Page 107 of Kiss Me Like You Mean It

Nico

‘I don’t know why you get pizza but I had to eat carrots,’ Phoebe is whining. ‘You know how much I love pizza. It’s cruel of you to go without me.’ She gives me a look that would do a winsome Victorian orphan proud.

‘First of all, may I remind you that it was your bright idea for Lee and I to have date nights where it’s just the two of us,’ I say, even though we’ve already had this conversation three times. Parenthood, I’m learning, has much to do with repetition. ‘You said many times that it was crucial to your “master plan”. Second of all, you have already emotionally blackmailed me into a family ice cream date on Sunday, so I’d quit while you’re ahead if I were you.’

Phoebe pouts, but goes back to the book she’s reading while I help myself to a bottle of beer from the fridge. It’s after six, and I’m not driving tonight so I deserve it.

It’s not because I’m jittery and nervous about waiting to take Lee out and I’m not feeling weird about lying to my daughter about this not being a real date. At least… I think it’s a real date. We didn’t exactly get a chance to discuss things properly with Magda tripping all over the place banging on about ‘intense vibrations’ while I tried not to look like a man who had just had the best sex of his life on her reception desk.

I don’t know who I’m trying to kid. Of course I need a beer. This would be complicated enough without every cell in my body obsessing over the fact that Lee and I are sharing a bed tonight and this time everything is different.

As if she could hear me thinking about her, the door to Lee’s room opens and she steps out.

‘Cool pants,’ Phoebe offers from her spot on the sofa.

‘Oh!’ Lee runs her hands self-consciously over the soft leather that clings to her thighs and I realise I’m staring at her with my mouth open. ‘Do you think? I wasn’t sure about the dress code…’

My daughter wrinkles her nose. ‘I don’t think Stefano’s has a dress code.’

‘No,’ Lee laughs, but it’s a high, anxious sound. ‘I guess not.’

She hovers awkwardly in the doorway for a moment, and I know I should say something, but I’m still recovering from the sight of her in those tight, tight trousers. She smiles at me, fusses with her earring.

Click. The camera in my head goes off. The real thing is right there on the kitchen counter. I’ve been using it more and more the last few days, taking pictures of the work around the inn. It feels good, it feels like a relief.

‘What are you reading?’ Lee asks Phoebe.

‘It’s part of a series about these three magic sisters who find a mermaid.’ Phoebe scoots up on the sofa. ‘Do you want to see?’

Lee’s expression lightens. ‘I’d love that.’

The two of them sit side by side, their heads close together as Phoebe talks Lee through the complexities of the fantasy world she’s been inhabiting. Taco drapes himself over Lee’s feet, pinning her in place.

This time I do reach over and grab my camera. I silently snap a couple of pictures without them noticing.

‘Do you want a drink?’ I blurt out, my voice too loud.

Lee tips her head back to look at me. ‘I’d love a glass of white wine, thanks,’ she says before she goes straight back to peppering Phoebe with questions.

I grab the bottle of fancy stuff she bought out of the fridge. When I lean over the back of the sofa with her glass, Lee reaches to take it, and her fingers brush against mine.

‘Thanks,’ she says with a smile, and I let myself touch my hand quickly to her cheek. It feels sweet, habitual, this sort of touch. Touching her because I can. I like it.

The moment is interrupted by the sound of my phone ringing and when I pull it from my pocket my eyes widen.

‘Oh, shit,’ I murmur. ‘It’s Jack.’

Lee gets abruptly to her feet, much to Taco’s disgust, and Phoebe darts a look between the two of us.

‘Does he know…’ She points to Lee and then to me.

‘I don’t think so?’ I glance at Lee, who has her arms wrapped around her middle. She doesn’t say anything, just shakes her head.

‘Cool!’ Phoebe sits back with a smirk. ‘This is going to be fun.’

‘Should I tell him?’ I ask as the phone continues to ring, and I feel my panic rising. ‘About the wedding,’ I clarify, because what happened today is a whole other story.

Lee chews her bottom lip. ‘Not yet,’ she says. ‘It’ll only make things more complicated.’