Christmas at Lilac Cottage - Holly Martin Page 0,8
anything, he just stared at her like a starved man would stare at steak.
He suddenly leaned forward and brushed his finger across her cheek. Electricity sparked through her at the softest of touches and she leapt back away from him.
Henry’s eyes widened in horror. ‘I’m so sorry, I’m not normally this creepy, I promise. I don’t normally go round touching strange women. You had sauce on your cheek, I was just wiping it off. With hindsight I probably should have just told you.’ He stared down at his wine. ‘What did you put in this thing? It’s gone straight to my head.’
Penny tried to find her voice, to try to say something to put him at ease, but she could still feel his touch on her cheek. Had it really been that long since she was touched by a man that her body reacted this insanely over a simple graze of her cheek?
She cleared her throat. ‘I didn’t think it was creepy.’
‘You didn’t?’
‘A bit inappropriate maybe, but not creepy.’
‘Very inappropriate, I’m sorry.’
Silence descended and sparks seemed to crackle between them like the flames in the fireplace.
Penny passed him a mince pie, suddenly feeling nervous around him for the first time that night. He took it and bit into it, obviously still embarrassed by his overly tactile moment earlier.
‘Mmm, this is delicious. I’m so rubbish at making mince pies, I just can’t seem to get them right.’ He took another bite and moaned softly with pleasure. ‘So tell me more about this ball, will I have to wear a suit?’
She was relieved to move the topic back onto safer ground, although the sudden vision of Henry in a suit was doing nothing to stop these inappropriate thoughts from swirling around her head.
‘Erm, yes, everyone gets dressed up in their best clothes.’
Henry pulled a face.
‘I’m sure you’ll look very sexy in a suit.’ Good lord, what had she put in the mulled wine, some kind of truth serum? His eyebrows shot up, the mince pie frozen halfway to his mouth. ‘I’m sorry, I’m rubbish around men, I really am. I’m trying to say things to you that I’d say to my girlfriends. “Oh you’d look beautiful in that dress, those shoes look so good on you.” Please don’t take it the wrong way, I’m not chatting you up.’
He resumed eating his pie and Penny was surprised to see what looked like a brief flash of disappointment cross his face, but then it was gone.
She took a sip of the wine.
‘What charity is it for?’
‘It changes every year. This year we’re raising money for research into miscarriages, stillbirths and premature babies.’
‘That sounds like a very worthy cause. My sister, Anna, miscarried, I know how utterly heartbreaking it can be. She just has her second child, but I don’t think the pain of it ever really goes away.’
She stared at him, a huge lump forming in her throat. He understood. He stared right back, narrowing his eyes slightly. When he spoke his voice was soft. ‘I’m guessing you’ve lost a baby too.’
She swallowed. ‘You’re very astute. It was a long time ago, eight years in fact. I was only twenty-one.’ It had been a long time since she had spoken about it too but he seemed to command so much honesty from her. ‘You’re very easy to talk to. I never talk about this with anyone. Chris and I had only been going out for three or four months but I just knew that he was my happy ever after, that we were going to be together forever. Then I fell pregnant. He didn’t want to keep it, he wanted to travel the world, not be tied down by a baby. But there was no way I could get rid of it; from the moment that I found out, I loved that baby with everything I had. I was nearly four months when I lost it. Chris was so relieved, he practically cheered when I told him. I couldn’t stop crying, for the baby, for his reaction to it. He left me a few days later. I was heartbroken.’
‘I’m so sorry.’
‘It’s fine. Well, it’s not but it was a very long time ago. And looking back now, I’m so glad we never stayed together. He was wrong for me in every way. I cannot even begin to imagine raising a child with him. He was an ass. So maybe in some horrible way it was for the best.’