“What do you want? Superclub with lots of floors? Something smaller?”
“Something smaller. More private,” he added.
“I get you, man. The Blue Rooms. It’s two roads over, opposite the cinema. It’s got a couple of rooms. One is good for dancing. The other is more like a nice bar, with plenty of tables and not much lighting, if you catch my drift.” He added a wink and walked away.
The waiter was right. We were able to have a good dance before moving to the lounge, where a sofa soon became available. We were sat, me with my legs across his lap, him stroking them as we chatted and kissed and chatted and kissed. As we talked through plans for the future, I fell even more in love with him. With his heart.
The kissing was hot but had to stay within what was appropriate in public. Just. Jake extended one kiss by running his mouth down to my neck, circling my heart-mark with his tongue.
“This is possibly my favourite part of your body,” he said before soothing the pinpoints of desire with a series of soft kisses.
“Really?” I knew it didn’t bother him, but I couldn’t see how it could be better than other, more obvious parts of my body. He smothered it in a rain of light kisses.
“Absolutely. Sure, there are parts of you that nobody else sees, touches, apart from me.” He stroked one of his hands up my leg and rested it on my hip as if to prove his point. “And I love those, too.” His hand moved round to cup my bum, pulling my hips forward. “But this,” he said, punctuating his words with a nip at my neck. “Everyone sees this but nobody else touches it, kisses it, knows it like I do. I love that you wear your heart so openly. When I look at you, I can see your heart, our love, and that reminds me how lucky I am.” I shuffled over so I was sat on his lap and kissed him.
“Let’s go.” I wanted to be alone with him, to show him how much my heart belonged to him.
His answer was to help me up from the sofa and kiss me, all too briefly. I clung to his hand, slightly unsteady in my heels, as he led us toward the door. As we passed the bar, I felt someone grab my shoulder. Tugging at Jake’s hand to let him know I was slowing, I turned to see who it was. Garrett. I fixed an emotionless expression on my face and turned away.
“Don’t ignore me!”
“I have nothing to say to you, Garrett. Please, leave me alone.” I could feel the tension surge through Jake at the mention of Garrett’s name, as he realised this wasn’t just a rude stranger.
“Everything okay, Neve?” he asked, his voice sounding far calmer than his face looked.
“Yes, let’s just leave.” I moved so I was the one leading the two of us out and breathed a sigh of relief when we got through the exit. I didn’t stop until we were a little way down the road, confident in the protection offered by having Jake behind me.
“I’d forget her, if I were you. She’s trouble.” Garrett’s drunken insult made me turn around. He had followed us out and was now stood behind Jake, looking at me with nothing but hatred in his eyes.
“Look, mate, I don’t know you, but you’re not doing anything to make me like you. Now, just leave us alone and go home.” I held onto Jake’s arm as he spoke, willing him to stay calm.
“I am going home, all thanks to her. Yes, Neve, I’ve been summonsed home. No more Brighton, no more freedom for me. And it’s all your fault.” Jake held me behind him in the face of Garrett’s slurred tirade. “After meeting you, Grandmother got in touch with Father, worried I might do something stupid, something that would tarnish the family name.” His face was an ugly sneer. “So it’s back home to darling Mother. Oh, yes, life is wonderful, thanks to you.” The unfairness of his words made me angry. The knowledge that he was leaving made me confident enough to face up to him.
“That’s nothing to do with me. This is all your fault.”
“No, it’s not, you bitch. You wanted me and my money. But you weren’t going to give up the goods, were you? Those legs were crossed a little too tightly.” I felt Jake’s body tense and remembered what Cass had said, about him hitting a guy in the pub.
“That’s it. You need to stop talking to my girlfriend like that or I won’t be responsible for my actions. Show some respect.” Jake took a step forward, hands clenched by his sides.
“Don’t, Jake. He’s not worth it.” I held my hands to his chest, trying to push him away from Garrett.
“Why? What are you going to do? Hit me? That doesn’t change the fact that your so-called girlfriend is a cock-tease. She doesn’t deserve my respect!”