Chapter Fifty-Nine
Liam looked startled by my blunt question. He shifted slightly in his seat, suddenly guarded.
‘I’m here to see you,’ he said eventually.
‘But why?’
‘Well’ – was it my imagination or was he acting coy? – ‘you’ve been rather elusive to say the least. I wondered if I’d done something to offend you. I don’t like conversations by texts. So, as you didn’t respond to my last message, I decided to see you in person.’
Wow, was he dense or what? He wondered if he’d done something to offend me. Er, hello? Vampy Victoria? A weekend away together? And then a trip to the Cotswolds with VV again in tow?
I took another hefty slug of wine. Dutch courage was required.
‘Look, Liam.’ I abruptly stopped. Suddenly I felt a bit weird. A bit floaty. A little melty. The room seemed to be shrinking. I seemed to be enveloped in a woozy warmth. ‘Look, Liam,’ I tried again.
‘I’m looking,’ he said, his mouth quirking in amusement.
God, I wish he didn’t do that. It had a terrible effect on me. Well, not terrible. More… amazing.
I gazed at him, my eyes half-lidded. He had no idea how handsome he was.
I took another sip of wine as I regarded his cheekbones.
It was almost like… yes, like his cheekbones were trying to seduce me.
How strange. Why would cheekbones do that?
Surely a seduction focus should be the lips?
Or – my eyes sought out another focal point – ah yes, the hands.
I stared at Liam’s hands. One of them was holding his wine.
Like a curious archaeologist, I studied his fingers.
Little hairs flecked the area between the knuckles and joints.
How macho. And sexy. I wondered if his hands always looked this heroic.
They seemed to be doing things to me emotionally.
Possibly even spiritually. I wondered what he’d be like to kiss.
Or – I screwed up my face in concentration – was I more interested in kissing the concept of him? It was a dilemma.
‘Are you okay, Jen?’ he asked.
‘Oh yes,’ I said vaguely.
Had I just had a split second of time travel? For one moment there I’d looped from being a respectable mother of two children, to fantasising about snogging a man with excellent fingers.
Liam looked puzzled.
‘You were saying?’
‘Yes, yes, I was saying.’ I cleared my throat. ‘The finger is… the thinger is… the thing-’
‘What thing?’
‘The thing,’ I clarified.
‘R-i-g-h-t,’ Liam nodded.
Were we now on the same page?
‘And that’s why’ – I gestured expansively – ‘I didn’t reply to your last message.’
‘Forgive me, Jen, but-’
I waggled a finger at him, except there suddenly seemed to be an awful lot of them. No matter. I cleared my throat.
‘It’s not me that needs to forgive you, Liam. It’s-’
Omigod. My multiple fingers had sprouted hairs. They were like Liam’s, but finer and blonde. Had they always been there? Or had they grown last night, when I was asleep? A mystery. Life was full of surprises. I took another sip of wine and contemplated the man opposite me.
‘Who needs to forgive me, Jen?’ Liam prompted.
I rolled my eyes. Okay. Time to spell it out.
‘Vee… eee…tee…’ Vet? No. that wasn’t right. ‘Vee…cee…eye…’
Liam put up a hand to stop me.
‘Jen, I have no idea what you’re talking about.’
‘Titvoria,’ I declared.
There was a beat while he stared at me uncomprehendingly.
‘Do you mean… Victoria?’ he frowned.
‘That’s what I said,’ I nodded.
The room momentarily spun. Oooh-er. Maybe don’t nod. Stick to keeping the head still. Damn, not only was I getting hirsute in my middle years, but I now appeared to be suffering dizzy spells. This getting older malarkey was rather rubbish.
‘What has Victoria got to do with anything?’ he asked.
‘Everything,’ I declared. ‘No, no’ – I waggled my many fingers – ‘don’t deny her existence.’
‘I’m not.’ He shook his head, bewildered. ‘But you do seem to be somewhat obsessed with Victoria. You kept talking about her when we had a curry. It was Victoria this, Victoria that.’
‘And let’s not forget Saucy Sarah,’ I reminded, tapping my nose – only to nearly poke my eye out.
‘Saucy–?’
‘Miss Big Tits,’ I clarified. ‘She wobbled over and dropped her telephone number on your lap.’ Ah, that had got his attention. ‘And let’s not forget Elusive Ella who’s sitting on the backburner.’
‘Who the heck is Elusive Ella?’ he frowned.
‘You tell me!’ I said, eyes wide.
For a moment Liam said nothing. Then, carefully, he set down his wine on the table between us. Leaning forward, he contemplated me.
‘If you don’t mind me saying, Jen, you’re coming across as someone who sounds jealous.’
‘Me?’ I hooted.
‘Yes, you,’ said Liam quietly. ‘So, the sixty-four-thousand-dollar question is… why?’