Promises in Moonlight

Part 8

Two weeks later they were at another local party. Of course they had seen each other but they gave each other a wide berth. Those who had seen them avoid each other, and seen the advert and heard he'd gone out with Jane simply put two and two together and had come up with five. He'd been out with Jane once, but he wasn't going to tell them that.

"He's an idiot. I think you've had a lucky escape." Amelia muttered as she sat and watched Seth dance.

"Thanks."

"I feel sorry for him." The other two turned to look at Amelia. "Come on, he's a nice guy, he doesn't deserve to be shackled to a calculating cow!" Amelia explained.

With varying degrees of agreement they nodded.

"Did you like him?" Ella asked gently. "I mean I know his grandmother has been trying to fix you two up for years, but you've played things so close to your chest I just never knew whether you liked him."

"Does it matter?"

"Yes. If he hurt you, then we should punch his lights out." Ella replied instantly.

"or put rotting fish in his curtains."

Years ago, while they had been passing the time away they had devised a list of ways they thought would be fun ways to get even with guys who cheated. Though they all recognised that before some one could cheat on you they had to go out with you, and none of them expected that to happen.

Evie's poverty and parentage made most eligible men cautious and the ones who were interested were usually not looking for long term. Amelia was so bright she had skipped several years, and though she was young to be a Prof, and seemed confident, her shyness in social settings had never really left her. She had one close male friend, Ben, who had known her from her schooldays, but other guys were scared off by her brain and her shyness that made hear come across as being too good for them. Ella on the other hand had grown up in the limelight and was beautiful to boot, and having decided that the best way to put guys off was to be cold, had now got it down to a fine art. She was cool and opinionated and took no prisoners. Once again they rehashed the list.

"Can we add, fix him up with a date from hell? Like Jane?" Evie asked.

"He hurt you." Amelia said softly. "I should never have said anything about the bike trip to you both, then he wouldn't have over heard us talking about her, and who knows he might have done what his grandmother wanted." Amelia and her friend Ben were going to do a charity bike ride. But at a penultimate meeting for those on the bike trip, Jane had deliberately mislead the leader of the expedition into believing that Amelia had been unkind.

Evie shrugged. "Hey, I know that none of these guys are going to marry me, but for a while I enjoyed dreaming."

Her two friends gave her hand a squeeze.

"Maybe I'll take the air out of her tyres when we are on this trip."

"Oh yeah I'd forgotten she'd got herself on that bike thing. I wouldn't advise the tyre thing, the guys would probably carry her and expect you to bring her gear! Poor you."

"Yes, tell me about it."

"Are you all set for it?"

"Who knows? Ben thinks it will be great."

"I think it's sweet you are going because he's afraid of travelling by sea."

"Don't let on I told you!" Amelia said quickly. "In any case, he's done heaps for me over the years. This is such a tiddly thing. Anyway, I might like the great outdoors." Amelia's eyes practically twinkled.

" Hmm." Ella glanced at Evie.

Amelia was in full verse, "I've never done anything like this before. It's ok for you two, you had lots of school trips like this."

"Don't remind me." Groaned Evie.

"Ames, it might be tougher than you think." Ella said quietly.

"I know. I know. But I'm sure it will be heaps of fun. I'm so looking forward to it. I can't wait." Amelia all but gushed. And the truth of the matter was that she really was looking forward to roughing it, travelling around on a bicycle, doing what she had missed out on doing when she was a school kid.

Her enthusiasm was infectious. The two other women glanced at each other and then just burst out laughing.

"We are going to have to get you some decent kit."

"Oh, great. Will you come with me? I don't have a clue about what looks really good, and well, Jack is going on the trip. And David, and well..."

"Excuse me ladies. Can I have a word, in private?" Seth caught Evie's arm to stop her as she walked past him in the largely deserted corridor. He'd felt bad about how he'd treated her recently, and he wanted an opportunity to apologise.

Amelia and Ella hesitated.

"It's ok. I'll catch up with you." Evie told them.

Ella threw Seth a speaking look and then walked on. Amelia offered him a tentative smile and trotted after Ella.

Seth waited until the two women were out of sight. Then he looked over at Evie. His grandmother told him that things were pretty dire at Evie's farm. He wanted to talk to her about buying some of the land, at full price. But in a last few days she had avoided him. He'd left her a couple of messages asking her to get in touch, she hadn't bothered.

"I don't think we have anything to say to each other do we?" Evie folded her arms, "Do we?"

"I do." But before he could say anything more he heard someone approach. Without thinking he pulled open the door behind her and pushed her into what turned out to be a small airing cupboard. He followed her in to the darkness, one hand braced against a shelf while the other pulled the door closed behind him.

She jammed her hands against his chest and pushed. But in pulling the door closed he was pressed hard along the length of her as the shelves prevented her from arching away and his body fit the remaining space between him and the door. She tipped her head, "What the..."

What ever she intended to say was lost as he lowered his hand and cushioned her head in the v of his elbow, and his mouth inadvertently brushed against her open lips as he turned his head to see if there was a light switch in this cupboard. Once again his response surprised him. But it also dawned on him that he had only found Jane wanting after he'd kissed Evie. And here he was again, distracted to the point of oblivion by the taste of Evie.

He feasted on her lips, her neck, her cheeks. The people in the corridor did not register as he continued to kiss her, continued to taste her lips, continued to fence with her tongue. Her fingers jammed between their bodies grabbed fistfuls of his t shirt as she felt her legs begin to buckle. Ok, so the last time they had kissed she hadn't noticed this weakness in her legs, but then she had been on her back. Of course she'd known for years that she liked him, really liked him. Just as she'd known for years that he didn't feel the same way. She'd known all along that if simply took her in his arms she'd be lost. And now, in a tight airing cupboard she was lost.