feeling. I thought you’d be horrified.’ Ellie jumped as a daddy longlegs danced past beneath the lit-up branches of the sycamore tree overhead.
‘I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you. One way or another, you were always out of reach.’ He pulled her closer and she felt the heat from his chest. ‘I think I’m in love with you.’
Was this a dream? ‘Really?’
‘Actually, no, that’s not true. I know I am.’
Ellie’s head was in a complete spin. She’d tried her hardest but things hadn’t been remotely right between her and Todd. Then Joe had come along and they’d been better, although nowhere near good enough.
And now this. You could never know for sure, but this just might be… perfect.
***
In the marquee, the DJ had taken to the stage in his Status Quo T-shirt. The sound of his favorite band started playing, accompanied by raucous cheers and much stamping of feet as everyone flooded on to the dance floor.
‘ROCKIN’ ALL OVER THE WORLD!’ People with drink inside them were bellowing along at the tops of their voices. In the back garden, Ellie gave herself up to yet another sublime kiss. Zack really was very good at it. The next moment they belatedly sprang apart at the sound of footsteps on the flagstoned path.
‘Whoops, sorry…’ Having left the house, Tizz was making her way back to the marquee. She stopped and beamed at them. ‘Well now, don’t you two look happy!’
Zack looked at Ellie. Ellie looked at Zack, struggling to keep a straight face. The silence lengthened. Mystified, Tizz said, ‘Come on then, spill the beans! What’s up?’
‘OK, let me tell her. I told you a bit of a white lie before. Ellie and I weren’t actually together before today.’ Zack’s arm slid around Ellie’s waist. ‘But we are now.’
‘You weren’t? You are? Well, that’s marvelous news! But you should have asked me if you were perfect for each other.’ His mother’s eyes danced. ‘I could have told you that.’ A thought occurred to her. ‘Ha, so that’s why you asked for separate rooms!’
‘Sorry.’ Ellie grinned. ‘And you thought I was playing hard to get.’
‘Oh my darling girl, don’t apologize, that just makes me love you more. Come along then, let’s get back to this party! Don’t you just love Status Quo?’
That was it then, so much for sloping off. There was to be no early escape. Tizz was insistent and, as it turned out, it didn’t matter a bit. If anything, it only served to heighten the delicious anticipation. For the next three hours Ellie and Zack danced and celebrated and socialized with friends and family, all the while enjoying the sizzle of sexual tension that had existed between them for so long but which had only now, at long last, been acknowledged. Adrenaline was zinging through Ellie’s veins. It was hard to have eyes for anyone other than Zack. Again and again she thanked her lucky stars, because what if they hadn’t found each other?
Finally, just as she was beginning to wonder how much longer she could hold out, Zack murmured in her ear, ‘OK, we have to go now. This has been great, but I’m only human.’
Hooray!
Hand in hand, they slipped discreetly away, out of the marquee and back to the house. In through the creaking back door, across the deserted hall, and up the curved staircase.
‘People are going to wonder where we’ve got to.’ Ellie pushed open the door to her bedroom.
‘They won’t notice we’re gone,’ said Zack as the thud-thud-thud of the music continued to reverberate around them. ‘They’re having fun without us.’
‘I think we might have more fun without them.’ Whether or not this worked out, Ellie knew she would never regret it. Sometimes you just had to take the risk. Maybe it would be a brief but wonderful romance, maybe it would last a lifetime. She reached for Zack and kicked the door shut behind her. ‘No offense to them, but I know where I’d rather be right now. And it’s not out there, dancing to Coldplay.’
At that moment the music faded out and they heard the DJ say, ‘OK, Eminem next, the clean version. Now this one was requested by Ellie and I can’t see her on the dance floor. Come on, Ellie, get yourself over here, where are you?’
‘Oops.’ Ellie pulled a face. ‘I forgot about that. Should we go back?’
Through the loudspeakers the DJ bellowed, ‘And Zack? No sign of you either. Give us a shout, mate—we’re all waiting for you!’