Abort! Abort! My brain began yelling but far too late for the warning to be of any use. Instead of my aimed-for spot on the sofa, I was now half sprawled on Charlie’s lap. I scrabbled about hurriedly, trying to rectify the situation. Despite the blood now pounding in my ears from mortifying embarrassment, I could still hear Amy and Marcus laughing. I made another attempt at extraction but my foot was now caught in the fabric of my skirt and severely limiting my movements. I heard Charlie let out an ‘oof’ as I hastily shuffled about.
‘Jesus! Watch your knees, Libby!’ Two large hands wrapped around my upper arms, tipping me upright. I was now pretty much square on Charlie’s lap, and looking directly into his gorgeous blue eyes. Judging by the look on his face, that hadn’t exactly been the plan. I guessed his manoeuvre had primarily been about damage control rather than specified outcome but, for once, I was the one blushing.
‘Whoops!’ I said, scrambling inelegantly off his lap. I made to push myself off and my hand slipped, sliding up his thigh. His eyebrows rose and I felt his shoulders move as he stifled a laugh.
‘Don’t!’ I whispered, risking a look at him as I clambered backwards and sat as far away as possible in the small stretch of sofa not covered in stuff, or Charlie.
He looked at me, innocently. Ordinarily I would have believed it, but I’d already felt the laugh rumble in his chest as I’d braced my hand against it in my attempts to extricate myself.
‘Everything all right over there?’ Amy asked, as I settled back and took the cup of tea Charlie was now passing me.
‘Yep, fine. Slight misjudgement.’
‘Apparently.’
I flashed her a warning look which she ignored, wiggling her eyebrows and grinning.
I pretended not to notice and hoped that Charlie hadn’t either.
‘You were saying something about tomorrow?’ I said, hoping to divert attention.
‘Yes, Marcus and I are going out for a meal, and we thought it might be fun if you and Charlie came along.’
Oh, no. Amy was up to something again. And clearly Marcus was in on the plot. For God’s sake, I’d just ended up unintentionally sat astride the man’s lap and now she was suggesting we all go out for dinner. The word ‘awkward’ sprang to mind.
‘Just as friends, of course,’ Amy added, helpfully, which only served to make matters worse.
I risked a glance at Charlie, unaware as to whether he had known about the arrangement before he got here. By the look on his face, that would be a no.
‘What do you think, Charlie?’ Marcus asked his brother, saving me from answering straight away.
‘Sounds good,’ Charlie said, not missing a beat.
‘Libby?’ Amy asked.
‘I… yes, of course. Sounds fun.’
‘Great.’ Marcus then steered the conversation back to something sports related and Amy and I soon lost interest. I leant down and shuffled some piles around in order to make my exit from the sofa a more dignified one than my entry had been. Gathering the used cups, I placed them back on the tray and headed into the kitchen with them. I heard soft footsteps behind me.
‘God, you should have seen Charlie’s face when you fell on him!’ Amy laughed, her voice low.
‘Ames. Don’t. I’m mortified as it is! And if tomorrow is about trying to engineer something between me and Charlie, I’d rather you didn’t. We’re happy just being friends, and I get more than enough of that sort of thing from my dad, believe me.’
‘Libs, I’m just teasing you! I know you’re embarrassed but it was kind of funny. I think you made his day!’
‘Ha ha!’
‘And no, tomorrow’s not about that. We just like spending time with you both. There’s a new restaurant just opened up in Preston Street and we thought it would be fun to all go together.’
Amy was right. The evening was fun and she even restrained herself from making any further hints at a possible romantic connection between me and Charlie. Since Marcus had pointed out his brother’s very specific choices when it came to women, Amy and I had both accepted that friendship was the best option for me when it came to Charlie. And, glancing across the table as the two brothers shared a joke, I felt a sudden whoosh of gratitude at having him in my life at all.
16
I pulled into the space that Marcus, from the back seat, was directing me into and tilted my kerbside mirror to make sure I didn’t scrape my wheels, especially now that I could see Charlie wandering down the drive watching the manoeuvre. He raised his hand in a wave and then waited until I’d parked and switched off the engine. Walking to the car, he opened the passenger door and held out a hand to help Amy. She thanked him and gave him a quick hug before Marcus piled out of the back seat and told his brother not to start trying to muscle in on his date, grinning as he did so. Charlie did a knuckle rub on the back of his little brother’s head and got a punch to the arm for his trouble before Marcus took Amy’s hand and began heading inside.
‘Oh. Gee. You’re welcome for the lift. Thanks for waiting,’ I said to their backs, before rolling my eyes at Charlie.
He knew I was only joking. Although, going in together might have been nice, bearing in mind I didn’t know anyone. Amy had already been introduced to Marcus and Charlie’s parents, but I was a complete newbie and although meeting people didn’t really bother me, it also felt a bit weird to just stroll up alone on this occasion.
