Stop it. I shiver and hurry through with my head down, passing by the tailor’s and emerging into a small village square, complete with a large oak tree, encircled by a wooden bench. It’s nearly dark now, and an old streetlight casts a muted glow over the area.
The timeworn, mint green facade of the Temperance Bar is partly hidden behind the tree’s fake foliage. I duck around it and enter the store, inhaling the scent of cocoa that still seems to linger after all these years. I’ve not really spent much time in here, so I have a good look around while I wait for Tommy.
The faded pink walls are decorated with old tin adverts for tea and cocoa. I gather my skirts and sit down on a wooden chair at a small, round table. This reminds me so much of the little local pub back home, I get a twinge in my stomach. The smell of cocoa seems to grow stronger and Tommy appears in the doorway, a steaming hot mug in each hand.
“Fancy meeting you here.” He winks and puts the earthenware cups on to the table. Then he drags a stool over and sits, almost indecently close.
“Hey.” Is that all I can say?Hey?
“Hot chocolate for the lady.” He pushes a cup towards me and the smell sets off a rumble in my stomach. I clutch my hands to it, shoulders tense, praying he hasn’t noticed, but he laughs and my muscles relax. “I hope it’s all right. I couldn’t find any proper stuff so had to nick some of Sue’s from the front desk’s diet rubbish.” He holds out his mug and clinks mine, the brown liquid sloshing down the side.
I smile and clink back. “Slainte, then.” I blow on the hot chocolate as his glorious eyebrows knit together.
“Slancha?”
“Yeah, it’s Irish. For cheers.”
“I like it. Slancha!” He clinks my cup again and I giggle. Ugh, God help me, I am not usually a giggler. “What you laughing at?”
“Nothing.” I smile. He puts his cup back on the table and his face suddenly grows serious. He reaches a hand towards me and I hold my breath. What’s he doing?
“Here, let me get that.” Tommy’s fingers whisper against my cheek as he brushes a single stray hair from my face. They linger there for a second and I feel as though I’m going to burst into flames when he traces them down my cheek and over my jawbone. “You are so beautiful.”
Is this really happening?
I close my eyes as he traces a line down the side of my neck, setting off little flurries of excitement through my body. I hear, rather than feel, my little gasp of breath when he reaches my collarbone and leans closer, pressing his warm, soft lips to the dip there. My eyes fly open and he pulls away, looking directly into my eyes.
He almost looks sad.
“Is this OK?” he murmurs, fingers still on my neck. I nod, mainly because I’ve forgotten how to speak. He runs his hand gently down my arm and wraps his fingers around mine. I hold on to them for dear life as he leans towards me, our eyes meeting for a fraction of a second, before his lips finally join with my own.
“Why so glum, my lady?”
I jump. I didn’t notice Tommy outside the museum.
“Oh, it’s nothing.” I shove my phone into my bag. “Just a party.” It’s the party Jasmine mentioned the other day. Someone has put up the address on social media. Seems like loads are going.
“A party? Cool. Where is it?”
“Oh, it doesn’t matter. I’m not going.” He turns me around to face him and looks at me closely.
“But you’d like to, right?”
“Well, yeah, but. . .” I sigh. “I don’t really know anyone yet.”
“All the more reason to go, then.”
“No, really. I’m supposed to be sleeping over at Jess’s. Plus, I’m shattered. . .” I fake a yawn and don’t even get halfway through before Tommy’s face crumples into laughter.
“Oh, please, you’re desperate to go.”
My face is starting to burn and I try to shrug it off. “Well, it could be cool, I guess.”
“You should go.” He smiles and hitches his bag higher on his shoulder. He’s wearing a tight black T-shirt beneath an unzipped hoodie. The hem lifts and flashes me a brief glimpse of toned, tanned stomach. A lump forms in my throat.
“Unless. . .” Should I? Would he?
“Unless what?”
