‘Don’t worry, they don’t bite,’ said Etienne, bringing up the rear.
‘Ha ha.’ Gabi grimaced.
‘Actually, that’s not strictly true. . .’ said Fox. ‘Little Tommy Malone bit my leg when I was reading. Luckily, he only had baby teeth, so it didn’t really hurt.’
Gabi spluttered.
‘You’ll be all right, though.’ Fox nodded at her boot. ‘He can’t get to yours.’
‘What am I doing?’ Gabi groaned, banging the book on her forehead.
Isabella and Amber joined the group, both with large glasses of white wine in their hands. Isabella lowered the book from Gabi’s face to kiss her, and Gabi smelled the lemon scent of her shampoo, felt the reassuring touch of her free hand on her arm.
Isabella smelled like family, like home, or the closest thing she had to it. Gabi had tried using that shampoo herself, but it wasn’t the same. She squeezed Isabella’s hand in return.
‘I need one of those.’ She nodded at the wine.
‘Afterwards!’ Isabella said, moving the bottle out of the way.
‘Spoilsport,’ hissed Gabi.
‘You can’t be drunk as the reader,’ Isabella chided.
‘There’s a first time for everything,’ Gabi said.
Someone moved in next to her. She turned, directly into Walker’s chest as he joined the group. Her eyes were yet again level with his pecs. The pecs that she knew were rock hard under that T-shirt. She’d felt them at the fire station and eyed them at the gym when he wasn’t looking. She forced her gaze upwards, and he was smiling down at her.
‘Looking forward to your performance,’ he said. ‘Hope they let you finish and don’t cut you off like the last guy.’
Gabi felt her mouth fall open.
‘What! They heckle too?’
He laughed.
‘I wouldn’t call it heckling. They just get bored or restless and lose their concentration.’
‘Shit, shit, shit,’ Gabi muttered with feeling.
Isabella nudged her sharply and nodded at the toddler watching them from her vantage point on her father’s shoulders. ‘Language,’ she whispered quietly. The girl had big brown eyes. She fixed them on Gabi.
‘Shit,’ the little girl said quite clearly.
Walker laughed. ‘Now look what you’ve done!’ He steered her away, tucking them into the book corner with her back to the child.
‘What are you reading?’ Walker asked. Gabi held up her book.
‘It’s about a girl who isn’t great at school, but she’s brilliant in the circus,’ she said.
‘Why did you choose that?’ he asked, flipping the pages.
Gabi’s voice dropped now with urgency. ‘To show the kids that they can do whatever they want to do. They can be whatever they want to be, they just need to be brave and give things a go.’
His mouth curled upwards, and she felt a small glow of pleasure that she’d made him smile. He’d looked so worried the other day at the gym. ‘You’re going to be just fine,’ he said. ‘They’re going to love it.’ She didn’t have time to thank him as Rosie called for attention at the front and began her introduction.
‘Here she is, our guest reader for the night: Gabriella Tucci. The best stuntwoman in the business. She works in Hollywood and all around the world doing death-defying action shots for the movies.’
The children gasped while Isabella cheered.
