Chapter 14
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Luke was sitting in the lounge waiting for Flick to come out of her room in her pirate costume the next day.
He was already dressed ready to go. Flick was really excited for him to see her costume.
He wondered what it would be like. Some of the women’s pirate outfits were very sexy and revealing, with corsets, short skirts, plunging necklines.
And while he would certainly appreciate that, he just hoped she’d found something she was comfortable in.
Flick opened the door a crack. ‘Are you ready?’
‘Yes, I’m sitting here with bated breath.’
‘Try to control yourself when you see me because you’re going to want to carry me off to the bedroom and have your wicked way with me.’
‘I promise to restrain myself.’
She opened the door and stepped out into the lounge with the biggest smile on her face.
He stared at her, the smile growing on his own face.
Flick was dressed as a giant pink fluffy octopus.
She had a large bulbous head with massive googly eyes and eight curly tentacles that stretched down to the floor like a very bizarre dreadlock wig.
He felt an ache in his chest and he couldn’t stop smiling at her.
‘I’m a kraken,’ Flick said, referring to the mythical giant octopus that would consume entire boats or drag them down to the sea floor. It was a legend among sailors, fishermen and of course pirates.
Luke cleared his throat, trying to form the words because the ache in his chest was spreading. ‘Yeah, you look terrifying.’
She moved towards him, tentacles outstretched in what he presumed was supposed to be a scary way. ‘Do you want to ravish me?’
‘Always.’
But the funny thing was, he did. Not because she looked sexy, there was nothing sexy about a giant fluffy pink octopus with an oversized head.
He wanted to take her to bed because he was head over heels in love with this brilliant and incredible woman and for some reason it had taken this ridiculous octopus to make him realise it.
The pirate festival was a huge success. There were literally thousands of pirates walking the streets and sitting on the village green, listening to sea shanties, drinking rum, and generally enjoying much merriment.
There was an old Spanish galleon docked in the harbour that looked like it was from the 1500s and ready to circumnavigate the world with Drake or Columbus at the wheel.
There had been staged skirmishes on it and around it all day with pirates fighting, cannons firing and lots of swashbuckling. Luke loved it.
People had made a huge effort with the costumes, and there were probably a hundred Jack Sparrow lookalikes; some were so convincing, Johnny Depp himself could have turned up dressed as his alter ego and no one would have batted an eye.
There were some, like Luke, who had gone all out with rings, belts, pouches, swords and hats, and some who were simply wearing t-shirts with skulls and crossbones on them.
But there was only one octopus. He watched Flick run across the village green like the Pied Piper, waving her tentacles in the air as she was chased by a crowd of children all screeching and laughing at her.
She had the biggest smile on her face, mirrored by the one he had on his own.
‘You’re in love with her, aren’t you?’ Quinn asked as he moved to Luke’s side.
Luke nodded. ‘Yeah I am.’
Quinn clapped him on the back. ‘I’m happy for you, she seems lovely. I’m sorry your escape to Scotland didn’t work out, I know you were excited about that, but selfishly I’m glad you’ll be staying. I’d have missed you.’
‘I’m not sure if I’m staying,’ Luke said.
‘What? But you love her, why would you walk away from that? ’
‘I have no idea if she feels the same.’
‘She adores you, anyone can see that.’
‘I know she likes me, and we’re having a lot of fun together but I don’t know if she sees a future with us.’
‘You need to talk to her.’
‘Of course I do and I will. But I have a few weeks before I go and I’m having way too much fun with her right now to want to screw it up by telling her I love her.
That’s how my last two relationships came to a crashing end.
I’ll tell her before I leave. That way if she doesn’t feel the same I don’t have to see her every day and feel my heart breaking. ’
Luke stared at the beer in his hand that was clearly making him spill all his secrets today – and it was only his first one.
‘What if she’s holding herself back because you’re leaving and seemingly giving her no indication you intend to stay?’ Quinn said. ‘Maybe telling her now would allow her to go all in and let herself fall in love with you too.’
He frowned; that did make a lot of sense.
‘Look, you don’t necessarily have to tell her you love her now, but just talk to her and tell her this is something serious for you. If she feels the same you can stay to see if it’s something more, something worth fighting for.’
Luke knew Quinn was right. He could at least offer to stay a bit longer; the house in Scotland wasn’t going anywhere and it would always be there if things ended, even if that was a few months from now.
At least then he could say he’d given it his best shot.
There was no rush to leave just because he was getting the keys on Monday and he needed to tell Flick that.
‘Since when did you become so wise with regards to relationships? How’s your love life?’
He watched Quinn’s eyes move to where Alex was playing with her daughter. ‘Ah, dishing out advice and taking it are two very different things. One is definitely much harder than the other.’
‘Yeah, I hear you,’ Luke sighed, taking another swig of his beer. But somehow he was going to have to find the courage to tell Flick what was in his heart or risk losing her for good.