The Leap Year Proposal

Chapter Twenty-seven

Jess

Thursday 27 February

Jess slammed her case shut, picked up her gym bag and headed for the door. She was running late. The irony wasn’t lost on her. Running late for running. Did her subconscious somehow know that although her friendship with Nathan was purely platonic she found him attractive? It would be hard not to. He was very handsome, toned but not buff and to cap it all, he was lovely, and he listened. They were only going for a run, her internal voice reasoned. It wasn’t as if they were booking into a boutique hotel to get down and dirty. But a small voice at the back of her mind told her Mark wouldn’t be happy if he could see his girlfriend getting so close to another guy.

In the end, Jess took the moral high ground as she knew nothing untoward would happen. She’d just finished packing for a trip to Sicily to propose to Mark for goodness’ sake, but it didn’t stop her curiosity wondering again whether Nathan was single.

She rounded the corner and saw him outside the gym doing stretches. He was obviously serious about his warm-up.

‘So sorry I’m late,’ she huffed. ‘Give me a second to drop this bag off and I’m all yours.’

Nathan grinned at her, revealing those pearly whites again, making her heart go all aflutter for a moment. What was wrong with her? Plus she was blushing now, given her inappropriate ‘all yours’ remark. She wished her brain would engage.

‘No problem,’ he called after her.

Jess stowed her bag in a locker and headed back outside, breathless, although she wasn’t sure from what: seeing Nathan or rushing around. Get a grip.

‘So, I thought we could run from here up to Pollok Park and back into Shawlands. Do you think you could manage that?’ Nathan’s eyes shone as he watched her.

‘Let’s hope so.’ Jess gripped her running water bottle. She’d unearthed it in a cupboard late last night. Personally, even though she was fit, she wasn’t sure she would be able to match him for speed, but she was determined to try.

‘Let’s go then, and remember we shouldn’t be going so fast we can’t talk comfortably.’

Jess was a whirl of emotions. She didn’t think she’d be able to talk for two reasons. One, she was feeling a little tongue-tied, and two, she would probably be exhausted, gasping for air.

They chatted as they ran.

‘Baxter really seems to be enjoying your walks together.’

‘He’s a great dog,’ Jess huffed. ‘Full of energy. So sweet too.’

‘Oh, he’s full of energy all right. That’s why I needed another dog walker. He was starting to chew stuff again as he was being left home alone too long.’

‘Don’t you have any family who could have walked him?’ Here was the way to find out, for research purposes only, of course, whether he was attached.

‘No, my family are all back home in South Island.’

She’d pegged him as a Kiwi, although sometimes she’d thought his accent was South African. She found it hard to distinguish them. Funny how his nationality hadn’t come up in their conversations until now.

He fitted her idea of what a Kiwi looked like, now she thought about it. Tall, broad, rugby player– idly she wondered if he played and if he’d ever met Mark– and he was a physio, the kind of occupation she’d equated with someone who fitted that profile.

Now she was overthinking it.

Soon Jess’ conversation dried up as she found the pace tough-going. She should have done those lunges and stretches Nathan did before they started. No doubt she’d pay for it later. She drew parallels between Nathan and Mark, unfairly so, but then apart from the meal he’d sprung upon her, and the thoughtful retreat gift, Mark hadn’t been present much lately, emotionally or physically, even though they lived in the same house. She’d go so far as to say he was more than a little distracted, but then he had a lot on his plate with rugby, extracurricular school activities, parents’ nights, coaching the school team, as well as his catch-ups with his mates. She wasn’t contemplating doing anything with Nathan, except running and enjoying the occasional coffee, or meal, she reminded herself, but it was refreshing to have someone to talk to about things that were of interest to her and not just ‘There’s the gas bill in’, ‘Have you seen my rugby shirt?’, ‘Do you know where my Cross pen is?’, ‘Sorry, was the visit to your mum’s today?’

She realised she’d zoned out when Nathan’s gaze fell on her, a smile upon his lips. ‘So, are you game then?’

Oh Lord, I wasn’t listening. Jess tried to dig herself out of the hole she’d created, saying, ‘What does it involve?’

Again that amused smile, as if he knew she hadn’t been giving him her full attention. Should she fess up?

‘Well, meeting me at the club twice a week to go for a run, slightly longer than this one.’

He must have been talking about training together and she’d asked him a banal question that showed she hadn’t been listening. Right, there was nothing for it. ‘Sorry, I was miles away.’

Nathan looked unfazed, simply giving her a lopsided smile and saying, ‘I’ll have to make my chat more interesting then, but what do you think?’

She was on dangerous territory here. On the one hand, it would be good to have a regular training buddy, as it would spur her on. She would actually go running instead of procrastinating and telling herself she did exercise all day every day, and that was enough. She knew it wasn’t– running used different muscles.

On the other hand, she was aware of the dangers involved in being so close to Nathan so often. And she didn’t want to send him the wrong signals. Maybe she could say yes and then drop into the conversation later that she was off to Sicily that night with her boyfriend. He had never asked if she was attached– why would he? They had only drunk coffee, eaten pasta and gone running together.

‘OK, you’re on, although it depends what times and days you can do.’

‘Don’t worry, we’ll work something out.’

That smile again. It really would melt your heart…or set it racing.

‘You ready to pick up the pace a little?’

Er, no. Can’t you see I’m barely able to keep this pace? ‘Sure.’ At least he won’t find me attractive as I’ll be a sweaty mess every time he sees me.

Nathan was great company. Even though he did most of the talking, often out of necessity as Jess was too out of breath to utter more than a grunt or a one-word answer, he asked her about herself. He didn’t show off or offer many details of his life, apart from when there was common ground with one of Jess’ answers. She wondered again if he was single. He certainly seemed like someone who should be in a relationship, yet there was no wedding ring, but then again so many couples bypassed the marriage stage– hopefully not her– and just lived with each other. She was done with that.

She really needed to stop thinking about him. He was a mate. She cut herself some slack by attributing some of her conflicting feelings and inappropriate thoughts about Nathan to the fact she was a little hacked-off with Mark’s lacklustre efforts the past few months.

They passed people out walking their dogs, as well as friends and couples enjoying a stroll, taking advantage of the unusually mild weather. You could never tell when it would change again. Jess stumbled a few times, but between her catching herself and Nathan righting her, she remained unscathed.

They’d run about another quarter of a mile, when she had to dart to the side unexpectedly as a cyclist coming towards them took up more than his fair share of the path.

‘Aargh,’ yelped Jess.

Nathan pulled up. ‘You OK?’

She gestured with her right hand. ‘My hair’s stuck.’

Her hair had snagged on a low-hanging branch.

‘Here, let me. You can’t see properly from that angle.’ With great care, Nathan untangled the strands of her hair from the branch.

‘Thanks.’ Relief flooded through her. She must have looked a right idiot. A nanosecond later, she became aware of Nathan’s eyes on hers and saw he was still holding a lock of her hair. Trying to drag her gaze away, she said, ‘Sorry, I’m such a klutz. I should have been paying more attention to where I was going.’

Nathan didn’t seem to have heard her, or if he did, her clumsiness didn’t bother him. His eyes didn’t leave hers and his voice dropped to a whisper. ‘I like you, Jess.’

Jess smiled. ‘I like you too. You’re so easy to talk to.’

He shook his head and his lips curved in amusement. ‘No, Jess, I like you.’

Oh God .

Nathan touched his fingertips to Jess’ cheek, her hair still held in his other hand, and brought his mouth down on hers. Zing!

Oh sweet Jesus, that mouth tasted as good as it promised. Jess couldn’t help herself. She returned the kiss, reciprocating when he deepened it. When they finally pulled apart, she was breathing hard, Nathan’s eyes were dark and they were both panting as if they’d run a marathon.

Jess’ head was too much of a mess to compute anything right now. The delicious sensation of Nathan’s mouth on hers had drowned out all rational thought. Nathan interrupted her reverie by saying, ‘Can I see you tomorrow?’

What am I doing? Jess burst into tears before blurting out, ‘I can’t. I’m flying to Sicily tonight to propose to my boyfriend.’

Jess chattered away almost incessantly to Mark as they waited in the departure lounge at Glasgow Airport that afternoon. She hoped he wouldn’t notice anything was amiss and instead presume she was nervous about the flight. She loved travelling but was often a little unsettled when flying.

Would passengers travelling with British Airways to London Gatwick, please board now through gate number ten.

‘That’s us,’ Jess trilled, her voice overbright.

Mark frowned. ‘You OK? You seem a little on edge. You’ve not rediscovered a fear of flying without telling me, have you?’

‘No, nothing like that. I’ll just feel better when we’re on our way. You know how excited I get in airports.’

‘More like at the duty-free shops.’

‘Yes, that too.’ Jess once again tried to convey an outward sense of calm. Inside, she was a roiling mass of jumbled thoughts. Her brain felt like it was about to detonate. Why had she let Nathan kiss her? It was her fault. She hadn’t clarified her situation. She’d fooled herself into thinking men and women could be platonic friends. She wouldn’t be making that mistake again. But then, she reminded herself, he hadn’t made his relationship status known either, although as it turned out, that was because he wasn’t in one. He’d assumed that because Jess hadn’t told him otherwise and didn’t wear a wedding ring, she was single.

He had been so nice about it all, so understanding, which made her feel even worse. He said it was timing, he wished he’d met her earlier and hoped she and Mark would be happy together. He also said that much as he’d like to have her as a training partner, he thought there might be too much chemistry between them, so that might not be the best way forward. He had one question for her: Did she enjoy the kiss? She’d admitted she had, then they’d walked back to the gym, her a little subdued, him telling her not to worry about it, he was a big boy and would get over it, but to let her know if they got divorced. Then he’d told her Mark was a lucky guy, flashed her that smile again and said, ‘Kidding!’

Mark couldn’t have been more attentive on the flight from Glasgow to London, stowing her cabin bag for her and letting her have the window seat then taking out a snack he’d prepared for them both. It reminded her how endearing he could be when they made the effort to spend time together, and that made her feel even worse. Should she tell him what had happened between her and Nathan? No, that would only ruin the holiday, certainly the proposal. The proposal. How could she propose now? She could hardly propose two days after she’d kissed another man. What sort of woman was she?

The flight to Catania from Gatwick had left on time, which Jess took as a good omen. Villa Azzurra was every bit as picture perfect as it had seemed in the brochure, with fairy lights accentuating the orange groves and the sea below, or rather, what she could see of it, given the hour.

‘Looks nice,’ said Mark. ‘Just what we need. A few days of R&R in a luxury hotel. C’mon, let’s go sample the delights of our room.’ He winked at her, and she couldn’t help smiling. He was incorrigible.

As Jess trailed Mark to the elevator bank, she only hoped the following day would be simpler and she’d be able to sort out the mess in her head. It would, after all, leave only one more day before she intended to ask the love of her life to marry her. But was he still the love of her life? And did she still have the courage to propose?