‘Or you don’t want me to tell Mal all the shitty things you said and get you sacked?’
My eyes met his, chocolate brown and ocean blue, and I searched for the lie. The smirk behind the smile. But there was nothing there. As far as I could tell, he was completely genuine. As far as I could tell. He turned his body towards me, brushing my hair over my shoulder and whispering right into my ear.
‘I want to be consumed,’ he said, his words a soft growl as he leaned in. ‘I want the thought of her to set me on fire. I want to surrender to the flames and burn until there is nothing left but my love.’
A violent thrill shot through me, as though someone had shocked my spine with a cattle prod. I couldn’t believe it. He was quoting my book at me, word for word.
‘You read it,’ I replied with wonder. ‘You actually read it.’
‘Every chapter, every page. Some chapters more than once.’
I wrapped my hands around my legs and squeezed tight to stop myself from shaking. ‘Chapter five?’
‘I liked chapter five,’ he confirmed. ‘But not as much as chapter seventeen.’
When I gulped and I knew he was close enough to hear it.
‘Chapter seventeen kept me awake all night,’ Joe said, moving as close as it was humanly possible to be without making contact. I could feel his lips on my ear eventhough we weren’t quite touching. ‘Chapter seventeen might keep me awake forever.’
The world around us, the trees, the grass, the sun and sky, all disappeared. There was nothing above and nothing below, just us. His face was too close to see clearly, an Impressionist blur, and it drew me in, proximity clouding my mind and my judgement. It was too much and not enough but no matter how badly I wanted to, I couldn’t do it.
‘Would you look at the time!’ I exclaimed, leaping to my feet and accidentally clobbering Joe in the face with the corner of my tote bag. ‘The barbecue is supposed to start soon, isn’t it? Mum must be wondering where we are. We’d better get back to the butcher’s, a fuck load of chicken waits for no man.’
‘You can ask if he’s got a steak for my eye while we’re there,’ Joe grunted, his right eye tearing up as he stood. ‘What are you trying to do, blind me?’
‘Don’t be such a wimp,’ I replied, marching on the spot. ‘I barely touched you.’
‘I know,’ he murmured. ‘And look at the state of me.’
He took a step back, eyeing me warily as though I was the dangerous one, and I clucked out a laugh in a vain attempt to dispel the tension.
‘It hasn’t even left a mark,’ I told him shakily. ‘You’ll live.’
‘As long as I stay away from you,’ he replied, grim and determined. ‘You’re a menace, Sophie Taylor. Just keep your distance, yeah?’
Speechless, I watched him stalk off down the lane, leaving me in his dust.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
For the rest of the afternoon, I did exactly as he asked.
We walked back to the butcher’s in silence, picked up Mum’s meat order and, as soon as it was safely in the car, I asked Joe to drop me off on the way home.
‘Drop you where?’ he asked stiffly.
‘Here is fine,’ I replied, checking the address on my phone. ‘I’ll walk the rest of the way.’
‘I don’t mind taking you all the way,’ he said, the corner of his mouth twitching. ‘Wherever it is you’re running off to.’
‘Here is fine,’ I repeated. ‘Thanks.’
He stared straight ahead as I unbuckled my seatbelt and climbed down from my seat. ‘Do you want me to take your bag?’
‘No, thanks.’ I shook my head. ‘The bag—’
‘Stays with you,’ Joe finished for me. ‘Got it.’
The car door wasn’t even closed when he restarted the engine and pulled away, tyres squealing in protest.
