Chapter 20
Sive told Cara she’d lock up. Mimi gave her a little wave as she headed for the door, with an expression that Sive knew signalled ‘good luck’. When everyone had left, she sat down at the front of the stage and Sam sat beside her, their legs dangling over the edge.
‘So about going to this wedding …’
‘Yes?’ Sam looked at her hopefully.
‘I’d love to go with you.’
‘Okay…’ It was obvious this wasn’t going to be a straightforward yes.
‘But you might rather ask someone else,’ she rushed on.
‘And you wouldn’t care?’
She’d be gutted, but she had to give Sam an easy out before she told him her news, so he wouldn’t feel guilty for changing his mind because she was pregnant. ‘It’s just you’re part of the family now. What if we were to split up? It’d be weird and awkward – for everyone.’
‘So … you don’t want to go out with me because we might split up?’
‘I think it makes sense.’
‘But you can’t go into a relationship thinking like that.’
‘I know no one thinks about that at the start, but maybe they should. It’d save a lot of heartache down the road.’
Sam’s face set. ‘So just do the heartache now and get it over with?’ His jaw was tight.
Oh god. Was it too late? Was he in too deep already? She couldn’t bear how hurt he looked.
‘You really don’t want to go out with me?’
‘I do, but—’ She took a deep breath. ‘The thing is, there’s something you don’t know about me.’
‘Is this where you tell me you’re a vampire?’
Sive laughed nervously. ‘Would that be a dealbreaker?’
‘Honestly, probably not. I could live with it … or be undead with it.’ He shrugged. ‘Whatever. If Bella Swan can do it … And as for splitting up, I can’t see that happening. But even if we did, we’d still be friends, right? Nothing has to change that.’
Sive picked at her sleeve. ‘It depends on why we’re splitting up, I suppose.’
‘Well, what did you have in mind?’ He gave her a cheeky smile. ‘Were you thinking you might cheat on me?’
‘No! Of course not. I’d never do that.’
‘Well, neither would I. So what else? Maybe I’d swindle you out of all your money?’
Sive laughed. ‘Hardly. I’m not worth any swindler’s time.’
‘Okay, so we’ve ruled out the big ones. Why else do people split up?’ He leaned his arms on his knees, running a thumb over his mouth as he thought.
‘They fall out of love.’
Sam shook his head. ‘Not gonna happen. Not for me anyway.’
Sive gasped as she realised what he’d just said.
‘Not for me either,’ she said, and a smile broke across Sam’s face. ‘But what if … what if one of us found out that the other was pregnant?’
Sam’s eyes widened in shock, his smile vanishing.
‘With someone else’s baby,’ Sive added hastily.
‘Okay, I’m going out on a limb here, but I’m guessing we’re talking about you? Because I can pretty much guarantee you I’m never going to end up having another man’s baby.’
Sive gave a shaky laugh, relieved he was making light of it at least.
‘But you said you’d never cheat. So you must have got pregnant before we got together … in this hypothetical scenario?’
Sive swallowed hard and nodded. ‘It’d be my ex’s – Ben’s.’
He shot upright, eyes wide. ‘Wow! That’s not what I was expecting.’
‘What were you expecting?’
‘I don’t know. It’s not you, it’s me. We want different things. I see you as more of a friend.’ He trotted out all the usual cliches.
Sive smiled. ‘Well, it’s definitely me, and we probably do want different things … so two out of three.’
‘Well, first of all, congratulations!’
‘Thanks.’
‘I mean … you’re happy about it? If it’s okay to ask that?’
‘It’s fine. And yeah, I am. I mean, it was a shock. But I’m excited about it.’
‘That’s good. But I don’t see why we’d have to split up over it.’
‘You don’t?’
‘Unless …’ Sam fell silent for a moment, clearly struggling to gather his thoughts. She could relate. ‘Are you getting back with Ben?’
‘God, no. That’s over. He’s with someone else now. He’s going to be supportive and he’ll be there for Bean, but—'
‘Bean?’ Sam screwed up his face.
‘That’s what we’re calling the baby – for now. It’s just a placeholder.’
‘Cute.’
Sam dropped his gaze to his clasped hands, his thumbs twiddling. ‘So this is why you haven’t been coming for drinks after rehearsal.’
‘Yes. And I wasn’t throwing up because I’d eaten a dodgy kebab either.’
‘Ah, morning sickness.’ He smiled, not meeting her eyes. ‘And this is the real reason you’ve been trying to offload me onto Orla, isn’t it?’
Sive smiled sheepishly. ‘It might have had something to do with it.’
‘Because you thought I’d run for the hills once I knew you were pregnant?’
She couldn’t help thinking Sam looked a little hurt. ‘I wouldn’t blame you,’ she said. ‘I mean, you’d be perfectly entitled. But it wasn’t that. Quite the opposite, actually. I was afraid you wouldn’t run for the hills.’
‘Huh?’ Sam looked confused.
‘I mean, it wouldn’t be fair to start going out with you and then spring this on you. I didn’t want you to end up feeling you’d have to stick by me out of a sense of decency or something.’
‘First of all, flattered that you think I have a sense of decency.’ Sam smiled. ‘But is that the only reason?’
‘What other reason could there be?’
‘I don’t know. Maybe you think I’d be a liability … that I’m too irresponsible to have around a kid.’
‘No way!’ Sive gasped, horrified that he’d got it so wrong. ‘I don’t think that at all. I just couldn’t let anything happen between us when you didn’t have all the facts. It wouldn’t be fair to you.’
‘So bottom line … you will come to the wedding with me as my plus one?’
‘If you still want me to, yes. But it’s also fine if you want to change your mind and uninvite me.
I get it if this is a dealbreaker. Honestly, no hard feelings.
You didn’t have all the information when you asked me and you don’t have to stand by that invitation because you’re too noble or whatever to back out. ’
‘You really think I’m noble?’ He looked enormously pleased at the idea.
‘Of course. I know you, Sam. You’re one of the good guys. I can’t see you abandoning your barefoot and pregnant girlfriend, even when the baby isn’t yours. Not that I am your girlfriend,’ she added hastily, realising too late what she’d said.
He dropped his head again so she couldn’t see his face. She wished she knew what he was thinking. ‘Would you like to be?’ he asked, looking up and eyeing her hesitantly.
‘Do I want to be your girlfriend?’
Sam nodded.
‘I’d love to be. But have you really thought about what it would mean? You’re young, you should be playing the field, having fun. You don’t want to be lumbered with a pregnant girlfriend and left holding someone else’s baby.’
‘But it’s not someone else’s baby. It’ll be your baby.’ He sighed. ‘If you don’t like me that way, just say so – I can take it. But if the fact that you’re pregnant is all that’s stopping you … don’t let it.’
‘Really?’ She tried to rein in the smile that was creeping across her face because she didn’t want him to be swayed by how happy that made her.
He took her hand. ‘Truly. Pregnant, vampire, zombie, I don’t care – you’re what I want.’
‘Pregnant Vampire Zombie – that sounds like a great movie!’
Sam laughed. Yeah, I’d go see that.’
‘Someone should get on it.’ She squeezed his hand. ‘But are you sure? There’d be a lot of staying in.’
‘Sounds great. And it’ll be fun. I mean, have you seen babies? They’re so cute and funny!’
‘But it’s not all fun and games. Babies also cry a lot and demand constant attention and don’t let you sleep.’
‘Yeah, I’ve heard that. But that’s just a few rotten apples giving all babies a bad rep. Your baby won’t be like that.’
‘True.’ Sive patted her stomach. ‘Bean will be good as gold and never give me a moment’s trouble. I’ve already decided.’
‘And I know Ben is the father and everything, but it’d be nice for Bean to have a stepdad too, wouldn’t it?’
‘It would be very nice.’
‘More fun for you too. I could take Bean to the park on Saturday mornings so you can have a lie in. Help them make you breakfast in bed on Mother’s Day.’
Sive smiled. ‘Are you serious, Sam? You really want to do this? Eyes wide open?’
Sam nodded, grinning. ‘Eyes wide open. Heart on my sleeve.’
For a moment they just sat there, gazing dopily at each other.
‘So, does this mean we’re dating now?’ Sam asked finally.
‘I guess it does.’
‘And I can … do this?’ he said, leaning closer, his gaze dropping to her mouth.
Sive nodded, her heart fluttering as she met him halfway.
Their lips brushed, softly and tentatively at first. Sive buried her hands in Sam’s hair, adrenaline flooding her body as she pulled his mouth to hers, harder.
Sam deepened the kiss, his lips clinging to hers as she tipped back onto the floor of the stage, pulling him down on top of her.
Sam’s hand pushed under her sweater and he groaned low in his throat as he encountered bare skin.
Sive shivered as his fingers tickled her sides.
‘Oh god, this is crazy.’ Sam pulled away abruptly and sat up, rubbing his eyes as if he’d just woken up from a sleep. Sive sat up beside him and wrapped her arms around him, nuzzling her face against the stubble on his jaw.
‘We can’t do this here,’ Sam protested, but then his lips found hers again as if of their own volition and he was kissing her again, his hand bunching the wool of her jumper and Sive willed him to pull it off.
With visible effort, he pulled away again, shaking his head. ‘Sorry.’
But Sive’s body was on fire, delicious flames licking along her veins, and she was in no hurry to put them out.
There was also the fact that she was a little nervous about having sex with someone other than Ben and she didn’t want to give herself time to overthink it and psych herself out.
She clasped Sam’s hand and stood, pulling him to his feet alongside her.
‘Green room,’ she murmured breathlessly, jerking her head towards the wings.
Sam raised his eyebrows but didn’t protest, his grip on her hand tight as she led the way through the backstage corridors to the green room.
‘Not the most romantic of settings,’ Sive said, flicking on the light and stepping inside. Why hadn’t they put dimmers in here? Probably because they’d never intended for it to be used as a scene of debauchery, she answered herself wryly.
‘Hang on, I can help with that.’ Sam darted off in the direction of the props room, lights flicking on as he went.
‘Props master saves the day!’ he said, returning moments later with his arms full. ‘Here, take these.’ He handed Sive a Tiffany lamp, a candelabra, a pair of pillows and a beautiful embroidered coverlet that had been used in Private Lives before dashing away again.
While he was gone, Sive plugged in the lamp, lit the candles and turned off the light, then arranged the pillows on the sofa and draped the coverlet over it.
‘Looking good,’ Sam nodded approvingly, struggling through the door with another armload of props.
Sive watched as he placed a large vase full of dried flowers on the floor at one end of the sofa, then put a portable speaker on the table next to the coffee machine, alongside a samovar they’d used in Three Sisters.
He pulled a phone from his pocket and moments later, soft music filled the room.
‘That’s better.’ He nodded, admiring their handiwork.
‘The magic of theatre.’ Sive took his hand and led him towards the sofa. ‘One question, though: why the samovar?’
Sam shrugged. ‘I just like the samovar. We don’t get to use it often enough. I kind of feel bad for it. But we can remove it, if you like.’
Sive giggled as she pulled him down onto the sofa beside her. ‘No, it can stay. It adds a touch of class. Now, where were we…’