He was giving her the strangest look, and she laughed. ‘Why are you looking at me like that?’
‘I don’t know why I’m even telling you this, after all these years, but—’
She put one hand on her hip as she sipped her drink through the little straw.
‘I’ve never forgotten that kiss, Ella. All those months I waited to kiss you, and I finally gathered up the courage on my last day at school.’ He shook his head. ‘I spent so long wishing I’d been brave enough earlier, and then when I left, all I wanted was to come back to see you.’
Ella blushed. She’d never known he’d even liked her until that day. ‘Are you remembering the part where we awkwardly bumped teeth, or…’
‘I’m remembering the part where I should have been braver, so I could have had weeks’ worth of kissing you, instead of one stolen moment.’
She swallowed as he looked pointedly at her mouth, before lifting his gaze. Ella nodded, almost dropping her drink when his lips unexpectedly met hers in a soft, toe-tingling kiss. She could have stood like that forever, but it wasn’t to be as more people filled the bar and one jostled her as he passed, almost knocking her clean off her feet.
Gabriel was quick to save her, looping one arm around her waist and tugging her to him, the other hand reaching out to take her drink for her, which had just sloshed over her shoe.
‘I don’t think I’ll forget that one either,’ he whispered against her skin.
Ella blushed, unable to help the instant heat in her cheeks, but she didn’t pull away.
‘Come on, there are a few people I’d love you to meet.’ He stopped and glanced down at her. ‘If you don’t mind?’
‘I don’t mind at all,’ she replied, taking a big sip of her drink for courage, and wondering just how it was that her evening had turned out so differently to how she’d expected.
Gabriel’s fingers stroked her arm and she tucked in close to him as they navigated the crowd. It was becoming noisy and mildly raucous as it filled with even more people, but Ella didn’t care. She was used to such sedate gatherings these days, and she’d barely socialised outside of work all year, which was making the entire evening even more interesting for her. And that waswithoutconsidering the rather unexpected kiss. There was truly nowhere else she’d rather be.
She stole a glance at Gabriel’s side profile, taking in the strong, square jaw. He was handsome in a classical way, his features masculine, and the way he held himself even more so, filled with a confidence that she thought might perhaps come from his ease on stage. It wasn’t arrogance so much as a quiet sense of being comfortable in his own skin, which was even more appealing than his looks, and it was what she’d liked most about him as a teenager too. He’d never seemed to care what anyone else thought, not to mention that he’d been confident enough to spend his final year of school abroad.
Ella hadn’t thought about Gabe in a very long time, but she was certainly thinking about him now. She sighed as his hand slipped from her waist, catching her palm instead and sending a shiver of anticipation through her body as he tugged her along. She’d have been lying if she didn’t admit to having fallen just a little bit in lust with him all over again, especially when he sat down and gestured for her to join him. His thigh brushed hers and he casually slung his arm around her shoulders, gracing her with a smile before laughing at something one of his friends had said.
She had no idea how they’d managed to cross paths again, but she did know that the little box of clues was to be thanked for that. Without them, she would never have decided to go to the concert, and she would never have ended up sitting with this gorgeous, talented man’s arm around her.
* * *
‘I think it’s time for us to say goodnight.’ Gabe winked at her as he stood up from his chair at the bar and held out his hand.
Ella blinked and looked around, surprised to see there was only a handful of people left. She’d noticed most of his colleagues leave some time ago—they’d all called out their goodbyes and clapped Gabriel on the back on their way past—but she hadn’t realised that the entire place had almost emptied out. It was most definitely time to leave.
‘Tonight turned out nothing like I imagined it would,’ she confessed, as she watched him put on his jacket. It fitted him like a glove, and she couldn’t stop her eyes dancing over the front of his shirt as it went taut with his movement.
‘Well, that makes two of us.’
They stood for a moment, awkward for the first time all night, before he ducked his head slightly and smiled down at her. For a brief moment she thought he was going to kiss her again.
‘Would it be strange to ask for your number?’
Ella blushed. It had been a long time since her cheeks had flushed red, years in fact, but somehow Gabriel had turned her into a teenager again. ‘It would be strange if you didn’t.’
They both laughed, and Ella clapped her hand over her mouth, mortified at her terrible attempt at flirting.
‘I’m sorry, I’m very out of practice.’
‘Me too. You’re forgetting I was the one thinking it was strange to ask for the number of a girl I like.’
A girl he liked?She cleared her throat and took her phone when he passed it back to her, deciding not to say anything else in case she further embarrassed herself. Perhaps he’d meant to saya girl he used to like. They’d talked all evening, remembering things about the past that they’d both long forgotten—until now—and yet now that it was time to part ways, she’d never felt so awkward around another human being. It was just like being sixteen with him again.
Ella tapped her name and number into his phone before passing it back to him.
‘It’s been great seeing you again tonight, Ella.’
