7

7

Pips

I tugged the barbecue back under the store awning beside the bins, rolled the ruined sausages into a food refuse bag, and packed all the cooking accessories into their box. All that was left was to clean the grill.

"Shanaz will clear the rest away, Pips. You can go back inside to sign off for the day. Both of you." Lina was smirking in a horribly obvious way, but she'd returned with Shanaz, who had a helpful smile, a cleaning bucket, and industrial-strength rubber gloves, so I was more grateful than embarrassed.

I only realised Marcus was on my heels as I passed the lottery ticket kiosk and had to divert around the queue.

"Pips? Wait."

No , I wanted to say, stop it, stop tempting me with your cheeky bouncy hair and your gorgeous blue eyes and your too-nice-to-be-from-Marketing behaviour. Why would he still be interested in me? I'd insulted him, caused a scene, and never followed through with our date. In fact, I was having the week from hell, but maybe I deserved it because of the thoughtless way I'd led my life to date. The jobs I'd been useless at, the boys I'd dated without much of a care, my headlong pursuit of style over substance…

Oh God, was that a sob ?

Marcus took my arm and steered me away from a trolley with a wonky wheel that nearly took out my knee. We stood for a moment against the wall, in front of this week's charity donation poster. "You should be proud of today's Demo, Pips."

"Yeah," I snorted. "Of cooking a few sausages and shoving them in a bun."

"Hey, it was more than that. And lots of people were looking at the barbecues. Someone should tell you, you did good."

I shook my head, suddenly feeling very tired. "Sweetheart, I don't expect to be high management, like you, you know? I just want to do my job well for a change."

He blinked in that confused way he had. "But I just said you do—"

"I don't ," I interrupted. "Dammit, most of those schoolkids can cook better than me. I'm just the poor muggins who got this particular job."

"At least you tried."

"And that, my Head Office Honcho, is what they'll put on my fuc-fabulously stony gravestone."

"Pips!"

I was sorry to put that shocked look on his face. Sorry it had just spilled out of me. "It's been that kind of a week for me," I said wearily. "Dammit, it's been that kind of year."

To my surprise, he didn't challenge me, didn't complain about my language, didn't laugh it off. Instead, he lifted a hand and held it to my cheek.

Oh. My. God .

His palm was warm, his skin soft. We stared at each other. He looked startled as if he didn't know what'd come over him. And me… was I that starved of affection that a single touch made my legs go limp like spaghetti hoops?

"My last boyfriend cheated on me," I blurted. "We were meant to be on holiday this week." Marcus' eyes widened and his hand started to pull away, but I grabbed it and held on fast. Rather too fiercely, I said, "I'm not heartbroken, you know? He was a twat. We weren't much of a couple, to be honest, but I hadn't found the courage to finish things myself. Made it easier when I found him making out with two of my best mates in the pub toilet."

"Two?" If eyes could get even wider, Marcus' did. "Ex-best mates now, I guess."

We stared at each other again, but then… we both burst out laughing.

"The only victim is my pride, then," I said. "It can probably take another knock."

Marcus sighed. "If you don't feel you can go for a drink with someone new just yet—"

I almost squealed. "No way! I assumed you'd given me up as a lost cause after I went and hid from you. And after my… well, my abusive rant yesterday."

Marcus was all pink again, his gaze fixed on my mouth, though maybe he didn't realise it. "Of course not. I understand. I'm still… you know. Keen. There's a lot we can find out about each other."

"Not just my opinions on marketing?"

Bless him, he smiled shyly. "Socially, I mean. There's a lot I want to know about you."

"Ya think?" I waggled my eyebrows but my heart wasn't really in it. And to be honest, it probably wasn't the time for more jokes. Marcus' earnest look didn't waver. It was like he really did want to talk to me about things, not just find the nearest bed.

He leaned in, exactly as if we were about to kiss. Be still, my beating heart !

"Do it," I breathed. To hell with passing customers. Kingsmere may have been a small town, but I bet most of them had seen worse.

The muffled boom was a surprise distraction, and we both froze.

"Do I hear thunder?" Marcus murmured against my cheek.

This was a Special Moment for us, but I didn't think I'd ever affected the weather before. "Maybe a pallet tipping over?"

Then…

"Fire!" someone yelled from outside the store entrance. "The barbecue's on fire!"