5
It was just drinks. Just drinks in Severton, something she did on most weekends. And just a date. But no sex. Not after two dates and, given that she knew Oliver had spent the day male bonding with Scott and Alex, she wasn’t sure whether he’d be making fun of her sex face to them on Sunday. Not a risk worth taking; nothing that had the possibility of giving Scott Maynard more ammo was.
She wore pencil trousers and a pretty top with a spring print, not new, but something she’d barely worn. The plan was to go for a few drinks in town and grab something to eat while they were out, even pizza at Scott’s. Oliver had promised that the night wouldn’t end in an impromptu gig like last night, although it hadn’t bothered her at all. It was good to see him fitting in with the Severton locals, same with Patsy.
There was a knock at her door just at the point of her almost finishing curling her straight hair into something that resembled making an effort.
“Fuck,” she cursed, hoping it wasn’t Oliver. Her house was its usual shambolic state and she had three opened boxes on the floor of model teeth that she was using to demonstrate oral health care in schools over the next couple of weeks.
The voices though were somewhat higher pitched than Oliver’s would be.
“I’m just getting ready.” She managed to open the door without lowering the straighteners.
“We’re just calling by,” Sorrell said. “I was dropping Abby off at Alex’s with the dogs. All three are covered in mud so Alex is going to have a fit. We thought we’d come say hi.”
Keren scowled. “No, you thought you’d come to amuse yourselves because I’m on my second date in two days.”
“And you’re the only person on their second date in two days. Scott saw Patsy when they’d finished their big climbing hike and friend zoned her,” Rayah said. “Which I’m surprised at.”
“She said last night that she didn’t think he was interested. Apparently he kept talking about someone else during dinner so she figured he was hung up on her,” Keren said.
Rayah squinted. “I wonder who. Anyway, Oliver. How was he?”
“He’s… nice.” Keren used the smaller mirror in her lounge to finish her hair. “He’s clever and good looking.”
“Did you kiss?” Sorrell said, looking almost too excited. “Was it good? I remember the first time Zack kissed me…”
“Yeah, yeah, we’ve heard it all before,” Rayah said, patting Sorrell’s arm. “She’s excited because her and Zack have bought a new car today. In joint names.”
Sorrell beamed and Keren couldn’t help but smile. “Only you would be having a mini-internal party about that.” Sorrell’s ex had been an idiot whose main interest in her had been her money. Joint investments like the cottage they’d just moved into and the car were helping her feel secure. Not that Zack would ever let anything upset Sorrell. He worshipped everything around her, not just the ground.
“I had to get rid of mine. There’s no way it would’ve survived another winter like last. Did Patsy say who Scott kept talking about?” Sorrell said. “I’ve never known him seem overly interested in a woman. I know women have stayed over with him, but they’ve never been around for breakfast and he’s never talked about them.”
“The only woman he’s ever really not shut up about is Keren,” Rayah said, her eyes meeting Keren’s through the mirror. “Since she went to university he’s hated her. Before that he used to follow her round like a puppy dog.”
“Why did you fall out?” Sorrell said.
Keren shook her head and switched off her straighteners. “I have no idea. One day he was just Scott and my big, gorgeous goofy friend and the next he was putting me down and arguing at anything I said. Can we move past Scott so I can get ready for my date, which you never know, might result in some eventual insert tab A in slot B action?”
Rayah came behind her and tousled her hair. “We can. You have the night to yourselves unless you go to the hotel. Gran’s having an impromptu bingo night in order to raise funds for a graphic designer to do a label for the gin.”
“Holy mother,” Keren said. Gran was a legend for many things. She only actually had one grandchild, but had somehow ended up being known as Gran by everyone under forty. Her granddaughter, Vanessa, was now living in London and was doing very well with her own marketing company.
“Hang on, isn’t Vanessa helping her with this?”
Rayah shrugged. “I’d be very surprised if she wasn’t, but Gran’s trying to make it a co-operative business, so the profits go back into Severton itself, and maintenance, the numerous firework displays, food banks – that sort of thing. And, if it takes off, it’ll be a source of employment. I think the bingo night is a way of getting more people invested in it.”
Keren almost debated changing the venue of the date to bingo and then remembered she was on a date and not a pensioner herself. This was another reason to make some life changes: she was getting old too fast. “I’m sure you’ll have a really good night. Now if you two don’t mind, I need to be leaving for my date.”
Oliver had managed to fill any awkward silence with questions about her job and Severton. She told him about Gran and the Coven, Gran’s partners in gossip and hare-brained ideas and about some of the weirder traditions that Severton embraced.
He was gorgeous and quick, his smile worthy of the editorial in a high fashion magazine, and she had noticed how well his jeans fit around his ass.
But she didn’t want to tie him to her bed and ride him into tomorrow. Which annoyed her. He was exactly the sort of man who would be a great husband and a good dad; funny, intelligent, interesting and reliable but he didn’t make her insides quiver and her toes tingle with the thought of him being naked. Okay, maybe that was a little dramatic. She could totally imagine him naked once or twice, but once he’d scratched that itchy, she doubted she’d need him to scratch it again anytime soon.
There was no chemistry and she guessed he saw that too. Opportunities for him to touch her were there, but he didn’t take them.
“What can I get for you two?” Scott said as they entered his bar and went to order drinks. “I’m assuming Keren would like something bitter to keep her that way?”
