I looked up at him. ‘Do you want to stay for a nightcap?’
We both knew what I really meant.
His eyes drifted to my mouth. ‘I think it’s probably better to avoid that particular temptation. I’ll go up to get my clothes, but I won’t stay.’
He asked the driver to wait, and I opened the front door to let Simon up.
I preferred to wait outside, scanning the stars that crisscrossed the midnight sky, enjoying the cool night breeze against my skin.
When Simon returned carrying his bag, he stopped to kiss me just below my ear. I shivered. It was almost more intimate than a kiss on the lips. It took all of my willpower not to grab him and drag him back into my flat.
His car disappeared down the street and I sighed. A bit too loudly. A passing bloke looked up and winked.
I hastily ran up the concrete steps to my front door. There should have been a light flashing above by my stoop. Next level unlocked! Shiny new world revealed! But everything was the same as before. The same peeling black paint on the door; the same tarnished brass on the lock.
We’d kissed!
So why was I on cloud eight-and-a-half instead of cloud nine?
The answer was already waiting for me: because Simon wanted to take things slowly. We’d been dancing around this foryears. I was raring to go, so why did he still need time?
I walked into the kitchen, my ruby shoes clicking against the tiled floor. If I tapped my heels together three times, would they grant me my heart’s desire?
I tried, but the clicks made hollow echoes in my silent flat.
I got ready for bed, carefully hanging up my blue-and-white gingham dress. I was being melodramatic, I decided, as I brushed my teeth. We’d dressed as characters from the movies tonight, but real life wasn’t like the movies; regular people didn’t jeopardise everything for love – they made conscious decisions after carefully weighing up the risks and rewards. Simon worked in finance, he knew this better than anyone.
It was good to be prudent. Still, it was hard to go to sleep without imagining what it would have been like to have him sharing my bed tonight.
