wilder.’
‘Oh, you like wild things?’ Gary gave her a sideways look. ‘I might have known it. I could have predicted that from the first moment I saw you.’
‘Cheeky.’
‘True, though.’ He tapped his beer glass against hers. ‘To wild times.’
She tossed her hair, now it was free of the coat collar. She’d put on new earrings and they swung around her neck. ‘Wild times,’ she echoed.
Gary took a gulp and sighed. ‘That’s better. Sorry to keep you waiting like that, I really mean it. I kept thinking you wouldn’t be there. I wouldn’t have blamed you, a cold night like this, being stuck there on your own, and you hardly know me.’
‘Got to know you quite well on Sunday though, didn’t I?’ Rhona said, with a little smile at the memory. If she had her way that would be just the start. She’d been very restrained, not jumping into bed with him at his first suggestion. Didn’t hurt to make them wait a little bit, but it had taken all her willpower to say no.
‘You did,’ he breathed, waving away the smoke from her cigarette that was drifting between them. ‘We could do that again. How about coming back to my place after the bar? We can be as wild as you like.’
Rhona sighed wistfully. ‘I’d love to, Gary, I really would. But I’ve got work tomorrow morning and my boss has got it in for me at the moment – don’t know why, he’s a mean old sod. I can’t get away with being one minute late. So I’ll need to get back to Peckham.’ She paused. ‘And as I live with Mum and Dad I don’t think I can sneak you in. That wouldn’t be right.’
‘Pity.’ Gary took another gulp of beer. ‘I don’t want to get you in trouble …’
‘No, I can do that well enough on my own,’ Rhona assured him.
‘I bet you can.’
‘So not tonight.’ She gazed at him and her eyes sparkled. ‘Maybe another time.’
‘Soon?’
‘I’d like that,’ she said, looking down in an attempt at modesty.
‘I know what I’ll put on,’ Gary said suddenly. ‘Marianne Faithfull. I bet you like her. And it’s because it’s just come to me who you look like. You’re a dead ringer for Marianne Faithfull.’
‘Me?’ Rhona hadn’t heard that one before, but she could hardly object. The sexy, sultry young singer was high in the charts and was drop-dead gorgeous. For a moment she suspected Gary was spinning her a line but then she told herself to relax. She’d just been given a huge compliment by a very attractive man. She gripped the table top. ‘Yes, go on, see if they’ve got her new single.’ She watched him as he sauntered across the floor towards the jukebox, and a thrill went through her. He was special. She’d never met anyone quite like him, and she was a bit scared, knowing that no man had ever affected her in exactly this way before. ‘To wild times,’ she said quietly to herself.
Mavis proudly put away the last of the crockery from the evening meal in her kitchen, pleased with the way she’d organised everything now it was all unpacked. The smart cupboard doors were a pale green, which she’d picked out when Pete gave her the choice. She thought it would remind her of parks and gardens. Now she could look into their own garden from her kitchen window on the first floor and imagine how it would be in summer, with tubs of flowers and vegetables. She sighed contentedly.
‘So you’re settled in?’ asked Tommy, who was sitting at the kitchen table, his elbows on the grass-green Formica surface. ‘It feels like home now?’
‘It does. The children love it, and Grace has stopped worrying about monsters,’ Mavis said with a note of relief. Of course she should have expected that Grace, having complained solidly about sharing with her brother for two years, would then kick up a fuss when she finally had a room of her own. But it had only lasted a couple of nights.
‘It’s a big improvement on Harwood Street, or Wandsworth for that matter,’ said Tommy. ‘You’ll never
‘Oh, you like wild things?’ Gary gave her a sideways look. ‘I might have known it. I could have predicted that from the first moment I saw you.’
‘Cheeky.’
‘True, though.’ He tapped his beer glass against hers. ‘To wild times.’
She tossed her hair, now it was free of the coat collar. She’d put on new earrings and they swung around her neck. ‘Wild times,’ she echoed.
Gary took a gulp and sighed. ‘That’s better. Sorry to keep you waiting like that, I really mean it. I kept thinking you wouldn’t be there. I wouldn’t have blamed you, a cold night like this, being stuck there on your own, and you hardly know me.’
‘Got to know you quite well on Sunday though, didn’t I?’ Rhona said, with a little smile at the memory. If she had her way that would be just the start. She’d been very restrained, not jumping into bed with him at his first suggestion. Didn’t hurt to make them wait a little bit, but it had taken all her willpower to say no.
‘You did,’ he breathed, waving away the smoke from her cigarette that was drifting between them. ‘We could do that again. How about coming back to my place after the bar? We can be as wild as you like.’
Rhona sighed wistfully. ‘I’d love to, Gary, I really would. But I’ve got work tomorrow morning and my boss has got it in for me at the moment – don’t know why, he’s a mean old sod. I can’t get away with being one minute late. So I’ll need to get back to Peckham.’ She paused. ‘And as I live with Mum and Dad I don’t think I can sneak you in. That wouldn’t be right.’
‘Pity.’ Gary took another gulp of beer. ‘I don’t want to get you in trouble …’
‘No, I can do that well enough on my own,’ Rhona assured him.
‘I bet you can.’
‘So not tonight.’ She gazed at him and her eyes sparkled. ‘Maybe another time.’
‘Soon?’
‘I’d like that,’ she said, looking down in an attempt at modesty.
‘I know what I’ll put on,’ Gary said suddenly. ‘Marianne Faithfull. I bet you like her. And it’s because it’s just come to me who you look like. You’re a dead ringer for Marianne Faithfull.’
‘Me?’ Rhona hadn’t heard that one before, but she could hardly object. The sexy, sultry young singer was high in the charts and was drop-dead gorgeous. For a moment she suspected Gary was spinning her a line but then she told herself to relax. She’d just been given a huge compliment by a very attractive man. She gripped the table top. ‘Yes, go on, see if they’ve got her new single.’ She watched him as he sauntered across the floor towards the jukebox, and a thrill went through her. He was special. She’d never met anyone quite like him, and she was a bit scared, knowing that no man had ever affected her in exactly this way before. ‘To wild times,’ she said quietly to herself.
Mavis proudly put away the last of the crockery from the evening meal in her kitchen, pleased with the way she’d organised everything now it was all unpacked. The smart cupboard doors were a pale green, which she’d picked out when Pete gave her the choice. She thought it would remind her of parks and gardens. Now she could look into their own garden from her kitchen window on the first floor and imagine how it would be in summer, with tubs of flowers and vegetables. She sighed contentedly.
‘So you’re settled in?’ asked Tommy, who was sitting at the kitchen table, his elbows on the grass-green Formica surface. ‘It feels like home now?’
‘It does. The children love it, and Grace has stopped worrying about monsters,’ Mavis said with a note of relief. Of course she should have expected that Grace, having complained solidly about sharing with her brother for two years, would then kick up a fuss when she finally had a room of her own. But it had only lasted a couple of nights.
‘It’s a big improvement on Harwood Street, or Wandsworth for that matter,’ said Tommy. ‘You’ll never
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