Jez steps back and gestures at me. “This is my best friend and the best photographer in the business. Reuben, meet my son Xavier.”
chapter 7
. . .
Reuben
Sunshine Boy—no,Xavier—looks like he wants to laugh as he reaches out to shake my hand. I swallow hard, feeling panic tear at the edges of my brain. This cannot be real. I must have fallen asleep and dreamed up this fucking nightmarish scenario.
“Reuben?” Jez prompts.
Xavier still has his hand outstretched. “Sorry,” I say, setting my bottle down and clasping his hand. That spark flares again, and I’m uncomfortably aware that I am currently wearing the sticky remains of his come on my belly.
“Howlovelyto meet you,” he says decorously, his eyes sparkling with pure enjoyment of the situation.
“Likewise.” I stop and clear my throat. “It’s nice that you’re here.”
“Oh yes.Definitely,” he says in a very serious voice, completely spoilt by the pisstaking air that surrounds him like fairy dust.
Jez’s gaze is traveling rapidly between us, and I realise I’m still holding Xavier’s hand. I immediately drop it like he’s radioactive.
A silence falls that Xavier completely fails to bridge. His eyebrows rise as he looks at first Jez and then at me, and I feel a shaft of admiration for his complete lack of giving a shit.
“Oh,” Jez says, jerking his chin towards the door. “I booked a table. I’ll just go and check if we can go in.”
He vanishes from the bar, and for a few seconds, there’s silence. Then Xavier says in a chatty voice, “Well, I must say this isn’t how I thought today would go.”
I groan and rub my face hard. “Fuuck.” He snorts, and I glance at his face. “Is thisfunnyto you?”
He grins. “You have to admit the whole situation has a certain amount of piquancy.”
“Did you swallow a dictionary this afternoon?”
“No. Just a huge amount of sem?—”
“Oh my god, look at that,” I interrupt him loudly as Jez returns.
Jez looks around, eyes wide. “What?”
“Oh, erm, just that stag’s head on the wall. I’ve never seen anything so big.”
“I think I’ve said that a couple of times today myself,” Xavier says solemnly.
I fight the twin urges of shoving him into the fireplace or laughing. I do neither. The fire isn’t lit, and if I start laughing, I might not stop.
Jez frowns. “You are behaving very weirdly,” he informs me.
“You arenotwrong,” I say grimly.
Jez gestures in what I presume is the direction of the dining room. “Table is ready.”
“Great,” I say through gritted teeth.
He walks away disappearing into the dining room, while we slowly follow, Xavier falling in at my side. He’s plastered a demure look on his face that manifestly does not suit him.
“Nice hickey,” he whispers. “Whoever did that must have beenverytalented with their mouth.”
“Shut up,” I snap, fighting the urge to laugh. “As it happens, he was very inexperienced and quite crap at intimate contact.”
