‘Oh, for fuck’s sake! You’re not nineteen any more, and you’ve kissed him. Get over yourself.’ She reflected, as she said this out loud, that her inner voice was far more critical than Rachel’s more diplomatic forms of reassurance. But it was too late to back out now. Grabbing her beaded black handbag and checking her hair and face in the mirror one last time, she headed out of her bedroom and towards the steps that led to her front door.
Just as she was about to descend the steep staircase, she paused. There, chatting amiably to Rachel as if they’d known each other for years, was Charlie. But this was a Charlie that took her breath away. Hair slicked back from his face, in an impeccably cut dinner jacket and a bow tie that looked as if he’d actually tied it himself, he looked every inch a superstar.
As he glanced upwards, she caught a flash of the dark crimson lining of his dinner jacket, and suddenly all the pithy lines she’d rehearsed in her head, all the ironic snark she’d wanted to hit him with went up in smoke. She felt her body responding to him in ways that it hadn’t responded to anyone since she and Andrew had gone their separate ways, and she was totally blindsided. The moment was complete when, as she paused at the top of the stairs, Charlie’s jaw dropped at the sight of her.
‘Wow…’ he said, visibly jolted. ‘You look absolutely amazing.’
Holly’s eyes met Rachel’s, and her sister gave an almost imperceptible wink.
‘Thanks, so do you.’ The unexpectedly breathy and high pitch of her own voice made Holly wince.
Thankfully, Rachel came to the rescue.
‘Well, I’ve done my bit by way of being the doorman, so I’ll make myself scarce,’ she said.
Shooting Holly a tell-me-all-about-it-tomorrow-and-I-mean-everything glance as she left, Holly and Charlie were suddenly alone. And the hallway of Holly’s flat seemed incredibly intimate.
‘Are you ready for tonight?’ Holly asked as she drew a little closer to Charlie, who was still standing, looking ever so slightly dazed at the sight of her. ‘Did you manage to get your speech written?’ She continued, trying to steer the conversation away from her thumping heart and onto safe ground.
At the mention of the speech, Charlie seemed to snap back to reality. ‘The speech. Yes. Yes, I did. It’s all fine. And did I mention you look amazing?’
Holly laughed. ‘You might have stammered something, yes. And thank you.’ She moved a little closer to him. ‘You scrub up pretty well yourself.’
‘Thanks,’ Charlie’s voice had a husky undertone. ‘Although I should take issue with the colour of the dress, it really, really suits you.’
He dipped his head and Holly gasped as his lips met hers. All of a sudden, as the kiss deepened and he pulled her close towards him, she wanted to forget all about this starchy dinner and drag him upstairs to her bedroom. But, once again, time was against them.
‘Steady on,’ Charlie breathed. ‘It’s going to be a long night if you keep reminding me of all the kissing we could be doing instead!’ He broke away from her, and she could see his eyes were dark with desire. ‘And we really should get going.’
Holly smiled. She felt about a million miles away now from the shy, hesitant girl she had been all those years ago in London, and although the dress was also miles away from what she would normally wear these days, she had to admit that she liked the effect it was having on Charlie. ‘OK. But I’m warning you, I can only keep a lid on my subversive opinions for so long. You might have to drag me away if I end up getting too outspoken.’
‘So long as I can drag you away and be alone with you, that’s fine with me,’ Charlie said, that husky note still very much in his voice. ‘But for now, let’s go and mingle, shall we?’
Heart thumping almost painfully under the bones of the bodice of the dress, Holly wondered what would happen after the mingling; was tonight the night that she and Charlie would take a step further in their relationship? Her body, already beginning to ache for his touch, was sending signals that it, at least, really hoped it was.
21
Holly felt a fresh flutter of nerves in her stomach as Charlie pulled into the car park of the Swanley Hotel. A triumph of Victorian industrialist architecture, its austere windows peered suspiciously out across the town centre, seeming to glare at all newcomers.
Holly shook her head. ‘I thought this kind of gig had died out along with Nokia phones!’
‘Sadly not,’ Charlie said wryly. ‘But then, most party members are twice your age, and probably still using that kind of mobile.’ He turned off the engine and looked at her. ‘Thank you for coming with me tonight,’ he said softly. ‘I know this isn’t exactly your cup of tea, but I’m glad you agreed to it.’
‘Don’t thank me until later,’ Holly joked. ‘It’s been so long since I’ve been to a function like this, I’ve forgotten how to behave myself!’
‘I’m sure that’s not true,’ Charlie replied, although he did look a little unnerved. He hopped out of the car, and before Holly could open her own door, he’d hurried round to her side and opened it for her.
Stepping out of the BMW in such a tight dress was a bit of an issue, and she was grateful for his hand as he offered it to her.
‘Did I tell you how amazing you look?’ he whispered into her ear, sending a shiver down her spine.
‘Yes, you did,’ Holly replied playfully, ‘so stop trying to butter me up.’
‘As if I would!’ Charlie said. ‘Come on, let’s go and do this.’ And with that, they headed into the foyer of the hotel.
A little time later, and Holly was beginning to relax a bit. She knew, from Charlie’s slightly set jaw, that he was still feeling tense; he had his speech to come when coffee had been served after the meal. But the food was decent, and she was sitting next to the mild-mannered husband of the town’s mayor, who was doing a good job of lightening her mood. Aged around sixty, he had the slightly resigned air of a man who was used to being in the shadow of a politically powerful spouse, and he’d been pointing out people to her in a calm undertone for most of the evening.
‘On that table to your left are most of the members of the Stavenham Chambers of Commerce and their spouses,’ he was saying. ‘Perhaps you should have a word after dinner – get your name into the mix as a local business owner.’
‘I’m not sure they’ll have much to say to me,’ Holly’s eyes glinted. ‘I’m hardly their typical member.’
‘Still worth a chat,’ he replied. ‘All contacts are good contacts.’
The mayor was still chatting animatedly to Charlie, who was nodding and smiling, although Holly noticed he did seem a bit distracted.
‘Have you known him long?’ the mayor’s husband asked, catching the direction of her gaze.
‘Not very,’ Holly admitted. ‘And have you been married long?’
‘Forty years next year,’ he said. ‘Three sons and a daughter, and six grandchildren to show for it. And, for the past few years, quite a lot of these kinds of dinners.’ He patted a slightly paunchy belly. ‘Price you pay, among other things.’