Another Summer by Sue Lilley Read Free Book Online Page B

wanted to kiss her again but all that blushing was making him nervous.  Nervous?  For fuck’s sake!  How hard could it be to a kiss a girl?  Maybe he’d better try talking to her, before he scared her away and scuppered his chances for good.
    “Steve says you’ll be at the party on Saturday night?”
    “I’d like to go but I don’t have anything to wear.”
    “What is it with women and clothes?  I’ve four older sisters and I’ve been hearing that since I was born.  I’m sure you’ll look great in whatever you wear.”
    “You think so?  Old shorts and washed-out tops?  I really don’t have a thing that’s posh enough for a party at the Drydens’ and I wouldn’t know where to start without Vanessa to come shopping with me.”
    She was making him wonder what he was going to wear.  He hadn’t given it a thought but he’d only brought stuff like jeans.  Bloody hell!  How sick was he of being treated like the poor relation?  The sooner he got away from this place the better.  But in the meantime, Evie was really getting to him and he was feeling even more that he had something he had to prove.
    They chatted a bit more and when he couldn’t resist it any longer, he eased her back onto the sand for a long production of a kiss which teased her into responding, his thumbs drawing circles on her waist until her hands crept shyly round his neck.
    That tell-tale intake of breath was always such a turn-on and when he heard it, he knew he had her exactly where he wanted her.  But not quite yet.  He wanted to play a bit longer, certain she’d be worth the wait.  He blew gently on her neck in an attempt to get his own breath back.
    “That was some kiss.  Who’s the lucky guy you’ve been practising on?”
    “Nobody, never!”
    Jesus!  Did she think he was insulting her?  He’d never considered he’d be her first actual kiss.  She really had no idea what she was capable of doing to him. Her green eyes sparkled in the sunshine, threatening to dazzle him.  He couldn’t remember any of his usual lines.  He sat up and grabbed her towel.
    “What’s wrong?  Did I do something?”
    “Of course not.  I was only teasing.  But we should think about getting dressed.  I’m hungry.”
    She was biting her lip, looking uncertain.  He kissed the end of her nose, trying to be reassuring but  not trusting himself to touch her anywhere else.  He clutched her towel in a strategic bundle in his lap, not sure how he was going to stand up without terrifying her with his inconvenient erection.
    “Maybe I could take you shopping?”
    “You?  Why would you want to do that?”
    He’d offered before he’d even thought about it.  The way she was sitting there on the verge of tears had turned him soft in the head.  But getting into her good books would be no bad thing.
    “Why not?  I need to buy a shirt or something and it means I’d get to spend a whole day with you.”
    “Really?  You’d do that?  I think we’d have to go to Porthrynton Heath.  Penwarren’s shops are hopeless unless you want postcards and souvenirs.”
    “Okay, I’ll take your word for it.  How about tomorrow?  I could cadge Steve’s car and pick you up?”
    “Better not.  I don’t want to have to explain where I’m going to Granny Barbara.”
    As she stood up, he got up with her and decided he could risk letting go of the towel to drape it round her shoulders.
    “Your grandmother objects to you going shopping?”
    “I think she’d object to you.”
    He had to laugh.  “Story of my life.  So, where should I meet you?”
    “The clock tower in the square?  Eleven thirty?”
    Before he could tell her he didn’t have a clue how to find the place, she was off, scampering up the rickety steps as if she’d know them blindfolded.  He watched her, feeling more than a bit bemused.  Whatever had just happened, it had better be worth it.  He’d never had to work so hard for a shag.

Chapter 6
     
    Reminiscing had