The Spark - Jules Wake Page 0,4

it,’ I said. ‘And how lucky most people are and they don’t even realise it.’

‘That’s very true,’ he chinked his beer bottle against my glass again.

I’m not sure where the next hour went. Sam was the easiest person to talk to and we just seemed to have so much in common. We both disliked Fawlty Towers with a passion (and agreed that, horribly dated or not, comedy in the 70s must have been woeful); we both loved The Big Bang Theory; we both thought David Tennant was the best Doctor Who ever, adored Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and both believed that Imagine Dragons was simply the best band ever, although Sam insisted that Coldplay came a very close second.

Despite my stomach starting to make grumbling noises, I felt a distinct lurch of disappointment when my aunt yelled, ‘Food is served,’ through the open doorway, making me realise that there were plenty of people in the garden but I’d been so intent on Sam that I’d been unaware of anyone else around us.

‘Good. I’m starving.’ He gave me a quick once-over, his gaze running down my legs and then back up. I saw his Adam’s apple bob. ‘Are you eating?’

‘Hell, yes,’ I said. ‘Why do you think I’m here?’

‘Phew. I thought for an awful moment, with a stunning figure like that, you might be one of those lettuce sniffers.’ He winked.

With a giggle, I shook my head vehemently, although I’d taken the ‘stunning figure’ on board to pore over later. ‘Uhnuh, I love my food.’ We headed inside and fell into line together as we collected plates, napkins and cutlery.

Aunty Lynn had laid out a fine selection of salads and breads, while Uncle Richard had clearly done sterling service over hot coals as there were several plates of sausages, chicken and pepper kebabs, and home-made lamb burgers.

‘Well, you’d never guess,’ he said shooting my legs an approving look.

‘Thanks. It makes the parkrun I did yesterday worthwhile.’

‘What? Here in Tring?’

‘Yes.’

‘I did it yesterday! It’s a bugger. That hill’s a killer. I normally do one over at Rushmere Country Park in Leighton Buzzard.’

‘Is that where you live when you’re not housesitting?’

‘Yes, although I should move here really. I spend so much time this way. I play for Meadows Way Cricket Club at the weekend and spend a couple of nights a week in the nets there.’

‘Nice. Well, I think it is. I know nothing about cricket, but I’ve been to the clubhouse a few times.’ The cricket club was on the edge of town and had two big pitches bounded by high, well-trimmed hedges, between which was a large two-storey clubhouse with balconies looking out over the grounds and rather beautiful views of the nearby Chiltern hills.

‘You should come up sometime.’ He paused and looked away at the food. ‘Gosh, this looks amazing.’

We ended up sitting shoulder to shoulder on the small wall seat outside, eating in almost companionable silence. Something had slithered into that earlier easiness. I could sense it in Sam’s fierce attention to his food.

I kept my head down and carried on eating, conscious of the warmth of his leg next to mine and the movement of his forearm occasionally brushing my skin as he ate.

His fork dropped with a clatter to his plate.

‘Jess, there’s something I need to tell you.’

He lifted his head, frown lines etched into his forehead. ‘This is going to sound like a proper cliché but I really like you…’

The but might as well have been there in ten-foot-high shouty capitals.

‘Don’t worry. It was nice to meet you.’ I went to stand up but he put a hand on my arm.

‘No, I mean it. I really like you. I’d like to stay in touch but … I’ve got a girlfriend.’

‘Hey, it’s fine,’ I said brightly, because really it was. He was a lovely bloke and we’d spent a nice (Jess? Seriously? Nice?), OK, bloody lovely afternoon together but that was all it was. ‘It was lovely to meet you.’ I ignored the heavy lump that seemed to have taken up residence in the pit of my stomach and the sudden sense of the sun going in.

‘Jess, wait. Don’t go.’

He stood in front of me, so close that I could see the quick pulse in his neck and the rapid rise of his chest. I think seeing his flustered state was probably what made me acquiesce when he took my hand and led me down to the bottom of the garden. Gorgeous as he was, and