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‘Yes, I like them.’ She stood and took a turn around the seating area. ‘They’re very comfortable.’
‘I like them too.’ He nodded in approval and reached for his wallet, but this time Thea was too quick for him. Pulling the shoes off, she made the cash desk in her bare feet.
‘Pipped to the post.’ She could feel him behind her. Not quite touching her but somehow managing to make her feel as if he was.
‘Yeah. It’s all for the best.’ She turned in the confined space between the counter and his body, and faced him. Lucas didn’t back off. ‘If you bought them for me then you wouldn’t know if I was just being nice by wearing them.’
‘True. Are you thinking of being nice to me, then?’
Who couldn’t when Lucas was in this mood? Playful, unpredictable and devastatingly attractive. ‘Maybe. Maybe not.’
It was an unashamed come-on and a smile tugged at his mouth in response. ‘I’ll be waiting to see…’
* * *
It was just a simple, sleeveless summer dress, red flowers on a white background, but Thea looked lovely in it. The curve of her shoulder. Her knees. Lucas hadn’t thought he had a thing about knees.
He had thought he’d left all this behind, but that had been before he’d seen Thea in the dress. It wasn’t so much the dress but the certain knowledge that she hadn’t changed at all really. Along with the answering realisation that he hadn’t changed as much as he’d thought either. Maybe he could leave the past behind and be the man she deserved. Right now, he reckoned that was a possibility.
‘Isn’t Ava coming with us?’ She’d accepted his offer of dinner, and seemed surprised when she heard the front door slam.
‘No, she’s going next door, to my parents’. She plays bridge with my dad on a Saturday evening sometimes.’
She raised one eyebrow. ‘She plays bridge. With your father?’
‘Yeah, she’s really good at it. I don’t know what she sees in it personally, but…’ Lucas shrugged. ‘Are you ready?’
‘Yes. Where are we going?’ She picked up the cardigan that Ava had lent her in case the evening became too chilly for just a summer dress and red shoes. Lucas could have thought of a better way to keep her warm, but he had to admit that Ava’s approach was more practical.
‘I’ve nothing in mind. Shall we go with the flow?’ For the last seven years he’d known exactly where he was going, what route he would take and what time he was expected back. Even if they were just going out for a bite to eat, going with the flow seemed deliciously like old times.
‘Sounds good.’
* * *
They’d decided on a Greek restaurant, a little off the beaten track. Sitting at a small wobbly table, they feasted on fresh sardines, baked with oregano and lemon juice and served with salad.
‘First impressions.’ She grinned at him and Lucas remembered the old game they used to play. ‘Greece.’
‘The sky. And the turquoise blue sea.’
She nodded. ‘France?’
‘That blasted ferry. When we got stuck for hours.’ She laughed at the memory and Lucas tried one of his own. ‘Bangladesh?’
She thought for a moment. ‘Colour. Wonderful henna shades that you don’t find here. Heat. Gastroenteritis.’
‘You were sick?’
‘Not the first time.’ Lucas could see by the flash of alarm in her eyes that she’d already said more than she meant to.
‘You’ve been more than once?’
‘Yes.’
‘You never mentioned it.’
She raised an eyebrow in surprise. Had she thought for one minute that he hadn’t been paying attention these past weeks? ‘Didn’t I?’
