancelled their order with Hooray Henry. Ian phoned me while I was in … while I was shopping.’

  ‘Oh my God!’ She swallowed and nodded for him to continue.

  ‘The so-called celebrity designer has checked into rehab for drug abuse. Global can’t risk having anything to do with them if there’s even a whiff of scandal. So …’ He paused for dramatic effect, his lovely eyes shining with excitement. ‘The Josephine Gold collection is going to be stocked for the Best of British campaign! They’ve placed the order already.’

  Patrick increased the pressure on her waist with his hands. The unbelievable announcement he had just made, along with the delicious sensations produced by his touch, were almost too much for her brain to deal with and her pulse had slipped into overdrive.

  ‘We’re back in business,’ marvelled Jo, her voice all husky with emotion. ‘Oh my GOD, PATRICK!’

  No way could her dad justify a return to work now. The two of them grinned wildly at each other.

  ‘Are you gonna kiss her?’ a little voice piped up. Patrick looked down at the small boy and back to Jo with a bemused expression.

  Well, are you?

  Jo blushed at her inner thoughts. Where had that come from? Did she mean it? She must be getting carried away. This was her ultimate romantic fantasy, her magical moment. The top of the Empire State Building, a cloudless sky, panoramic view of Manhattan, and in the arms of … Patrick.

  ‘Sorry about him.’ Jo’s eyes flicked briefly to the Jonah lookalike, who drummed his fingers on one knee impatiently and stared back at them. ‘He’s very nosy.’

  ‘Jo, I need to tell you something,’ stammered Patrick, still staring at the boy.

  ‘Let’s go, honey.’ The mother held out her hand, the boy climbed to his feet and they began to walk away.

  ‘Kiss her!’ said the child, over his shoulder.

  Suddenly she was struck by a realization so strong that it simply took her breath away: there was nowhere else in the world she would rather be than here, in Patrick’s arms. It didn’t matter how high up she was, or how scared, or how difficult the situation was; as long as Patrick was by her side, she would be OK. Goosebumps sent a shiver down her spine and her heart fluttered as she gazed up at the face she knew so well. This man had been her confidant, her friend and her supporter.

  But he was so much more than that.

  And on Friday she was letting him walk out of her life.

  What an idiot she had been! Why had she only just worked it out? Maybe if she had been more honest with him, told him how devastated she had been when he resigned, she might have changed his mind. Maybe it wasn’t too late.

  ‘Jo?’

  His dark eyes were searching hers. And in a moment of absolute clarity, Jo knew that he wanted her as much as she wanted him. The strength of his feelings was unmistakable. The girls had been right: he did have feelings for her. Her body started to tremble.

  ‘You heard the boy,’ she murmured.

  Patrick loosened his grip on her waist and slowly cupped her face in his hands. Her skin tingled at his touch. She closed her eyes and felt her body melt into his as their lips met for the first time. As if following some inaudible instruction, they took a tiny step towards each other until their bodies were completely entwined. Jo slid her hands round his neck and wove her fingers through his hair, savouring their closeness, not wanting this precious moment to end.

  ‘Whoo-hoo!’

  A round of applause eventually broke into Jo’s consciousness and she reluctantly pulled herself away from Patrick’s kiss. He let go of her face and took her hands in his.

&nbs
p; ‘Yes, ma’am!’ The security man smiled at her and gave her the thumbs-up.

  Her previously empty section of the deck was now heaving with a group of shivering twenty-something girls, who judging by their skimpy bumblebee outfits, were part of a hen party and they were all swarming round the pair of them.

  ‘Wow,’ she whispered shakily, vaguely aware that her ears were burning. ‘We just kissed.’

  ‘Jo, I …’ There was a look of confusion on his face. Jo held her breath.

  Please don’t say that was a mistake.

  It might have come out of the blue, but that had been the most perfect kiss of her life. She wanted nothing more than to grab him and do it all over again. She would be devastated if he didn’t feel the same way.

  Patrick rummaged around in the shopping bags at his feet and produced a small turquoise box.

  ‘Tiffany!’ squealed one of the bumblebees.

  ‘Aww!’ shrieked a girl whose sash declared her the queen bee. ‘Oh my God! He’s gonna propose!’

  The other girls began to jiggle and clutch each other, their antennae getting all tangled in the fray.

  Jo swallowed nervously. She was gripped by panic as one fear was replaced by another. This was going too far the other way. He wouldn’t, would he? Please don’t ruin it, she muttered inwardly. It was only a kiss. One kiss. Ten minutes ago she hadn’t even realized she was in love with him.

  In love with him? Bloody hell, this was moving fast. But she was. Definitely. She loved him so much that she almost couldn’t contain herself.

  ‘I had planned on giving you this at my leaving party on Friday.’ He held out the box in front of her. ‘That way if you turned me down, I could have disappeared into the sunset to lick my wounds in private. But up here, just you and me …’ he grinned, jerking his head at their audience ‘… and the rest of the hive, it seems like the right moment to tell you how I feel—’

  ‘Please …’ Jo interrupted, her heart pounding in her chest. Being proposed to, up here, well, it was a dream come true, but … what the hell was she going to say?

  Patrick snapped open the box and her heart swooped with relief.

  ‘It’s beautiful!’ she breathed, looking at the delicate heart pendant on an elegant silver chain.

  ‘It ain’t a ring!’ yelled the queen bee in dismay. The message was quickly relayed around the group and thankfully they buzzed off, leaving Jo and Patrick in relative peace.

  ‘No. It ain’t a ring.’ Patrick grinned at her. He slipped the necklace out of the box and fastened it round her neck. Jo could feel his hands trembling.

  This was the moment. This was her chance. She could be the person she wanted to be; she didn’t have to always be the hard-headed businesswoman. She remembered what he had said to her in that presentation at Global a few weeks ago: Speak from the heart, Jo. From the heart.

  ‘Don’t leave!’ she blurted out.

  Patrick relaxed his shoulders and rewarded her with a euphoric smile. And, if she wasn’t very much mistaken, his eyes looked a little bit misty.

  The silly sod.

  He gave the tiniest nod. ‘You have my heart now, Josephine Gold. I won’t leave you.’

  ‘You are so cheesy, McGregor,’ she said, laughing.

  He pulled her towards him and kissed her again.

  For ages.

  She leaned up against him as they looked out to the southern tip of Manhattan. Her fear of heights had almost evaporated. Perhaps it had something to do with trust, or maybe she had finally let go of the reason for her fear? Or perhaps the joy she was experiencing at sharing this moment with Patrick was so huge that she didn’t have room for any more emotions. A thought struck her suddenly.

  ‘It was a bit of a fluke that you found me here, wasn’t it?’

  He shook his head. ‘Not really, Carrie told me she wanted to be here at around now. She’d researched the quietest time, apparently.’

  The security man’s two-way radio crackled into life.

  ‘Go ahead,’ he shouted, holding it to his ear. ‘A streaker? Location? OK. On my way.’

  Jo caught hold of the security man’s burgundy sleeve as he prepared to dash off. ‘What is it?’

  ‘No need to be alarmed, ma’am,’ said the security guard, patting her hand as he removed it from his arm. ‘Some joker has started to strip on the west side. Assistance required.’ He gave her his best action-hero smile and darted off, elbowing his way through the crowds. Within seconds he had disappeared out of sight. Jo and Patrick stared at each other in disbelief.

  ‘Come on,’ Patrick said, laughing as he scooped up his bags and caught her hand in his. ‘This we have got to see.’

  A crowd had gathered on the west side of the observation deck, around the central telescope. There was clapping and cheering and people were holding their cameras, phones and camcorders high up above the sea of heads.

  Jo and Patrick arrived just as a familiar Marks & Spencer’s halter-neck dress billowed up into the air and got caught on a metal spike of the safety fence.

  ‘Bloody hell!’ Jo froze, her jaw somewhere near her knees, and pointed ahead. ‘That’s Carrie’s dress.’

  And straddled rather precariously astride a coin-operated telescope was Carrie, arms akimbo, wearing nothing but a teeny-weeny bikini and a radiant smile. Sarah was gazing up at her in awe and hanging on to her thighs for safety.

  ‘My bikini body!’ Carrie yelled triumphantly. ‘It may not be perfect, but it’s all real! Take a look, people. For one day only.’

  ‘What’s your name, honey?’ cried a tall man, busily snapping away with his camera. ‘And where are you from?’

  ‘Carrie Radley.’ She beamed, waving at the flurry of camcorders that were pointing in her direction. ‘I’m a florist. Visit Carrie’s Blooms in Woodby for the most beautiful flowers in England!’

  The crowd cheered even louder. Someone tossed a bunch of sunflowers into the air and Carrie caught them.

  ‘Sunflowers,’ she cried, blowing the onlookers a kiss. ‘The boldest, brightest flowers of all!’

  Jo clapped a hand over her mouth as Carrie waved the bouquet in the air.

  Some people called out her name to get a better picture. Taller members of the crowd jumped up to try to reach the dress. There was an almighty tearing sound as the fabric tore down the middle, leaving a tiny scrap of fabric on the jagged tip of the fence.

  Two uniformed men pushed their way to the centre of the action. Carrie dived neatly into the arms of one of them like a crowd-surfer, whilst Jo’s friendly security guard removed his jacket and slipped it round her scantily clad body.

  Sarah sprang into action, whipped open her bag and began distributing a pile of newly printed business cards to the audience.

  ‘Please tag us on Facebook,’ she yelled, above the clamour of the crowds and the continuing flash of cameras, ‘Carrie Radley and Sarah Hudson, as in the river. As in that river down there!’

  ‘Jesus,’ Patrick murmured. ‘What the hell is going on?’

  Jo was laughing so hard that tears were trickling down her face; Patrick looked totally bewildered. ‘She’s making her wish come true,’ she said, wiping her eyes. ‘We all made a wish months ago. Hers was to wear a bikini in public. I had no idea she was planning this, though.’

  ‘What was yours?’ Patrick asked, raising a quizzical eyebrow.

  Her heart was leaping around like a demented frog. Careful, Jo, she told herself. She could not mess with this gorgeous man’s head. He wasn’t a married man after an illicit squeeze, she couldn’t love him and leave him and forget it never happened. She was Holly’s godmother, for heaven’s sake. She took a deep breath. If she kissed him now, she would have to do that big scary commitment thing. But that wouldn’t be so bad, would it?

  ‘Come on, Gold,’ he laughed.

  She pretended to huff. ‘You just missed it. But I suppose I could do it again.’

  With a backdrop of New York skyscrapers set against a perfect cerulean September sky,
Jo wrapped her arms around Patrick’s neck and kissed him long and hard.

  ‘What a coincidence,’ he murmured, gazing into her eyes. ‘I’ve been wishing for the same thing for years.’

  ‘Really?’

  He nodded. ‘Even Melissa knew how I felt about you. She was brilliant about it really and knew I’d never be unfaithful to her, so she set me free.’

  Jo nodded thoughtfully. That would explain why Melissa had been frosty towards her in the last year of their marriage. ‘But you were still prepared to leave Gold’s?’

  ‘I told you a bit of a white lie there.’ He gave her a bashful smile. ‘It was Ed’s idea. He guessed straight away that I had the hots for you and told me to man up and come clean. He also suggested that you’d appreciate me more if I left the company.’

  ‘But you’re not, are you?’ she asked nervously, tightening her grip round his neck as she pulled him in for another kiss.

  ‘Urgh. Please.’ The little boy was back.

  Jo leaned away from him reluctantly, her heart bursting with the rush of love she felt for this man. She and Patrick looked at each other and laughed. The mother smiled an apology. Behind them stood Sarah and Carrie, fizzing with excitement, hands clasped to their hearts like emotional aunties at a wedding, albeit oddly dressed and, in Carrie’s case, flanked by security guards.

  A mobile phone began to ring. Everyone, from the onlookers, to security, even to Jonah’s mother, started patting down pockets and fumbling through handbags.

  ‘Mum!’ said Jo breathlessly, answering her phone after a frantic search. ‘Is everything OK? You’ll never guess where I am: the top of the Empire State Building!’

  ‘Yes, we’re fine and well done, darling, and you’re all right? Not tempted to throw yourself off?’

  Jo looked at Patrick, her eyes shining with love. ‘No, not at all and guess what else? I’ve met someone in New York!’

  ‘Oh finally, that’s marvellous, darling! I’d better get knitting. Tick tock!’

  ‘Knitting? Mum!’ She looked at Patrick and shook her head in despair.

  ‘For baby’s layette.’

  Jo smiled. ‘I think people go to John Lewis these days.’ Why was she even having this conversation?