Read Online Ivy Lane: Autumn: by Cathy Bramley - Free Book Online Page B

witty retort.
    ‘Ooh, Charlie, you are funny,’ giggled Gemma, tapping his arm playfully and taking the spotlight off me.
    Phew.
    ‘Jeff was a total sweetheart, but I don’t think he was interested in Tilly. No offence, Tills.’
    ‘Could have fooled me,’ Charlie muttered, taking a swig of his champagne.
    Just as Gemma rolled her eyes at me, I felt a warm hand on my arm.
    ‘Aidan!’ I stammered, turning to meet his smile.
    He lowered his head to whisper in my ear. ‘Can we have that chat?’
    So he really had wanted to talk me. Hurrah!
    Charlie frowned and I flushed.
    On the spur of the moment I took a sip of the champagne. The bubbles exploded exquisitely on my tongue.
    I nodded to Aidan, handed my cup to Gemma, who slipped me a wink, and followed him to the door.

Chapter 8
    Aidan held the door open and the two of us stepped outside into the cold night air. A thick fog had descended over the allotments, blanking out the world until all that was left was him and me.
    I shivered and wrapped my arms around my body.
    ‘I don’t fancy driving in this,’ he said, zipping up the neck of his jumper.
    Invite him back to Wellington Street, then he won’t have to.
    ‘Me neither,’ I giggled nervously. ‘But then I haven’t got a car so, er . . .’
    Awkward silence. He raised his eyebrows and I had to stop myself from whistling to fill it. Tomorrow morning I was going to buy myself a new book.
How Not to Talk Twaddle in Front of the Opposite Sex
, or something along those lines.
    There we were standing in the porch light, like a couple of teenagers after a date, me tongue-tied and nervous and him – well, I wasn’t entirely sure, but his feet were fidgeting and he kept clearing his throat.
    ‘Shall we go for a walk?’ I gestured towards the road that led to the bottom of the allotments.
    ‘Good idea,’ said Aidan, sounding relieved.
    Aidan fell into step beside me, our bodies close, but not quite touching. We walked for a minute or so before either of us spoke. I felt eighteen all over again, nervous and timid, waiting for him to make the first move.
    His hand brushed my sleeve making my skin tingle and I almost gasped.
    ‘Tilly?’
    ‘Yes?’
    I whirled round to face him and we stopped under a street lamp.
    This was it; he was going to kiss me. I could hear my own heart beating.
    The light cast an orangey glow over us and fog particles danced in its spotlight. The allotments were completely silent, as if the fog had wrapped everything in layer of cotton wool. I wasn’t even sure exactly where we were, there were no visible landmarks to give me any clues.
    ‘What happened in August,’ he began hesitantly, ‘I hope I didn’t frighten you off when I asked to see you again?’
    Ask me now and I’ll say yes.
    ‘No. Well, not exactly. I . . .’ Aidan gazed at me under the lamp light, waiting for me to elaborate.
    This was my chance to set the record straight. I’d told everyone else, it should have simply been a matter of explaining about James, about all that had happened in my life to bring me to Ivy Lane. A bit of a conversation dampener, though.
    I sighed instead and shook my head. ‘It’s complicated.’
    ‘I see.’ He nodded and his brow wrinkled slightly. ‘It’s just that you were pretty adamant that you didn’t want to see me again and when you didn’t call, I’d made my mind up to admit defeat. But . . .’
    We took a tiny step towards each other.
    ‘Yes?’ I breathed.
    ‘I decided to give it one last shot.’ He chuckled, stared at the floor and then lifted his beautiful brown eyes to meet mine. ‘I’ll tell you a secret.’ He leaned towards me and whispered conspiratorially, ‘We don’t normally arrange a special preview of
Green Fingers
prior to the show airing.’
    ‘No?’
    He shook his head sheepishly and stuck his hands in his pockets. ‘It was an extremely convoluted ploy to see you again.’
    ‘You did that for me?’ I whispered. That was possibly one of the