by Diane Saxon
Ryan glanced out of the window at the virtually empty street except for the suited man who thought he could leave his car on double-yellow lines. The traffic warden would soon disillusion him of that notion. They were pretty fast in this neighbourhood.
With a reluctant smile, Ryan slipped back into his seat and picked up his coffee. The hot liquid scalded his tongue and he clipped the cup back on the saucer while he watched out of the window again. He’d give her to the end of his drink and then he’d go. He glanced at his phone, resisted the temptation to send her a quick reminder. Maybe she’d forgotten. Maybe she’d been delayed. Ryan sighed as he cast a sideways glance at the offering of cakes. If she came, he’d have another coffee and a slice of the coffee cake. If she came.
It seemed a shame. He’d been quite hopeful about Carla. They’d got on so well online. She’d seemed funny. From her profile picture, she was exactly what he wanted. Dark auburn hair, and lots of it. The pure, milky skin of a redhead with a smattering of freckles. And eyes. Big, tawny eyes. Physically fit, fitter than him. She was training to run the London Marathon. Their conversations had been… engaging.
He glanced down the street in the vain hope she might be running along it towards him.
Empty.
Perhaps he should get fit, build some muscle. He clenched his hands together, so his muscles bunched in his upper arms and flexed his chest out. He huffed out a breath and deflated, sank back into the small velour bucket seat, his arms a protective wrap around his skinny chest. Weightlifting might be a better option, lending his profile a little more honesty.
Honesty. It didn’t particularly bother him. As he’d said to Jenna, everyone lies on dating apps, everyone knew they did. It was accepted, understood.
Initially, he’d been a little blasé about the whole idea and not taken much care with the profile until he saw how many matches he needed to trawl through to find someone who appealed. Then he’d narrowed his search. He liked gingers, always had. They held such appeal, he had a particular soft spot for Emma Stone. He’d fed that into the app and then thought what the hell, I’ll drop in the description of my dream woman. Turned out his dream woman wasn’t so easy to come by. Six in all within the area he’d defined. He either needed to widen the area or change the profile. It wouldn’t necessarily be his dream woman any more, but whoever got that in life anyway?
He glanced at his phone. He could text her, ask her where she was, but he didn’t want to be pushy. It was her turn to text.
He drained his cup and sat a while longer. It was clear she wasn’t coming. He’d have to start again. He hadn’t even factored the other girls in yet, he only wanted to chat to two at a time maximum. It would be crass to mix them up.
The messenger on his phone pinged and he tilted the screen so he could see and shot upright in his chair. It was her. Carla.
He swiped the screen, so the full message opened.
Hi Ryan, I’m really sorry. I’ve had a family emergency and gone home for a couple of days. I’m back on shift later in the week, but perhaps we can rearrange for another day? I understand if you don’t want to.
He stood, picked up his cup and saucer and slipped it onto the counter before he left the coffee shop. A gentle flush of excitement trickled through him. He may have been stood up, but she had a reason, an excuse. An apology.
He tapped his thumb on the screen. Hesitated.
He wouldn’t reply straight away. There was no rush. He’d play it cool. There may have been a family emergency, or she’d just forgotten about their date. It was hardly a date. Just a coffee.
He brushed aside his doubts and made his way to his car. He’d head back home for a while, kill a couple of hours with his mum while he waited to go back on shift. Then he’d reply. He glanced at the message still on the display of his phone. He didn’t want to appear too keen.
He typed:
Let me know when you get back
He hit send.
25
Saturday 8 February, 19:00 hours
Food shopping with Fliss was a damned nightmare and a Saturday evening couldn’t be worse. Why the hell they didn’t get it delivered, she’d never know. Perhaps it required for one of them to be organised, or just have five minutes to think the process through.
Jenna reached into the trolley and slipped the huge packet of crisps back onto the shelf.
‘I saw that!’
Jenna turned cold eyes on her sister. ‘We don’t need them.’
‘But I like crisps.’ The whine in Fliss’s voice just made Jenna grind her teeth. She wasn’t about to win this one.
With a tut, she turned, swept up a small multi-pack of crisps and flung them into the trolley. ‘There, that’s all we need.’
As another pack landed swiftly on top of the first, Fliss grinned at her. ‘Special offer, buy one, get one half price.’
Jenna blew out a disgusted breath and stared at the mishmash of crap in the trolley. ‘There’s not a single meal here, Fliss.’
Fliss leaned in to ferret in the bottom of the trolley. Triumphant, she swiped out a packet and wafted it under Jenna’s nose. ‘Breakfast. See.’
‘Oh, God.’ Jenna snatched the packet back and threw it in the trolley. ‘Breakfast is not pain au chocolat every day, Fliss.’ The girl was impossible. If it was left to her, they’d live on sugar and be diabetics in no time. She scooped six small boxes out of the trolley with the intention of landing them back on the shelf where Fliss had just obtained them.
‘Uh, uh, no.’ Fliss took them from her hands and placed them back in the trolley. ‘Three for two.’
‘It’s still a stupid price to pay for a disposable cup of coffee.’
‘The whole lot of these are less than you pay for one.’
‘Rubbish.’
Fliss shot her a sly look. ‘How much did you pay Ryan to get you a coffee the other day?’
Busted. ‘How do you know?’
‘Mason told me.’
‘Mason?’ Bastard. He’d not given any hint of contacting her sister. Perhaps he’d made his move after all. ‘When?’
‘He texted me.’
Jenna pushed the trolley around the end of the aisle and kept her voice casual. ‘You’re texting with Mason?’
‘It was only to let me know about your coffee. He thought I’d find it funny as I was the one responsible for your hangover apparently.’
Fliss turned away to swipe a box of Lucky Charms off the shelf. Jenna pulled it from her hands and put it back as she ran an assessing gaze over her sister. Interesting, that rosy flush that crept up Fliss’s neck when Mason’s name was mentioned. Cautious, Jenna turned away to pick up a box of porridge oats. She dropped them in the trolley and moved on. Mason’s approach was no business of hers. However he wanted to go about it, it appeared her sister may be receptive to his decided lack of charm.
Jenna swept along the next aisle, only pausing to snatch up a bottle of mineral water, frightened to linger in case Fliss filled the trolley with sugar filled drinks. She turned at the end of the aisle, leaving Fliss to study the next special offer on the shelf and pulled up sharp as she almost rammed into a man, bent at the waist, studying the special offer rack.
As he raised his head and his gaze met hers, a lazy smile curved his lips and a surprised thrill shot through her veins.
‘Hello.’ The warmth in Denton Harper’s cobalt eyes proved irresistible and Jenna found herself smiling back. Distracted the last time they’d met, she’d not really appreciated how very attractive the man was, with his mop of blond hair in an unruly flop against his forehead. The jeans and casual grey jacket suited him as much as the smarter outfit he’d worn before.
Self-conscious of her own appearance, Jenna raised a hand and ran her fingers through her choppy brown hair she’d yet to have cut and pushed it back from her eyes. She let out a soft wince as her fingers grazed over the tender spot on her scalp where Julie Mills had yanked out her hair.
‘Hi.’
Proud
of her intelligent response, Jenna nodded, her fixed grin firmly in place.
Without seeming to notice, he pointed at her trolley with the packet of dried spaghetti he held in his hand. ‘Big family? Looks like you’re feeding the five thousand.’
Embarrassed, Jenna glanced into the crap filled trolley and grimaced. ‘No, just a sugar addicted sister, I’m afraid.’
‘Ah.’ His lips curved upwards, and a small dimple winked into his clean shaven cheek. ‘No family, then?’ One eyebrow flicked up and sent a flutter through her chest. Jenna leaned her forearms on the trolley and flashed him a smile. He was asking if she was married.
‘No. Just Fliss.’
‘That’s me.’ Her sister bumped her shoulder, making Jenna snap upright again as Fliss stepped past her and held out her hand. ‘And you are?’
Without a suggestion of surprise, Harper transferred the spaghetti into his left hand, reached out and grasped her sister’s hand. His smile widened to show perfect white teeth. He made the contact with Fliss brief and flicked Jenna another glance before he replied. ‘Denton Harper. I met your sister the other day. Through work.’
‘Oh, okay.’ Fliss tilted her head to one side as though she waited for him to expand his explanation.
Instead, Harper turned back to Jenna. ‘Are you okay? I hope you weren’t hurt.’
About to raise her hand to her hair again, Jenna dropped it to the trolley and gripped the handle to stop herself. She was no teenage girl with a crush, but she was ready to act like one.
‘No. I’m fine. Thank you for asking.’
‘No problem. It happened so fast, I didn’t check how you were. I think we were all a bit shaken. I needed to be careful not to compromise my relationship with my patient.’
‘I understand.’ Aware of Fliss’s close observation, Jenna dropped her voice and glanced down into the trolley, raising her gaze again to meet his. ‘You were very professional.’
Harper nodded, his lips flattening out. ‘It’s not always that way. Anyway…’ he waggled the packet of spaghetti, ‘this is all I needed.’
As he turned to leave, curiosity got the better of her and Jenna halted him. ‘Denton, how come you’re here?’
Confusion flitted over his handsome features. ‘Here?’
‘Don’t you live near Long Lartin, in Worcester?’
His face cleared. ‘Ah. No. I live in Telford. I commute. Just down the road from here in fact. Long Lartin isn’t the only prison I work in. I’m assigned to three of them altogether.’
‘Ah, I see.’ With nothing further to say, Jenna stood in awkward silence and waited for him to depart.
He swivelled on his heel, then back again, narrowing his eyes as he stared at her. ‘Do you fancy grabbing a drink sometime?’
Jenna’s heart knocked while heat raced up her neck into her face. She’d be a fool not to take him up on his offer, but still. ‘I…’
Aware of Fliss’s subtle move away to disappear around the corner into the next aisle and give them privacy, she still hesitated.
‘I’m sorry,’ he angled his head. ‘Are you seeing someone?’
Words fell over themselves as her tongue refused to co-operate with her brain. ‘Well, I kind of… sort of…’ A vision of Adrian flashed through her mind as she admitted to herself that he was the sole reason she hadn’t dated. She needed to move on. Tell Denton Harper she wasn’t seeing anyone. She’d love a cup of coffee. Instead, what came out of her mouth was unplanned. ‘It’s complicated.’ She stumbled to a halt.
Regret shadowed Harper’s eyes before he jiggled his shoulders as he dug into his pocket and pulled out his phone. ‘I’ll tell you what. I’ll give you my telephone number and if you manage to uncomplicate matters, give me a ring…’
The charm of him coaxed a smile from her and she found herself reaching into her handbag to dig out her phone, watching as the fine flop of his hair fell over his forehead when he dipped his head to read out his number. She’d be an idiot not to ring him.
He raised his head and met her gaze. ‘Are you going to let me have your number too? So, I can check if you’ve sorted out your… complication?’ He tilted his head to one side and his eyes crinkled at the edges.
Without another thought, Jenna tapped the dial on her phone and let it ring out to his.
With a flash of a smile, Harper jiggled his phone. ‘I’ve got you now.’
A tremor of excitement rushed her veins and set the heat in her cheeks to burn as he moved off.
As Jenna rounded the end of the aisle, Fliss melted against the special offers shelving unit, her hand held to her chest. ‘Where the hell did you meet him? He’s fricking hot.’
As blood rushed in her ears, Jenna blew out a breath. ‘He is rather.’ She lowered her voice. ‘I met him at Long Lartin prison the other day.’
Fliss’s jaw dropped open and she gave a quick glance up and down the virtually empty aisle before she lowered her own voice. ‘Is he a criminal?’
‘No. He’s a prison counsellor.’ She pushed her hair back from her face.
‘What did you say when he asked you out?’
‘I didn’t commit.’
‘Are you mad?’ Fliss’s harsh whisper battered her. ‘Why the hell not?’
‘Because…’
With a disgusted snort, Fliss pushed away from the shelves and grabbed the trolley from Jenna, driving it down the aisle so Jenna had to trot to keep up. ‘So, you’re still holding out for the gorgeous Chief Prosecutor.’
They’d had the conversation before.
‘It’s…’
‘Complicated.’
‘Yes.’
‘I don’t understand. How can it be complicated? He likes you, you like him. Date him. Jump his bones, see if he’s any good in bed. If he’s not, dump him and move on.’
Her sister made it sound so straightforward, uncomplicated. Unemotional.
‘It’s not that easy, Fliss. He’s married’.
‘Obviously not happily.’
Frustrated, she put on a spurt to keep up and snatched the trolley from Fliss before she managed to mow some poor pensioner down.
‘I wouldn’t know. He’s not made a pass, asked me out, indicated that he wanted anything more than the professional relationship we shared. But I really like him. His looks, his intelligence, his whole demeanour and, quite frankly, if I hadn’t been worried sick over you, I would have paid far more attention. As it was, I simply overheard him tell Donna that he was married. End of story. He probably hasn’t a clue that there was even a smidge of attraction.’ The little white lie didn’t make her feel any better. Of course he was aware. Why else would he have texted her? Why the confused expression when she’d been cold towards him? ‘It’s probably all in my head.’
Fliss grinned and waggled her perfectly arched eyebrows. ‘In the meantime, you have the hot guy’s telephone number.’
Jenna checked her phone with Denton Harper’s name. He may be just the right distraction from Adrian, but she didn’t necessarily have to confide in her sister at this stage. She needed thinking time and Fliss was more likely to force her down a path she wasn’t necessarily ready to follow. ‘It doesn’t make any difference, I’m not going to ring him.’
‘Well, you’re an idiot. I would, if I were you.’
Without a thought of Mason, Jenna looked at her sister. ‘You ring him, then.’
‘You’ve got to be kidding me. The way he looked at you? He’s not going to settle for second-best sister.’
Offended on her own sister’s behalf, Jenna protested, ‘You’re not second best.’
‘In his eyes I would be.’ Fliss flicked her long blonde hair over her shoulder and reached for a dual pack of Danishes, sweeping it into the trolley alongside all the other unhealthy meal choices. How she’d managed to conjure up beef stew was beyond Jenna, but it appeared to have been a one-off if the current trolley status was anything to judge. ‘Besides, I have more pride than to take on your leftovers.’ She smiled and threw
a loaf of thick-cut white bread into the trolley. ‘But if you start to date him, I can’t guarantee I’ll be able to keep my eyes off him.’
Jenna whipped the loaf of white bread out and replaced it with wholemeal.
‘As long as it’s only your eyes.’
Fliss chortled and slammed in a packet of pancakes, followed by a jar of maple syrup. ‘Not that I complain about the look of the handsome Adrian. He does have his appeal too. Especially those shoulders. The width of them.’ She gave a delicate shudder so Jenna could only shake her head. ‘I can understand why you’re hard-pushed. The choice you have. The good-looking and highly respectable Adrian, or the sexy, hot as hell, down and dirty – because I do believe he’s fully capable of down and dirty, the way he looked at you, I’m surprised he didn’t singe your skin – counsellor.’
Reluctant to admit he had, Jenna turned away and selected a bottle of Nero d’Avolo from the shelf and placed it in the trolley and simply sighed as Fliss reached for another. She cast her gaze around and tried to ignore the two elderly ladies who made no bones about listening into their conversation. She needed something healthy, or she’d shrivel away trying to avoid all the carbs and sugars Fliss had selected. They needed to return to the fruit and veg aisles.
As she pushed her phone into her back pocket, it buzzed to signal the arrival of a text.
She hauled it back out and glanced at the screen.
Jenna, give me a ring when you’ve sorted out your… complication. No strings. Coffee would be good.
Before Fliss noticed, Jenna flicked the screen off and shoved the phone into her pocket again. Perhaps she’d made a mistake allowing him to have her number. It wasn’t fair to let him think she was available, even if she was. She needed to redirect her thoughts away from Adrian and free up her hormones so they could trot after someone else.
26
Saturday 8 February, 21:25 hours