‘Wild Friday night plans, you know how it is!’ Luca added, his voice light and playful as though he could sense my discomfort down the phone.
‘Oh, sure, I’ve actually got plans on Friday myself,’ I found myself saying. Jacob and Alice both frowned at me, clearly struggling to keep up with the conversation.
‘Really?’
‘Yep.’
‘Because you were the one who suggested Friday in the first place .?.?.’ Luca reminded me. There was no hiding the amusement in his voice now. He was backing me into a corner, and he knew it.
‘Yeah, well, I only just remembered. My diary at the minute is justwooo—’
Alice tapped her pen against her glass, giving me a sobering shake of her head, whilst Jacob just gawped at me open-mouthed, like I was some exotic animal in a zoo.
‘Ah, that’s a shame.’ Luca’s voice vibrated in my ear.
‘Why’s that?’
‘Well, I was going to ask if you fancied joining me? I need to make a start on getting the community centre vaguely presentable for the concert, so I’ve got a hot date with a mop and some bunting, but there’s always room for one more.’
My cheeks flushed, realising I’d jumped to the wrong conclusion when it came to Luca. Again. I stared across the bar at Alice and Jacob, both of them blinking expectantly at me, Alice quite literally on the edge of her seat. I squeezed my eyes shut and tried my best not to overthink it.
‘Sure.’
‘Shall we say 7:30?’
A flock of tiny butterflies took flight inside my belly, leaving me breathless.
‘7:30. Yes, perfect. That’s my favourite time to meet.’ I cringed, shoving my whole fist into my mouth to stop yet more word vomit spewing out. Jacob and Alice gave each other thedid she really just say thatside-eye, lips pressed into tight lines to keep from laughing.
Luca just chuckled on the other end of the phone.
‘I’ll see you then.’
‘See ya,’ I said awkwardly, before stabbing at the End Call button and throwing my phone on the counter with a sigh of relief.
‘I genuinely have no words for what I just witnessed,’ Alice said soberly.
Jacob looked perplexed. ‘How the hell did you manage to get a date after that absolute car crash, and I can’t get one after messaging a guy for two months?’
‘It’snota date,’ I said firmly, twisting my engagement ring round and round my finger. Calling it that did something weirdand twisty to my stomach, like I was approaching the top of a roller-coaster and knew the drop that awaited me on the other side. ‘I’m just going to help him set up the community centre, that’s all.’
‘That’s all,’ Jacob mimicked to his sister, the two of them dissolving into fits of giggles. When they eventually came up for air, Jacob turned to me with a judgemental eye. ‘OK, in all seriousness though, what are you going to wear?’
‘You don’t still have those knickers with the hole in, do you?’ Alice said sternly. ‘I’ve told you before, Jenny, so-old-they’re-falling-apart is not the same as crotchless panties.’
My cheeks flushed, my pulse beating hot and fast beneath my skin. Just the thought of Luca seeing me in my underwear was enough to make me hot with embarrassment, my thighs sticking uncomfortably to the insides of my jeans. Not that there was even a remote possibility of Luca seeing me in my underwear. Right?
Oh God.
As someone who has an unhealthy love for anything with an elasticated waistband, there have been very few occasions in my life when I’ve felt overdressed. In fact, only one comes to mind. I was five years old and adamant that feeding the ducks at our local park was the perfect occasion to wear my sparkly replica of Belle’s dress fromBeauty and the Beast. With my yellow organza ballgown and matching butter-coloured wellies, the ducks had given me some very judgemental looks. But stood in the doorway of the community centre, I realised I was, without a doubt, 100% overdressed.
Luca had made out like we’d just be moving a few chairs, maybe hanging a bit of bunting. Then again, he’d also made it sound like it was just going to be the two of us. So, I was somewhat surprised when I arrived at 7:30 p.m. on the dotto find a small army of men, all dressed in overalls, pushing paint rollers up walls and skimming plaster over holes. It was like something out of60 Minute Makeover. I stared regretfully down at my heeled sandals, only just realising that an open toe was a very bold choice for someone whose non-pedicured feet had been in hibernation all winter. The fingers of my right hand tugged at the hem of my dress, which skimmed just above the knee, as though willing it to magically grow a few inches. The plastic handle of the takeaway bag I was carrying cut sharply into my fingers, the grease-stained cardboard boxes heavy with battered fish, chips with lashings of salt and vinegar, and a sausage for me.
‘You’re the only person I know who doesn’t order fish at the fish and chip shop. You just can’t say no to a cheeky sausage, can you?’ Joe’s voice rang in my ears and, as I closed my eyes, I could picture his eyebrows jiggling mischievously at the double entendre. I turned, glancing over my shoulder. Nothing. The flagstones behind me were empty and cold. He wasn’t there. Of course he wasn’t, but my heart sunk an inch deeper in my chest all the same.
Loitering in the shadow of the doorway with Joe’s voice still ringing in my ears, I was seriously fighting the urge to just go. No one had seen me. I could message Luca from the car, pretend something had come up. I could be home watching a movie with Joe in less than fifteen minutes. Twenty if I stopped by the Tesco Extra en route and picked up a tub of Ben & Jerry’s. But as I reached for the door handle, Luca looked up, his eyes somehow finding mine through the chaos, like two magnets drawn together. He balanced his paintbrush atop the open tin of paint beside him, straightening up with the pained squint of someone who’d spent far too long in a crouched position. He walked towards me, his scruffy trainers and paint-splattered forearms making my floaty, floral dress feel even more ridiculous.
‘You made it.’ The surprise in his voice was undeniable, a flame blazing in those dark mahogany eyes as they travelled quickly down my body and back up again, Adam’s apple bobbing in his throat.
