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10
Then
After their afternoon at the beach, Nikki didn’t see Rik again for nearly a week. It wasn’t for want of trying, for she kept her eyes peeled for a glimpse of him as she went about the town, but she supposed he was getting up early and coming home late from the boatyard. At last, on Thursday evening, she spied him on the deck of The Lady Stardust and felt her tummy turn over. She couldn’t find the courage to walk along the pontoon and say hi. She just didn’t have the confidence. Even though she and Rik had spent a lovely day together last Sunday, and she had felt quite close to him, it suddenly felt as if that counted for nothing.
Her worst fear was the prospect of him looking at her, slightly puzzled, as if trying to remember where he’d seen her. And then smiling politely, but clearly wondering how he could get rid of her. Even worse, she imagined some lithe creature in a see-through kaftan coming up out of his cabin and looking at her, then him, as if to say, ‘Who’s that?’
She resigned herself to accepting that she would stumble across him, in time, somewhere, and she would have to take it from there. But she couldn’t get him out of her thoughts, how comfortable they’d been with each other, how it felt as if they’d known each other for ever. Or was she getting carried away? Had she had a little too much sun that afternoon and read too much into it?
Somehow, she’d built Rik up into being her little secret, and now she lived in fear of him making other friends in Speedwell and leaving her behind. Maybe she’d just served as an introduction, but now he was settling in she was superfluous? She’d have to be patient, play it cool. Anyway, she might not be his type. If he’d been living in the South of France, he was probably used to girls who were way more sophisticated than anyone he’d find in Speedwell.
Her patience paid off. On Saturday evening, she was in the Neptune sitting with a bunch of friends by the window while they all decided whether to stay in Speedwell or head over to Tawcombe where there was more going on. She looked up as the door opened and Rik sauntered in.
He had the supreme confidence that comes from knowing you will always be the most attractive person in the room. He moved like a tiger, slinking, loose-hipped, graceful. His eyes looked as if they had all the sea in them. She knew he would taste of salt. He had done up the buttons on his denim shirt wrong, just two in the middle, leaving an expanse of brown chest and brown stomach above and below.
She felt rooted to the spot as he headed for the bar.
‘Who is that?’ breathed her friend Tamsin.
Nikki watched as he put his hands up and pulled his hair back from his face, showing a lean jawline and razor-sharp cheekbones. Then he dropped his hair back down, as if the gesture had been to show everyone just how perfect he was. He leaned forwards onto the bar, giving the barmaid a dazzling smile as he ordered an orange juice and lemonade, then turned to survey the room.
She tensed, then put her hand up to wave, praying he would notice her.
Suddenly his eyes met hers and his face lit up, and he waved back and headed over to their table.
‘Do you know him?’ asked Tamsin.
‘Kind of.’
Everything inside her was doing double time. Her heart. Her pulse. Something deep in her belly. She could feel it echoing in her ears. She prayed her cheeks weren’t as pink as they felt, for her blood seemed very near to the surface of her skin.
There he was, right in front of her, looking pleased. ‘Nikki. How are you doing? I haven’t seen you all week. I’ve been crazy busy.’
‘Same here,’ she said.
He pointed to a spare seat at the table. ‘OK if I park myself here?’
‘Course! This is Rik, guys,’ said Nikki, then introduced everyone else at the table. ‘Tamsin, Noah, Ben, Shelley.’
Rik looked around at them all. ‘I’ll never remember everyone’s names.’
‘Just call them mate,’ said Nikki. ‘They all answer to that.’
‘Thanks for last Sunday.’ He was looking at her, his eyes brimming with complicity.
Nikki could sense Tamsin all agog next to her. She wanted to laugh with the joy of it all. ‘It was fun.’
‘We should go again.’
‘Sure.’
‘Maybe tomorrow? I’ve got the day off. Thank God. I’m knackered!’
Damn. Tomorrow was Sunday lunch at Mariners. She’d promised her parents she’d be there, because it was their anniversary. She knew they’d understand if she didn’t come, but Jess was going to be at work so Nikki felt she should be there for them.
‘I’ve got Sunday lunch with my family. But you could come? We could go to the beach after?’
Rik gave a groan. ‘Sunday lunch. I can’t remember the last time I had Sunday lunch. Do you mean it? Won’t your parents mind?’
