The Waffle House on the Pier - Tilly Tennant Page 0,82
it was happening.’ She forced a bright smile. ‘I’m sorry this is turning out to be such a terrible date. I thought coming out with you would help me to forget all that and we’d just have fun, but that hasn’t happened at all. I bet you wish you’d stayed at home with a tin of paint right now, done something useful with your time.’
‘No,’ he said, holding her in a warm gaze. ‘I don’t wish that at all.’
‘But it can’t be much fun with me.’
‘I think you’re gorgeous and intelligent and interesting company. And although I’m sympathetic to your plight and happy to lend an ear, there is an ulterior motive.’
‘What’s that?’
‘I get to sit and look at you and think about kissing you. Don’t imagine you have my undivided attention for a minute because those lips of yours are very distracting.’
Sadie laughed, tension draining from her in the warmth of his words.
‘Don’t laugh,’ he said, ‘I’m being serious. It actually makes me a terrible person and I do feel a bit guilty about it.’
‘No,’ she said. ‘It doesn’t. I like it and thank you for making me feel better.’ She took a deep breath and sat up straighter. ‘I’ll write a note for the door of the waffle house explaining that we have to close for a few days and pop in there first thing to put it up. It’s all I can do. Hopefully it’ll mean people won’t think we’re gone for good and they might keep checking back to see if we’re open, so when we do – if we do – the customers will still be there.’
‘And does it mean you can stay out a bit later with me tonight?’ he asked with a mischievous smile. ‘As you don’t have to work tomorrow?’
‘As tempting as that is, I do still have to work tomorrow. I need to find a way out of this problem.’
‘But you could do that after an extra hour in bed?’
‘Well,’ she said, relaxing a little more still, ‘I suppose I might think more clearly on a fun night out and a bit more sleep.’
‘My thoughts exactly.’ He looked at her glass. ‘So how about we top up that gin and tonic and I try to take your mind off your troubles for a while?’
She leaned across the table to kiss him. She could have done so much more, and she wanted to, but there were people waiting at home to talk to her and things that still needed to be resolved.
‘I’d love that so much,’ she said. ‘But I really should get back after this one. I’m sorry… You’re not upset, are you?’
‘I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed, but I understand that you need this. Of course I’ll take you home. Just’ – he glanced at her glass again – ‘just don’t drink that one too quickly, eh? I’m not ready for the evening to be over just yet.’
* * *
Even though Sadie ought to have been tired, sleep didn’t come easily. Luke had dropped her off shortly after ten thirty, and though the passion of their first date had been evident again in their goodnight kiss, it had been gentler, more understanding and respectful this time. It was clear to him that she wasn’t in the mood for anything more (though she’d enjoyed his company and had appreciated the time out from complex family discussions) and that she had more important things going on.
That wasn’t to say that she hadn’t still been thinking of him, even as her parents had tried valiantly to pick up where they’d left off earlier that evening, and even as she’d tried very hard to concentrate on what they’d been saying. Scenes and snatches of the night spent sitting close to Luke in the snug of the Listing Ship came back to her though, filling her with a dreamy sort of longing for what the next evening and the one after that might promise. If she was very lucky, luckier than she felt she deserved, could this even be the second chance at something meaningful – even love? The second chance she’d begun to give up all hope of having? With all that racing around in her mind, she was finding it hard to make room for the more pressing matters that she knew she really had to get to grips with.
So she’d tossed and turned during the night, awake to hear an owl’s soft hooting and then another in reply, and