friend Lisa had given her a nudge and said, ‘Dare you to go over there and kiss him without saying a word. If he tries to talk to you, pretend not to speak any English.’
So she had.
The kiss had been amazing. Afterwards, she had talked gobbledygook. ‘Ke, mi andzengo. Vamejski.’
‘Vamejskiola!’ Without missing a beat, Jamie had broken into a grin and lightly touched her cheek. ‘Laksadi ja, pelodria. Tibo!’
And that had been it; in those few miraculous seconds they’d both known this was it; they were in it for the long haul. It had been that instantaneous.
Till death us do part.
But that was then. This was now. She was a different person these days.
‘Sweetheart, go for it.’ Jamie was remembering that night too; she could tell by the smile on his face. ‘It worked wonders for me.’
Ellie wished she could reach out and touch him. ‘I know we don’t do this as much as we used to. But I do still miss you.’
‘Hey, no need to feel guilty. I’ll always be here if you need me.’ His expression softened. ‘Five, ten, twenty years from now… it doesn’t matter. Well, except for one thing.’
‘Which is?’
The irreverent grin was back. Jamie said, ‘You’re going to get old and wrinkly, sweetheart. But I’m always going to look this good.’
***
Plans, however, didn’t always work out. By the time Ellie returned to the marquee, another determined female had taken advantage of her absence and dragged Zack on to the dance floor.
So much for the sisterhood.
She sat down and poured herself more wine. Then she watched as Zack laughed and joked with her rival. And her heart did that crumpled little squeeze of love because really, was there anything more irresistible than a man not caring that he was making a complete fool of himself in front of everyone, because it was making his current dance partner happy and that was all that mattered?
Zack and Lily were giving it everything they had, dancing like maniacs to ‘All The Single Ladies’. Joss barreled across the dance floor and joined in. There was Beyoncé-style foot stamping, hip wiggling, hand clapping, and head shaking. Attitude was the key. The three of them were a team. Then the song ended, everyone applauded, and Zack scooped up a twin in each arm. He pretended to stagger with exhaustion. The DJ, taking pity on him, began to play something slow. And Zack, looking across the room to see if she was back from the loo, saw her at the table and broke into a smile.
Oh heavens, and now here he was, standing in front of her, holding out a hand. ‘Our turn now. Sorry about that. I was kidnapped.’
‘I noticed. Don’t worry, we filmed it. You’ll be on YouTube by midnight.’
They reached the dance floor and Zack drew her into his arms. Heaven. They began to move slowly along with the music. More heaven. Ellie took a breath and said, ‘There’s something we’re going to have to do.’
‘What’s that?’
She loved him. Everything she was feeling now, this was it, this was love. ‘I overheard Mya in the kitchen. She’s suspicious.’
‘Why?’
His eyes. The way he looked down at her. His hands, one resting on her waist, the other in the small of her back.
‘She’s been watching us. Paying attention. We haven’t kissed.’ There, I said it. Ellie gazed steadily up at him. ‘I think we need to.’
‘You do?’ His expression was unreadable but she felt the tension in his shoulders. Oh God, was he horribly shocked?
‘Nothing too major. Just… you know, a little one.’ She no longer trusted herself; any more than a peck might be too much to handle.
‘A little one. You mean… right, here, right now?’
‘Might be best. So we get it over and done with.’ Her heart felt as if it were about to explode out of her chest; no way was she backing down now. ‘Sorry, but we should. Look, Steph and Gareth are doing it.’
‘I don’t know…’ He was prevaricating, about to say no and hold her at arm’s length so she couldn’t get to him. No, that was intolerable, he couldn’t duck out, she had to do it…
‘Don’t be such a baby. It’s only a kiss, it’ll be over in two seconds.’ Ellie reached up a hand and curled it around the back of his head. Detecting resistance, she murmured with a touch of desperation, ‘Just pretend, OK?’ and lifted herself up on tiptoe, her face tilted up to his. Her mouth brushed his mouth, a shot