AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He’d had a perfectly good plan to go jogging in Hyde Park, sweat off the room-service meals he’d been devouring in the hotel and then catch up on reading through some of the proposals his PA had emailed him from the various buyers he still hadn’t got round to meeting.
He didn’t want to be here. So why was he?
‘Of course Nessa knows you,’ Cassie said matter-of-factly, giving the door a hefty shove when it buzzed. ‘She went to Hillsdown Road too.’
‘Terrific,’ he muttered sarcastically, tension tightening his shoulder blades as he held the door open for Cassie and her sack full of gifts.
‘Don’t look so worried.’ She grinned, patting his cheek. ‘You were a legend at Hillsroad.’
‘Which is exactly what I’m worried about,’ he said grimly as he trudged up the darkened stairwell behind her.
The door on the first-floor landing was painted a glaring shade of yellow with black and green edging. And the pulsing beat of a current funk rap anthem could be heard from inside.
Jace braced himself as the door swung open and a curvaceous black woman wearing a beaded tunic, similar to the one Cassie had had on that first night, came bounding out and flung her arms round Cassie. ‘Hey, girl? What’s up?’
Cassie dropped the bags and hugged her friend back. ‘Happy Chrimbo, Ness. I hope you’ve got enough turkey for one more?’ She stood back, and the woman’s lushly made-up eyes landed on Jace.
‘Oh, my days, Jace the Ace!’ she proclaimed.
Jace winced. He’d never liked that nickname much at school, he was liking it even less now.
‘Haven’t you grown up nice?’ she said and then sent him a cheeky grin that had memory blindsiding him.
He grinned back. ‘Damn, Vanessa Douglas,’ he said, his shoulders relaxing for the first time since he’d agreed to come. ‘The scourge of the lower third.’
She laughed, the sound rich and full, and he recalled how much he’d enjoyed it when they’d ended up in detention together—which with her smart mouth and his aptitude for trouble had been fairly frequently.
‘Guilty as charged,’ she said, giving him a high five. ‘Remember how we made Ms Clavell’s life a living hell?’
‘The poor woman nearly had a breakdown,’ Jace said, amazed to realise he’d now discovered two memories from school that hadn’t been at all bad.
‘That woman was way too uptight.’ Nessa batted the thought away as she shut the door behind them. ‘We just loosened her up a bit.’
She turned to Cassie as they followed her into the flat’s cramped hallway and took off their coats. ‘And of course I’ve got enough turkey. The thing’s a mutant,’ she added, hanging up their coats as the scents of roasting meat and Caribbean spices wafted down the hallway, along with the shouts of raucous conversation and the bass-heavy music. ‘Terrence had to cut the legs off to fit it in the oven,’ she said, leading them into a surprisingly large open-plan kitchen-diner, which was packed with people who were chatting and chopping and cooking and carousing in that disorderly but choreographed way that old friends did instinctively.
Clapping her hands, Nessa got everyone’s attention.
A tall, good-looking, mixed-race guy standing by the stove with an apron on that said ‘World’s sexiest chef’ turned down the speakers on the counter top.
‘Okay, folks, Cassie’s here and she’s brought her new candy man, Jace. So treat him nice.’
Cassie slapped Nessa’s arm, blushing profusely as she hissed over the chorus of cheers and wolf whistles from her friends, ‘Ness, I can’t believe you just said that.’
Jace choked out a laugh, the last of the tension easing out of his shoulders as he got slapped on the back by one of the guys and offered a hearty handshake by another.
So, Vanessa Douglas still had the smartest mouth in London.
‘I reckon you’ve finally found yourself a keeper.’
Cassie glanced over her shoulder, her arms elbow deep in soapy water, the noise from the raucous game of Twister in the living room covering Nessa’s murmured comment. The heat hit her neck as she gave what she hoped was a nonchalant shrug.
‘You mean Jace?’
‘Mmm-hmm.’ Nessa slanted her a don’t-play-the-innocent-with-me look. ‘So what happened to “I’m not ready for too much spectacular sex”?’ she teased in a little-girl voice.
Cassie coughed out a laugh and put the washed saucepan on the draining board. ‘For goodness’ sake, Ness, keep your voice down. After that candy-man comment everyone’s going to think I’m a loose woman.’
‘Like it isn’t already obvious how loose you are,’ Nessa said, picking up a tea towel.
