Chapter Ten
Dan studied the lady hunkered down on the floor opposite him, tomato sauce on her chin, her hands holding yet another slice of pizza.
‘Don’t head teachers eat during the day?’ When she frowned, he grinned. ‘That’s the fourth slice you’ve picked up. And yes, I’m counting.’
She huffed in a sort of bewildered amusement. ‘I thought we were sharing it? Four slices each?’
‘And I thought you’d stop at three.’
She licked her fingers, the gesture totally without guile. Just a woman, enjoying her food. ‘I guess you’re used to stick thin actresses who have to watch what they eat.’
‘Guess I am.’
‘Was your ex-wife like that?’
He watched as Anna chewed, mentally comparing the two women.
They couldn’t have been more different. ‘Natalie was always worried about putting on weight, yes. She grumbled the TV already put on a few pounds, though apparently it’s worse for women.
When it comes to men, it makes us look taller and more muscular. ’
He hadn’t intended the comment to be a fishing expedition when he’d first uttered the words, but he had to admit he was disappointed when she ignored the bait. ‘How long have you been divorced?’
He gave her a wry smile. ‘Are you trying to pretend you haven’t read up on me?’
It was too dark for him to see if she was blushing, but her smile was definitely sheepish. ‘Busted.’ She swallowed down the last mouthful of pizza and wiped her hands on one of the paper napkins. ‘What I really wanted to know was why you divorced? If that isn’t too personal a question.’
He closed the empty pizza box and pushed it out of the way. ‘Is that what we’re going to do now? Ask the personal questions? Because I’m happy to do it, if it goes both ways.’ He gave her a wry grin. ‘And thanks to the press you’ve already got a head start on me.’
She shrugged, looking around her at the dark hallway. ‘Being without power gives us limited options.’ While his mind raced with all the things he’d love to do with her in the dark, she added, ‘Even I-spy is out.’
Clearly she wasn’t on the same page as him, at all.
Though it was probably for the best, it was also gutting because there’d been a moment, when she’d told him Sid might be finding it awkward being attracted to someone else again, that he’d hoped she’d also been talking about herself.
With a sigh, he leant against the wall. ‘Natalie was always fiercely ambitious. She . . .’ he hesitated, wondering how to phrase it.
‘Outgrew me.’ Was that a nebulous enough way to say he hadn’t been enough for her?
Not exciting enough, rich enough or talented enough.
Anna’s forehead creased in a frown. ‘What do you mean? Did she think you were holding her career back?’
‘Not her career, more her life.’ To hell with it. What was he doing pussyfooting around the subject. ‘We disagreed about Love Surgery, mainly. She wanted me to leave it and do, in her words, bigger and better things.’ Things that would have given their status a rise, as well as their income.
‘But you were quite happy?’
‘I enjoyed the familiarity of the role, of the people I worked with.’ He wasn’t sure whether it was the dark, or her, but for some reason he kept talking.
‘I’ve never been overly bothered about hitting stardom.
I’d been acting for over ten years before Love Surgery and the excitement of chasing after parts had begun to morph into a fear of the uncertainty.
Of what, if anything, was around the corner.
After Max, the pressure to find something more stable became even greater.
Thankfully I got the part in Love Surgery.
’ He gave her a wry smile. ‘I thought it was the answer, and I guess for a few years it was.’
‘Until she wanted you to do more.’ Anna gave him a sympathetic smile. ‘That must have been hard, feeling pushed into something you didn’t want to do.’
‘It was harder knowing she’d never really loved me in the first place.’ Something else he’d never admitted out loud, before now.
‘Why do you say that?’
‘She was younger than me, and less well known. Looking back, I think she saw me as a ride to the big time, both professionally and personally. I guess it was a bit of a blow to find that was never going to be my destination.’ He shook himself, letting out a small laugh.
‘Sorry. I didn’t mean to turn this into a pity fest. Can I ask a question of you now? ’
‘Sure.’ She glanced down at the empty pizza box. ‘As long as it isn’t what I weigh.’
He laughed properly now. ‘Trust me, men aren’t interested.
We’re far more interested in how soft a woman feels.
’ Unconsciously, his eyes skimmed across her chest. ‘How well the curves fit into our hands.’ She seemed to still and he realised he’d veered down a path he shouldn’t have done.
‘Tell me about your husband,’ he asked, quickly changing tracks.
‘How did you meet? What was he like?’ How did he die? Did you love him?
* * *
Anna could feel her breasts tingling. How ridiculous, when all he’d done was briefly cast his eyes over them. But now you know he likes ample, her mind nudged her.
Chris had liked ample, too, she reminded herself, and suddenly the tingling stopped. As if her breasts felt traitorous imagining someone else touching them.
But five years was a long time to grieve. A long time to be without a man’s touch. A long time not to feel the heat of a man’s lust.
‘Chris was an architect. We met when he helped design the extension to the first school I worked in. He was . . .’ She inhaled, struck by a sudden wave of emotion.
‘He was handsome and gentle. Quite shy, really. I don’t think we’d have got together if I hadn’t deliberately volunteered to be the school liaison on the project.
I was married at twenty-three, and had Maisie at twenty-four.
Four years later he died in a car accident when some stupid drunk careered into him.
’ Even in the dark she could see the compassion in his expression.
Feel his sympathy. ‘Sorry, you didn’t ask how he’d died, but most people want to know and are too polite to say so. ’
He briefly put his hand up. ‘Guilty. Though I’m not so polite I wouldn’t have asked in a follow up question.’
‘Well, that’s two tricky subjects navigated.’ She waited until he met her eyes. ‘I have one more question that fits into the awkward category.’
He smirked. ‘You want to ask me out on a date?’
Bam. Heat scalded her cheeks and suddenly her need to deflect his flirty comment took precedent over tact. ‘Why haven’t you seen your son in over six months?’ she asked bluntly.
Instantly, his face fell and he jerked his head away from her. It was several agonising seconds, during which she saw his jaw muscles bunch and tighten, before he finally faced her again. ‘It’s a long story,’ he said flatly.
It would be polite to tell him not to worry, to change the subject.
But Anna was intrigued by the two polarising sides of him when it came to kids.
The side she’d seen with her own eyes, and the side the press seemed to want people to see.
‘We’ve probably got at least another twenty minutes.
’ She leant forward, once more trying to catch his eye.
‘I’m only asking because what I’ve read is totally at odds with the way you are with the pupils here.
I’d say you were really good with kids.’
‘I’ve never said I didn’t like them.’ He exhaled sharply and drew up his legs in what seemed like a defensive gesture. ‘It’s more the other way around.’
She wasn’t sure if she understood him correctly. ‘You don’t think kids . . . you don’t think your son, likes you?’
He crossed his arms and rested them on his knees. ‘That’s about the gist of it, yes.’
Anna was having a hard time wrapping her head around the concept. ‘Why do you think that? Has he told you?’
His huff could have been frustration or annoyance. ‘He’s told Natalie. And anyway, it became quite obvious the last few times I saw him.’ The moonlight gave her a brief glimpse of his expression. Bleak, like the moors on a grey, rainy day.
‘So you just, what, gave up?’ she asked incredulously.
And wow, it wasn’t so dark she couldn’t see his eyes flash. ‘Of course not. He’s my son.’ There was a long, strained silence.
Anna couldn’t regret asking the question, but she did regret the tone. ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.’
He buried his face in his hands for a moment. ‘You know, when I first suggested pizza, I thought it could be fun. We’d talk about something and nothing. Sit next to each other and rub shoulders, maybe.’ He gave her a long, searching look. ‘Figured I might even sneak a kiss, if I was really lucky.’
Her breath hitched. She wasn’t sure which frightened her most. That she’d now ruined that moment. Or that he might be still considering it.
He leant his head against the wall. ‘I didn’t think I’d be telling you what a crap father I am.’
Instinctively, she leant forward and reached out to touch him, finding his knee. ‘Don’t say that. I’m sure there are reasons your relationship with him broke down. Just as I’m sure you can fix it.’
She started to move her hand away but he clamped his larger hand on top of it, halting her movement. ‘Thank you.’
The air between them crackled with something beyond friendship, beyond a simple gesture of support from one parent to another, but she didn’t let it worry her. This was nice. Holding this man’s hand in the moonlight. Even though they were sitting on the cold floor of a school foyer.
‘So,’ he said after a while. ‘Can I come and sit next to you? Maybe accidentally bump your shoulder now and again?’
For an answer, she shifted along the wall, making room for him.
‘How long before they’re here, do you think?’ he asked once he’d got himself settled, close enough that their arms touched. Close enough that her heart picked up its pace.
She glanced at her watch. ‘It’s been an hour. So any time now, I guess.’
‘Time enough for that kiss?’
Thump. Her heart bounced and pinged off her ribs. ‘I . . .’ She cleared her throat and tried again. ‘I haven’t kissed anyone since Chris.’
‘Ah.’ He paused before pressing his body, very slightly, against hers. ‘It doesn’t have to be a big step. Just, I don’t know. Think of it as dipping your toes into the water to see if you fancy taking a swim later. You don’t even have to take that swim in the same lake, as it were.’
She started to laugh. ‘I think I follow you.’ She smiled up at him. ‘Are you promising not to push me into the deep end?’
‘Scouts honour.’ His eyes settled on her mouth. ‘We’re just testing the water. If you decide it’s not to your liking, no harm done.’
Again she felt her breath catch. Those eyes, twinkling in the moonlight. Those lips, so sensuous, so full of promise. The odds of her not liking being kissed by him were about the same as those finding life on Mars. But what happened after they’d kissed?
‘Anna?’
He bent his head close to hers, Val’s words suddenly floating round her head. It’s okay to be attracted to another man. Chris would have wanted that for you.
Slowly she edged her mouth towards his, closing the gap between them.
Soft, was her first thought. Seductive. He was as good as his word, feathering her lips with the lightest of kisses. Not touching her anywhere else, not trying to push for more.
All too soon he drew back, leaving her heart racing, and her body crying out with disappointment.
‘Well?’ He smiled into her eyes. ‘Ready to risk a little more?’ She nodded, probably too eagerly, because he laughed softly. ‘Okay then.’
This time he held her face in his hands.
And this time, when his mouth landed on hers, he took her breath away.
Gently opening her lips with his tongue, he deepened the kiss, groaning as he tasted her.
Or was that her groaning? She couldn’t be sure.
All she knew was her head was spinning, her skin felt too tight, too hot. Her breasts were tingling again.
And then her phone started to ring.
The shrill sound broke through the fog of lust and they jumped apart. ‘Sorry.’ Flustered, her fingers clumsy, she accepted the call.
‘It’s the alarm company,’ she told him a minute later, her pulse still hammering away far too fast. ‘They’re a few minutes away.’
His eyes watched her, a hint of amusement in their depths. ‘Saved by the bell?’
She didn’t know. Saved, or thwarted? Too confused, too overcome, she ignored his question and stood, picking up the pizza box. ‘I guess I should dispose of this at home.’
He climbed to his feet too and gave her a rueful smile. ‘Don’t want the staff knowing you scoffed a pizza while waiting for the alarm company, or don’t want them knowing you shared it with me?’
‘It’s not that I mind them knowing. I’d just rather avoid the ensuing questions. I’m not good at lying and, well, I have a daughter at the school. I don’t want any gossip to get back to her.’ She glanced out of the window at the sound of an engine and saw a white van drive up.
He nodded, and took her by surprise by reaching for her hand and giving the back a quick kiss. ‘Our little secret then?’
She swallowed, liking the intimacy of that. ‘Yes, if that’s okay with you?’
‘It is.’ He still had her hand, a fact she was very aware of. ‘I’d be lying if I said I wouldn’t want to do this again though. Not the hard floor,’ he added with a laugh. ‘But the talking. The pizza.’ His eyes held hers. ‘The kissing.’
Oh God. He must have sensed her hesitation because, after giving it a gentle squeeze, he let go of her hand.
‘But I heard what you said about Maisie, and the gossip, so I’ll back off.
Just know that if circumstances were different.
If I wasn’t here only for a short time, and you didn’t have a daughter, and weren’t scared to dip your feet.
And my own life wasn’t in such a mess.’ He gave her a long, heated look.
‘If none of that were in the way, I’d be chasing you, Anna Dalton. ’
With that he pushed the door open and went to greet the alarm guys. Leaving Anna breathless, confused and with a warm, gooey mess inside her chest.