Popping the Cherry (34 page)

‘It’s not for you,’ she said. ‘It’s for Lena.’

‘Then why don’t you give it to her?’

‘Your grandfather, God rest his soul, gave me that necklace on my eighteenth birthday. It was his grandmother’s, and when he gave it to me he told me it was a sign of his devotion.’ Her eyes took on the wistful look they all always did when she talked about Pops. ‘I always hoped I would one day have a grandson, with a young lady worthy of the gift, so that I may continue the tradition.’

Jake stared down at his feet. ‘But Lena isn’t my “young lady”, Nanna.’ He stubbed his toe into a clump of dirt that must have come out of the tread of his work boots. Transported back in time, he felt as if he were nine years old again and caught with his hand in the biscuit barrel.

‘Poppycock.’

He shook his head. ‘Then why didn’t she invite me to her birthday party?’

‘Fear, Jake.’ Nanna reached for his chin and waited for him look at her. ‘That girl is as devoted to you, as you are to her. I’ve seen the way she moons over your photographs back at home. I’ve seen the sadness and the hurt in her eyes, yet they light up whenever anybody says your name.’

‘Really?’

‘I’m certain of it. Now you just need to make her realise you feel the same.’

The fatal flaw in the plan.

‘I tried. At Christmas. I spent ages choosing a gift. I put my heart on the line, and all I got was a formal thank-you card.’

‘Try again,’ Nanna ordered. ‘And, if she’s the girl you’ve set your heart on, don’t ever give up trying.’

Jake nodded.

‘I’m going to let you in on a secret, but you mustn’t tell a soul.’ Nanna lowered her voice, even though it was just the two of them. ‘When your Pops asked me to marry him, I turned him down. Twice. I needed to know he meant it. Have you ever considered your young lady is testing you, too? Even if she doesn’t realise it?’

‘No. I hadn’t.’ He’d been too busy moping and knocking down walls. Actual walls, when perhaps he should have been working on emotional ones. ‘Thanks, Nanna.’

‘My pleasure.’ Nanna’s eyes twinkled as brightly as the diamonds had just moment before. ‘Now I’d best get off before your mum calls me on this confounded mobile phone. I still don’t really know how to answer it, so I’d rather not have to try.’

Jake wrapped his arms around the wily old woman. ‘Save a space on your dance card for me?’

‘Ooh …’ she squealed. ‘I can’t wait.’ She was still giggling to herself when she climbed into the taxi.

Jake checked his watch once the taxi had pulled away.

Damn it
.

Now he really did have to get a shift on.

He hung the pouch on the hook with his keys so he couldn’t forget it, then shucked of his boots and left them in the hallway. There was a lightness in his heart as he raced up the stairs, Nanna’s words still ringing loud and clear in his ears. Could it be true? Was Lena just testing him? After turning on the shower to warm up, he dragged his shirt over his head and dumped it into the laundry basket, closely followed by the rest of his clothes.

At twenty minutes to eight, Jake draped the tailcoat over his arm and headed downstairs. He snatched up the pouch and his keys, then marched out of the front door, locking up behind him, then made the fifteen-minute drive to Lena’s party. The closer he got, the more he wanted to pull over and be sick, but there was too much at stake.

Now for the tricky part of the evening.

He pulled up at the security gate and gave his name. The wait was agonising. He sent up a silent prayer that Nathan had managed to add Jake’s name to the list or it would all be for nothing. Jake drummed his fingers against the steering wheel and fought to control his breathing. Finally, the barrier lifted. Jake hit the accelerator and propelled the van through the gate.

Get in!

Nobody could stop him now. The only obstacle between him and Lena was himself. He needed to get his nerves under control. Jake parked up and cut the engine. His heart pounded so hard, his blood whooshed in his ears. Adrenaline poured into to his limbs, travelling on his racing pulse, and made it impossible to sit still. He grabbed his jacket with one hand, and released the door with the other.

The cool night air brushed over him, and Jake looked up at the sky. Filled with stars, it was magnificent. A full moon bathed the ground with its eerie glow, illuminating the way ahead, and making it easy to see his watch.

Two minutes to eight.

Time to make my move
.

Jake slipped his arms into the sleeves of his jacket and set off walking. He smoothed his hair to keep his hands occupied as his footsteps crunched across the gravel car park. Music from the string quartet drifted down the stairs, so he started to climb, the light and sounds becoming stronger with each step. His clammy palm slid over the banister, until he was clinging onto it, his knees growing weaker with each step, but then he heard her.

Lena’s laughter called to him.

Jake climbed the last three steps and ducked behind a pillar. The atmosphere was buzzing, and the dance floor was filled with dancers, a mixture of ballroom dancing around the outside, and the non-ballroom dancers throwing some shapes in the centre of the dance floor. He searched and finally saw the vision in purple, skipping and twirling with Nathan at the far end of the room. Never in his dreams had she looked so … perfect. The room was awash with colour, yet she remained the most striking. Like the moon outside, Lena filled the room with light as the stars did their best to put on a good show around her. She looked so happy. So free—a true belle of the ball.

My Tinkerbell
.

Nanna’s necklace burned against his chest. He couldn’t have been given a more suitable gift, and it would complete Lena’s incredible outfit as if they were meant to be together. Lena lifted her head and glanced in his direction, as though she sensed his presence. Jake held his breath and stepped even deeper into the shadows to avoid detection. If his heart didn’t calm down, she’d probably hear him anyway. What if he ruined her entire night by showing up? What if Nathan and Nanna had got it all wrong?

Lena continued to stare, but then the dance came to an end, so she looked away. The string quartet turned their pages, ready to play the next piece, and the opening bars of Tchaikovsky’s waltz from
The Sleeping Beauty
drummed fear into his very soul.

His cue.

Everything he’d spent the last six weeks preparing for.

This was his moment, and his alone.

Go!

With only thirty seconds to reach her before the main melody began, there was no time to waste. Jake strode out of the shadows and into the bright lights. He sped across the dance floor, a man on a mission, ignoring everybody who stared or spoke to him, keeping his sights fixed wholly on one person. True to his word, Nathan ensured Lena’s back was to the dance floor until the very last moment. Gemma lunged and tried to drag him away but he shrugged her off and came to a halt in front of Lena, giving Sleeping Beauty a rude awakening.

Her golden eyes widened and her jaw gaped, opening and closing, before she pressed her lips together. A pink flush blossomed in her cheeks and spread across her bare neck; her chest rose and fell as her breathing grew more ragged. She’d never looked more beautiful. Jake bowed, low at the waist as he’d been taught, and a hush descended over the room.

‘Please may I have this dance?’ It wasn’t enough that his legs were shaking, his voice shook too.

Lena narrowed her eyes at him, but she didn’t say no. That was good enough for him. Nathan released her and moved aside so Jake swept in to fill the space, to take her in his arms. He had a mere four minutes left to impress and win Lena over, or lose her, possibly for ever. Best make the most of it, then. Jake held her tightly against him and breathed in the scent of her hair, her perfume. She didn’t fight him, giving his confidence the boost it needed. Just as the melody began, he leaned in to whisper in Lena’s ear.

‘I know you, Tink, and I’ve walked with you in many a dream, but dreaming isn’t enough for me any more. It never was. I want the real thing. I want you … please.’

Lena

I think I gasped.

I couldn’t be sure, though. I wasn’t sure of anything any more. My brain had turned to mush the moment I’d laid eyes on my gallant gatecrasher. One who now held me locked within his warm embrace. My skin burned where his hands touched—his trembling hands—and his heart was galloping, battering his ribs from the inside, yet on the outside he appeared calm and composed. And then, suddenly, we were off.

Jake waltzed me around the dance floor at a blistering pace, rising and falling in perfect time with the music. Christ, I didn’t even know he could dance. As we travelled over every inch, everybody else cleared the dance floor. Faces flashed by as we turned this way and that, and soon every single guest had taken up a place around the edge, enjoying the spectacle, the showpiece. Not willing to be the one to spoil the show, I straightened up, tightened my core and pulled my left shoulder back slightly, to match his frame.

Being held in his arms wasn’t new to me, yet he’d never held me like this. I’d always known Jake was strong but this was a different kind of power. It had a rawness and passion to it that stripped the barriers from around my heart. And all the while the words to ‘Once Upon a Dream’ echoed around my head.

Maybe it
was
all a dream.

This kind of thing didn’t happen to girls like me.

Did it?

Just when I thought I’d got the hang of Jake’s rhythm, he would stop almost mid-step, his thigh brushing against mine, before taking me in off in a different direction than I’d anticipated, or sending me spinning in an underarm turn. The dance steps had been drilled into me well enough, so it was high time I stopped thinking and gave myself up to the music. To him. Jake could lead me wherever he wanted to go and I would gladly follow.

All I had to do was cling on tight and enjoy the roller-coaster ride.

Jake seemed to sense the shift and found another gear.

He was masterful in control. We did fleckerls, reverse fleckerls, contra checks … He knew them all. Majestic with the tails of his coat flying behind him, he made his turns seem effortless and his speed was relentless. The music built, heading for a crescendo, and Jake didn’t disappoint. Oohs and ahs went up from the crowd as he led me through a series of complex spins, then dipped me over his knee. My breath left my body in a rush, his torso bent over mine, and he looked at me, staring right into my eyes.

I was left defenceless.

Totally and utterly powerless against his assault.

I was his—always his—and, from the look things, he was mine too.

Jake’s eyes widened and he exhaled sharply, his breath fanning across my face, but then he whisked me back upright and off again for another canter around the dance floor, somehow gathering even more speed. I added in high kicks, egging him on in a game of one-upmanship, and he accepted the challenge, tossing me high into the air in a spin, before catching me again as if we’d been dancing together for years. The room disappeared until there was only us. We weren’t really doing the Viennese Waltz any more: we were doing our waltz, and ours alone.

The tempo built again and I knew we were headed for the grand finale. Anticipation tingled in every cell of my being, wondering what Jake would do. He spun me so fast, I couldn’t even breathe, but then he dipped me back over his knee and raised his arm with a flourish as the music finished. A huge roar went up from the crowds, the applause deafening, but it was as if we were in a bubble. Jake was gasping for air, panting hard, yet never taking his eyes off mine. And then he descended, his mouth capturing mine.

I melted.

He cupped my cheek with his free hand, and used his lips to force mine apart, kissing me hungrily before dipping his tongue inside my mouth. His kiss hit me with enough voltage to stop my heart. If he hadn’t been supporting me, I would have collapsed for sure. Instead, I clasped his head in my hands so he couldn’t get away and I responded. Oh, how I responded! A new dance had begun and Jake was most definitely still in control. My body burst into flame, craving more of his touch, but then he dragged his tongue over the edge of my teeth and I turned to ice.

Jake kept changing the pressure, switching me from hot to cold so fast that I couldn’t tell which was which any more. Breathless and light-headed, we eventually we had to come up for air. Consciousness slowly filtered through the haze, the applause getting clearer.

‘Oh, my God!’ I blurted, suddenly remembering where we were. And who was watching. My cheeks burned so fiercely, it hurt. Jake grinned and ran his thumb over my face in a light caress.

‘I think we gave them quite a show, Tink.’ His voice was all husky and breathy. The hair on the back of my neck sprang up, and muscles I didn’t even know I had clenched somewhere deep inside. ‘Are you ready to take your bow?’ he asked, shooting me a wink.

‘Huh?’ It took me a moment to catch up. ‘Oh, yeah, ready as I’ll ever be.’

Jake lifted me upright and immediately twirled me into a curtsy. He took a bow at the same time, then repeated it in the other three directions. There were plenty of damp eyes whichever way I looked. Even the quartet were on their feet giving us a standing ovation. My dad looked as if he was about to burst with pride, and Mum was full-on sobbing, clutching onto Nanna, who wasn’t doing much better.

‘Care to get some fresh air?’ he asked.

I nodded. ‘I’d like that,’ I said, inhaling a shaky breath.

Jake set off for the main staircase, but I tugged him back. I wasn’t ready to run the gauntlet yet. He stopped and raised an eyebrow.

‘Can I lead this one?’ I asked.

A warm smile spread over his face. ‘Lead on.’

I pulled him towards the side door, near the stage where the quartet were set up, and led him out and down the steps, into the grounds below. The bright moon overhead lit our path as we wandered among the stone arches, coming to a stop at a stone bench.