‘Evie Green, you will not be. But if you are, I’ll marry you myself. If you’ll have me.’ He nudged her in the ribs.
‘Dan Marshall. That’s a lovely offer.’ She nudged him back. ‘I will totally have you if we’re both still single in eight years’ time.’
Dan held out his hand. ‘So that’s a deal then. We’ll get married on your thirtieth birthday if we’re both still single.’ Evie put her hand in his and they shook.
‘I’m genuinely excited to have a fallback pact,’ she said. ‘You know I’m going to hold you to it.’ A part of her registered that in a parallel universe where they hadn’t known each other forever she’d genuinelyliketo hold him to it.
‘You’ll be coupled up with a baby on the way by then, but, if you aren’t, I’ll be there like a shot.’
They both laughed and then Evie felt something on her face and looked up.
‘You were wrong,’ she said. ‘Itissnowing. Look. And look at that.’ She pointed upwards. ‘Isn’t that mistletoe growing on this tree? I’ve never noticed it before. Mistletoe and snow. The perfect Christmas scene for the perfect fallback pact. A mistletoe pact.’ She looked back at Dan, at his eyes and his cheekbones and his mouth, and suddenly her own mouth felt dry. She wished she hadn’t spotted the mistletoe and mentioned it. Awkward. ‘Good job Sasha isn’t here to make us kiss.’ Oh, for God’s sake.Waymore awkward. She stood up. ‘The coast’s probably clear at home now.’
‘Yep.’ Dan stood up too.
‘Goodnight, then.’
‘Hey, no. Remember those possible marauding burglars. Come on.’ He held his arm out and she took it.
‘Well, thank you.’
They didn’t say much as they crunched their way across the frost that was already starting on the green, Evie getting serious butterflies every time their hips bumped as they walked.
She glanced up at Dan and he looked down at her at the same moment, half-smiling in the moonlight, which made her want to smile too.
What was it about him that made all the other men in any given room seemless? His hair was what some people would call red and Sasha, whose hair was the same colour, called strawberry blond. He had blue eyes and fairly average features. But the combination of them all was just sosexy, basically. Maybe because of his personality. Kind. Capable. Very funny. And the fact that he wasn’t that much taller than average but he was satisfyingly solid and nicely in shape – she’d seen him in sports kit a few times, and he lookedgood.
She felt herself smile more. She looked up again and saw that he was watching her and his smile was growing too.
Neither of them had said anything for ages now. Evie should probably speak, except she was having a mind blank.
She licked her lips and Dan’s eyes went to her mouth.
Oh, wow.
Three
Then – Christmas Eve 2013
Dan
What was he on?
Dan dragged his eyes away from Evie’s gorgeous, full lips and cleared his throat.
For a moment back there, when Evie had mentioned the mistletoe and reminded him about their peck on the lips earlier on, and he’d looked at her smiling face turned up to his, Dan had wished that hecouldkiss her. Properly, not like the tiny kiss they’d had under the mistletoe. Which, now he thought about it, could easily have been a cheek kiss. Why had he kissed her on the lips?
He shook his head. This was middle-of-the-night madness.
‘So what are you hoping to get for your birthday?’ he asked, to break the silence now stretching uncomfortably between them. Ridiculous to suddenly be lost for conversation. And ridiculous to suddenly have noticed, properly, how attractive Evie was. She was his little sister’s best friend, who he’d known for years. You didn’t find your younger sister’s friends attractive. Although the two-year age gap was nothing when you were adults. She was still his sister’s best friend, though. She was talking. She seemed to be listing items of clothing.
‘Yes, so in summary,’ she said, ‘clothes, clothes and more clothes. I do love student life but I’m actually looking forward to having a job and being able to afford stuff. What about you? What do you want for Christmas?’
Good question. If he was honest, the biggest thing he’d like for Christmas would be to be away from his family. There was too much tension in the air. He’d love just to spend the day with friends. Which you absolutely could not do on Christmas Day when your whole family, you included, persisted in their ‘We are the perfect family’ charade. Obviously he wasn’t going to say that, though.
‘Money for Glastonbury this summer,’ he said. ‘And, yeah, clothes too. Some obscure medical textbooks that cost a fortune. The usual.’
They were nearly at Evie’s cottage now.
