An Unexpected Christmas (15 page)

'I can't tell you what to do. You
have to decide that on your own.'

She let out a heavy sigh. 'I
know.' She let out a laugh as we pulled out of our hug.

'Wait, was he the friend you went
to see the other day?'

Ella looked a little guilty and
took a quick drink. 'Maybe.' I waited for her to elaborate. Ella slouched a
little, 'I might have popped over to his mother's under the illusion that Mum
needed help with something but really I just wanted to see him.'

I sent her a reassuring smile.
'And was he in?'

'Yes.' She beamed. 'He suggested
we went over to Helmfirth for tea.' Her smile softened. 'It was really nice
just talking. I thought...,'

'Thought what?' Her smile had
waivered and I worried that something had happened.

'I thought he liked me the way I
liked him, but now I'm not so sure.'

'What makes you think he doesn't
like you?' Thinking of the way Roddy had been looking at her all evening and
how they had acted together over the past couple of days, I was in no doubt
that he felt the same way Ella did.

'We have known each other for
years, surely if he liked me more than a friend he would have said something by
now.'

I wrapped my arm around her
shoulders. 'Ella, maybe he hasn't said anything because he is unsure of how you
feel. You might have to make the first move.'

Her eyes widened and she bit down
on her lip in worry. She shook herself out of her thoughts. 'Anyway, to change
the subject from my love life to yours, I can't convince you to go on a date
with Daniel? I saw you guys talking.'

I shook my head. 'He's not the
guy for me.' At that moment Nate walked into the room and my heart immediately
sped up. I noticed Ella look from me to her brother and back and I held my
breath in the hope she either hadn't noticed my reaction or that she would
choose to ignore it. It seemed crazy to me, what just the sight of him did to
my body and I was dreading Boxing Day morning even more knowing it would be the
end to whatever it was we were doing.

'What are you two up to in here?'

'Nothing,' we said in unison then
burst out laughing. I think the Champagne was finally kicking in. Nate looked
from Ella to me then stood, hands on hips, feet apart and just looked at us, a
small smile on his face.

Ella picked up her glass and said
quietly, 'I'm just going to go find... someone.'

I smiled and nodded, knowing that
she was going to find Roddy and I hoped tell him that she liked him. Nate
didn't move, he just stood and watched me. I lifted my glass to my lips and
took a drink, feeling the bubbles slip down my throat and all the time I kept
my eyes on him. I wondered what he was thinking, what I looked like to him? I
wanted to know everything and that scared the life out of me.

Nate

April was sitting on the kitchen
table and images from the night before flashed through my head and made me ache
for her. She looked stunning this evening and her soft pale skin looked almost
porcelain against the dark blue of her dress. She was smiling at me and I
thought I saw hesitancy there as if all of a sudden she had become shy around
me.

'What was that about?' I nodded
my head towards the door that Ella had just disappeared through.

April's smile widened and she
crossed her legs which hitched her dress up revealing more of her lower thigh.
The sight of it made me shift slightly and swallow hard, I felt like a horny
teenager when I was around her. 'I think your sister may have found the one.'

'Really?' I knew something had
been going on with her but I didn't realise it was quite so serious. I had met
a couple of previous boyfriends but I knew they wouldn't stick and I was
beginning to trust April's judgement so if she thought this was serious then I
believed her. Ella was my only sister and I could be pretty protective, but if
Roddy, and I'm pretty sure after what April said in the sitting room that she
was referring to Roddy, was who Ella had chosen then I was happy for her. He
was a good guy and I knew he would treat her right.

Her smile softened. 'Yes. He
seems like a genuinely lovely person and she deserves to be happy.'

I moved towards her then, close
enough that I could reach out and touch her but enough distance that if someone
walked in it wouldn't look too intimate. I was at a point where I didn't care
who found out about us, hell I wanted to tell everyone that April was mine but
I could tell that she wasn't ready.

I had calmed down and had a
chance to think about my mood this morning. I needed to take it slow with her,
I knew that now. She hadn't been in a relationship in two years and we had only
met four days ago, just because I was ready didn't mean that she was and I
didn't want to mess it up. I looked at her and pushed my hands into my pockets.
'She does, and so do you.'

Her smile left her face then and
she looked at me intensely. I watched as she lifted her glass again and took a
long drink. I couldn't read her and it worried and intrigued me. She lowered
her glass slowly then smiled. 'Are you having fun?'

She was changing the subject so I
wasn't going to push it. 'I am. I had a nice catch up with James and Vic, and
Sally was telling me about her trip to Kenya.' I watched April sit up
straighter and shift like she was trying to get comfortable. I pulled my hands
from my pockets and crossed my arms. She was really acting weird and I realised
that I needed to know what had changed. 'What?' It came out a little sharp and
her eyes shot up to meet my gaze.

'What? It's nothing,' she said as
if it was
definitely
something.

'It is not nothing. Talk to me.'
I waited and didn't drop my gaze and she held my eye contact.

She let out a sigh and I watched
her shoulder sag. 'She likes you.'

'Who?' I knew who she meant but I
wanted her to tell me.

'Sally. She was asking about you
in the pub the other afternoon.'

I took a deep breath then walked
to her side and sat down on the table next to her. I slipped my hand into hers
and rubbed my thumb across her knuckles. 'Is that why you have been acting a
bit off with me? Because you think Sally fancies me?'

She shook her head. 'I don't
know, maybe. Do you...' She went quiet.

'Do I what?'

'Do you like her?' She had
dropped her head now and stared at our interlocked fingers. 'I know it sounds
silly...'

'I do like her.' Her head shot up
and I saw the shock in her eyes. 'I like her as a friend. April, I have known
her for years. You know she went to school with Ella and we all used to hang
out; Sally, and Ella, and James, and Victoria. If anything was going to happen
it would have by now and to be honest with you - and I'm telling you now that I
will always be honest with you - I have never thought of her as anything more
than a friend.' I brought her hand up to my lips and kissed it.

She closed her eyes and when she
opened them again I could see the relief in them. 'I'm sorry.' Her voice was
quiet.

'It's alright.'

She shook her head. 'No it's not.
I shouldn't have thought anything of it. I don't have the right. Can we just
forget it... please?'

I wondered why she thought she
didn't have the right to ask about it. She had every right to ask me and I
wanted to know where all her doubt came from. But I didn't want to ruin tonight
by asking her and I really wanted to get her in a better mood. 'It's
forgotten.' I stood and turned to her still holding onto her hand. 'How about a
dance?'

She smiled up at me then nodded
and jumped off the table, her heels making a clicking sound on the tiles. I
looked down at her shoes which made her at least four inches taller and much
easier for me to kiss her. I shifted a little closer to her and looked down in
to her hazel eyes. 'I really want to kiss you.' I watched her tongue dart out
and moisten her lips, 'but I'm going to make you wait.'

Her smile widened. 'You weren't
lying when you said being good was over rated, were you?'

I shook my head and looped her
hand through my arm and lead her into the living room.

We danced like idiots. The coffee
table had been moved out of the way to make room and the chairs and sofa had
also been moved to the sides of the room. April had warned me that she wasn't a
great dancer and she was only partly right. She could move to the music when
she was dancing in a group but as a partner she was awful. I had lessons for a
movie I did a couple of years ago so I knew how to lead but that didn't mean a
thing to April and she found it hilarious when I tried to teach her and failed.

'I told you I was no good.' She
said through her laughter. I was glad that she had shaken out of the weird mood
she had been in and was now enjoying herself again. We were in the living room
with the rest of the 'young crowd' dancing away to the cheesiest Christmas
music we could find.

'You just need to practice.' She
sent me a look which I interpreted as 'no chance' and it brought a smile to my
face. She wiggled over to Ella and I took the opportunity to catch my breath. I
moved over to the window and leaned back onto the windowsill next to Roddy.

'Nice moves.' He smiled and took
a drink of his beer.

'Thanks man.' Since April had
pointed out that he might be interested in Ella I had wanted to talk to him. I
know it was probably a cliché for the big brother to warn the sister's
potential boyfriend but she was the only sister I had and I had always
protected her. 'I have been meaning to have a word.'

He turned to me then and shifted
his weight like he was gearing up to defend himself. 'Oh, what about?'

I smiled, I quite liked that he
was squirming. 'Well firstly I wanted to apologise for my mood earlier, it was
good of you to drop that stuff off.'

'Don't worry about it.' He nodded
and his shoulders relaxed a little.

'Secondly, I just want to make
sure you treat her right.'

His head moved to look out across
the room and I knew his eyes had settled on Ella. His stance changed and he had
tensed up again. 'I.. err.'

'She is my little sister so if
you fuck with her then I will kill you.' His head whipped back to stare at me.
'We are friends and I know you would never intentionally hurt her I'm just
warning you.'

He stood up straighter then and
gave me a serious look. 'I really care about her but nothing has happened. I'm
not even sure if she likes me that way.'

'I think she does, you just need
to man up and ask her.'

'Thanks man.' He took a deep
breath then let it out slowly.

'I'm serious, you hurt her and I
will kill you.'

He looked at me and sent me a
small smile. 'I could never hurt her.' I nodded then watched as he walked away
from me and over to the girls who were all dancing together.

I watched Roddy lean down and
whisper something in Ella's ear and then the huge smile that spread across her
face. I couldn't remember the last time I saw her that happy and if anyone
deserved to be happy it was Ella.

April turned her head towards me
and smiled then wandered over to my side. 'Hey.' She smiled up at me then
leaned herself against the windowsill. 'So are those kids finally going to get
it together?’

'Only time will tell.' I returned
her smile. She looked back up at me and our eyes locked. I wanted to kiss her,
no, I needed to kiss her. 'Meet me in the office in two minutes.' I didn't wait
for her response. I stood up straight then walked out of the room as if I was
headed to the kitchen. I walked through the kitchen to the door leading to the
hallway and then through the first door on the left.

I pushed it closed behind me and
waited. Almost exactly two minutes later the door opened and April walked
through it and closed it quietly behind her. I stepped up to her then reached
behind and turned the key that sat in the lock. She looked up at me expectantly
and I realised that my whole body was shaking. I took a step forward and she
backed up against the door. Before I knew what I was doing my hands were either
side of her face and my lips were on hers. I kissed her deeply and as she
kissed me back she let out a little moan.

That noise turned me on like no
other and I pressed her further against the door. Her hands were bunched in the
front of my shirt like she was afraid to let go. All the noise that was coming
from behind the door seemed to disappear and it was just the two of us and this
kiss.

I don't know how long we stood
that way. But finally we broke apart and caught our breath. 'Well, that was
definitely worth waiting for.' April smiled up at me, still clutching onto my
shirt.

I smiled down at her then tucked
her hair behind her ear. 'Yeah?' I dropped another quick kiss to her slightly
swollen lips.

She nodded then slowly let go of
my shirt and ducked under my arm. I turned and watched her as she walked over
to the desk then turned towards me. She looked down at her hands then taking a
deep breath looked up at me. 'There is something I wanted to ask you.'

I had no idea what it was she
wanted but it seemed serious and it worried me. 'You can ask me anything.' I
took a step towards her and she sent me a small smile. She seemed nervous about
asking me whatever it was and I wanted to take that feeling away. I opened my
arms to her and she stepped into them without hesitating and looped her arms
around my waist. I wrapped my arms around her and dropped a kiss to her head.

She looked up at me with those
hazel eyes and I knew it was something serious. 'Would you come to my room tonight?'

I was taken aback for a moment.
Was she asking me to spend the night with her? She was still looking at me and
I saw that her eyes were filled with worry and it felt like a stab to my gut. I
couldn't deny her even if I wanted to, which I didn't. 'Is it really what you
want?'

She nodded and smiled. 'Yes. It
is really what I want.'

'Then yes.' Her smile widened and
mine I knew matched. I leaned down and kissed her again. I wanted to convey how
much I wanted her with just this kiss.

I didn't want to let her go but
knew we had been away from the party for a while. I lifted my head and stroked
my knuckles across her cheek. 'You leave first then I will follow in a couple
of minutes.' She smiled up at me and nodded and I dropped another quick kiss to
her lips.

I watched as she slipped out of
the door and closed it behind her then I moved around the desk and dropped
myself in the chair. The sneaking around was exciting I had to admit but I
wanted to kiss her whenever and where-ever I wanted. Hopefully after tonight
she will realise how much I wanted to be with her and she will be comfortable
with people knowing. I leaned back in the chair and smiled, I couldn't wait for
everyone to leave so that my night would finally begin.