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  The Audi blinked behind him when he locked it, the click of his shoes echoed around the empty space as he walked towards the exit. The noise made him worry that someone might think he was a woman in heels only to be disappointed when they saw him. He used the covered walkway above the road linking the car park to the Selfridges building.

  He loved the building, some people hated it but it always reminded him of those things you pushed your face into and you get the shape on the other side in pin heads. He’d always loved them as a kid and now he felt like he was entering a giant version. He walked through the expensive clothes, t shirts that cost as much as a real shirt and would be out of fashion in three months, jeans that looked old and a wall full of shoes. He was never sure who bought shoes from here, they had a few nice ones but also gold ones covered in stars. He circled around the floors, working his way down through the maze designed to stop someone exiting the shop without passing every single item. Finally, he reached the ground floor and walked through the food area, the sugary sweet smell of donuts filling his senses before reaching the main shopping centre.

  Dan walked past the junction of a Nando’s, Burger King and Costa. He smiled when he saw the younger couples heading into Nando’s for their date night and remembered when he’d considered Frankie & Benny’s to be the height of date sophistication. He still loved Nando’s but he couldn’t imagine a date at Nando’s being right for Emma.

  # # #

  Dan sat on a tall stool at the bar, the lights dimmed but not dark. The room was modern and had probably cost a small fortune to decorate. Teams of interior designers must have worked for weeks to create the correct amount of intimacy without looking too much like a hook up joint. He hadn’t eaten here before but it had a good reputation and the celebrity chef had his own television show shouting at junior chefs for incorrectly drizzling something over another thing.

  His seat gave him a view of the doors so he could see when Emma arrived, he always tried to get a seat giving him a clear view of the entrance. It was an unfounded paranoia that started when he began reading Andy McNab on his flights to clients. Dan knew that an SAS soldier had good reason to keep an eye on exits and he knew he wasn’t likely to be hunted down by terrorists but for some reason this had stuck with him regardless of logic. He picked up his glass from the bar in front of him, the condensation on the glass had pooled into a circle on the polished wood of the bar. He had ordered a gin and tonic and he knew he would like it here when they had Hendricks as an option. He took a sip, it was refreshing and had just a hint of cucumber from the thin slices floating in the glass.

  He checked his phone, holding his thumb on the home button, hoping for a message from Emma. She was only a few minutes late and he knew there was no reason to think she would stand him up but the teeth of doubt gnawed at him. Five minutes alone, waiting for someone felt like hours and waiting for Emma felt like days. He knew he should stop worrying about her not showing but he couldn’t help it, he hadn’t felt this on edge and excited since he was fifteen and cycled across the city to visit his girlfriend because she said she was ready to lose her virginity.

  There wasn’t a professional cyclist living or dead who could have beaten him that day and he nearly didn’t make it through his reckless ignorance of the highway code. He had arrived at the bottom of her street and then the enormity of what might happen had hit him. He had to check again that he had brought condoms, he had six which was either overly optimistic about his chances or pessimistic about his longevity. He stood there, straddling his bike wondering if he was big enough and if he could find where to put it. He tried to calm down and tell himself that everything would be ok but the doubts wouldn’t go away no matter how much he told himself he would be amazing. He had almost made himself turn around in fear but then his hormones had taken over and told him that no matter how bad it would be it would at least be. He left his bike in her garden and walked to the backdoor of her house a bundle of fear and excitement.

  He reminded himself this wasn’t their first date and there was no reason this one would go badly. He checked his phone, still no messages and only two minutes since he last checked. Dan put his phone down and glanced at the door. He knew it was her immediately, her shape, like a Coke bottle, was unmissable through the frosted glass. She opened the door and stepped inside, his breath caught at the sight of her even though she was squinting as her eyes adjusted to the darkness.

  Dan smiled when she spotted him and started walking towards the bar. He slipped his phone back into his pocket, glad that his wait was finally over. She walked quickly, oblivious to the looks from men in the restaurant. Dan noticed them and smiled to himself, she was here to meet him but he knew that if she was to sit at a table alone it wouldn’t be long before the offers of drinks began.

  He stood as she reached him and kissed her gently on the lips, his hand on her hip made it clear to any eyes still looking that she wasn’t just meeting a friend from work. ‘You look gorgeous.’ He said.

  ‘Thank you.’ She sat on the seat next to him, the height making it more of a perch, ‘You don’t look too bad yourself.’

  ‘Well you know, I thought I better make an effort.’ He smiled. ‘What do you fancy to drink?’

  ‘White wine please, or is it too early?’ Emma asked.

  ‘I don’t think it’s too early, I’m drinking.’ Dan said flicking his head to the barman.

  The barman smiled and walked towards Dan and Emma. ‘What can I get for you?’

  ‘A large glass of Pinot Grigio please and I think we’re ready if the table is?’

  ‘No problem, I’ll go and check. What name was it under again?’

  ‘Browne. Dan Browne.’

  ‘Oh, like the writer. Cool.’

  ‘Like him but sadly not him.’ Dan smiled politely.

  ‘Ahh ok. No problem.’ The barman said putting the large glass of wine in front of Emma. ‘Anything else I can get for you?’

  ‘No, thank you. Just the table please.’ Dan said.

  The barman walked away, leaving the two of them alone again.

  ‘How long did it take to get here?’ Dan asked.

  ‘Not long at all, I got a taxi to save having to walk from the hotel.’

  ‘That’s a good plan, I’m parked by the Bullring. It’s not too far but then I’m not in heels.’

  ‘Heels aren’t that bad. If you wear them enough flats start feeling odd.’ Emma said.

  ‘I don’t think I’ve got the legs to be honest.’ Dan said with a wink.

  Emma smiled. ‘I don’t know, you don’t have bad legs. A little hairy maybe but we can soon sort that.’

  ‘Thanks, but I don’t think I could take a waxing.’

  ‘It’s not that bad when you get used to it, just need to think happy thoughts.’ Emma said smiling.

  A waitress arrived, a pretty brunette wearing a black skirt and white blouse. On a normal day Dan would have spent the evening flirting but whenever he was with Emma he didn’t notice if a woman was attractive or not. He hadn’t experienced it before but Emma had turned him booty blind, waitresses, even attractive ones were just people who brought him food when previously they had been a target of his best advances. ‘Your table is ready Sir, if you would like to just follow me.’

  They stood and walked behind the waitress through the bar and into the restaurant. Most of the tables were full, all were covered with a crisp white tablecloth. One table was clear by the window, the waitress lead them to it and they sat down.

  ‘Would you like any more drinks or maybe some water? The waitress asked smiling at Dan.

  ‘Just water, sparkling for both of us please.’ Dan said.

  ‘Very good.’ The waitress said handing a menu first to Emma and then to Dan. She turned and walked away, Emma watched her ass as she walked.

  ‘You’ve got an admirer there.’ Emma said.

  ‘Who?’ Dan said surprised.

  ‘The waitress, she likes you. She’s quite fit too.’

&
nbsp; ‘She’s alright I guess.’ Dan said turning to look for the waitress. ‘She doesn’t like me though.’

  ‘Oh behave, of course she does. She barely even looked at me and she was all smiles and big eyes for you.’ Emma said raising her eyebrows.

  ‘Well I didn’t notice that. She probably just assumes I’m paying and wants to be friendly to get a good tip.’

  ‘She wants your tip alright just not how you thinking.’

  Dan laughed, his sip of Hendricks almost spraying across the table. He coughed and laughed again. ‘You’re filthy. She’s just being a good waitress.’

  ‘Yeah, well we’ll see wont we. She likes you there’ll be more flirting tonight. Trust me.’ Emma rolled her eyes as she took a sip of her drink.

  ‘Well even if she does like me, she hasn’t got a chance. Tonight.’ Dan said reaching across the table to stroke Emma’s hand.

  ‘Tonight?’ Emma looked back at Dan and tried to look angry. ‘It’s a good job I like you you know.’

  ‘I know it is, but you do and a little jealousy never hurt anyone.’

  ‘It might hurt you if you keep it up.’ Emma said.

  ‘Well fingers crossed then, my backs healed from last time so I’m ready to go again.’ Dan said smiling. ‘My back looked like a can of Monster after Germany.’

  ‘Dirty git. Stop it.’ Emma said, her face changing to match the red of her dress.

  ‘I’m sorry babe.’

  ‘No, you aren’t. You aren’t at all. Anyway, it’s nice here isn’t it?’ Emma said trying to distract herself from the heat in her cheeks.

  ‘Yeah. It got good reviews so I thought I’d give it a chance. It’s a nice view too, we got a good table.’ Dan said looking out of the window across the lights of Birmingham.

  ‘It is, it’s really pretty from here.’

  ‘I know. In the daytime cities are just grey and dirty but at night they come alive and look great from up high. I spend time in cities in the day and I think I could never live here and then I see them at night and think I could actually live here.’ Dan said.

  ‘I know what you mean, they are too busy in the day time sometimes.’

  They each picked up their menus and began looking through them.

  ‘Do you fancy a starter?’ Dan asked.

  ‘I don’t know, are you having one?’

  ‘Probably, the calamari sounds nice.’

  ‘I don’t like sea food though.’ Emma said.

  ‘What. At all?’

  ‘Nope. No fish.’ Emma said.

  ‘Oh ok. What about shellfish?’

  ‘Nope. No seafood at all.’ Emma said.

  ‘Salmon?’

  ‘No. No fish or seafood or anything like that. Sorry for being a pain.’ Emma said looking at Dan over the top of her menu.

  ‘Ok. You aren’t being a pain. What about the camembert? That sounds good if you like cheese?’ Dan asked.

  ‘I love cheese. That sounds good actually, I’ll have that. What are you having for a main?’

  ‘I don’t know, I like the sound of the belly pork but I haven’t had Chicken Kiev for ages and I like that.’

  ‘I love Chicken Kiev, it was my favourite when I was a kid. I’m having that.’ Emma closed her menu and put it on the table in front of her.

  ‘Ok then. I’ll have the belly pork. That was easy.’ Dan put his menu on the table and took a sip of his gin.

  The waitress returned with their sparkling water and smiled at Dan as she put them on the table. ‘Are you ready to order?’ She asked looking at Dan.

  ‘Yes, thank you. We’d like the calamari and camembert to start and then the belly pork and Chicken Kiev please.’

  ‘Excellent, would you like any sides?’ She bit her bottom lip after speaking and continued to look at Dan.

  ‘No I think we’re good as is, thank you.’ Dan said looking at Emma.

  ‘Ok, well if you change your mind it’s no problem.’ The waitress turned and walked back across the restaurant.

  ‘She’s not even subtle.’ Emma said.

  ‘What do you mean?’ Dan asked pretending he hadn’t noticed.

  ‘She acts like I’m not even here. Tart.’

  ‘Well there’s no need to worry, she’s not going to win me away from you. I should be more worried about the number of eyes you’ve had on you since you arrived.’

  ‘Oh, don’t be silly, there’s no eyes on me.’ Emma made quotation marks with her hands as she spoke.

  ‘There’s plenty of eyes on you. You look great so there’s bound to be. The only guys who haven’t had a look are the two gays in the corner and even they checked out your shoes.’

  Emma laughed. ‘You’re daft. Doesn’t stop the waitress from wanting to jump you though.’

  # # #

  Dan pulled the glass door towards him and stepped aside to allow Emma to walk through.

  ‘Thank you.’ Emma said stepping out into the cool air. ‘I wish I’d brought a coat now, I didn’t think.’

  ‘Well I’d offer you my jacket but I don’t have one and the world doesn’t want my shirt off after that food.’

  ‘It was good though. Really nice.’ Emma said.

  ‘I know, I’ll definitely eat there again.’

  They began to walk, other couples passed them heading into the restaurant while across the street a group of men walked to their next bar. They were all dressed in polo shirts and jeans, the only thing stopping them being in uniform was the colour and whether they had their collars up or down. Dan reached down and took Emma’s hand in his, it felt small but they fitted together perfectly. More people passed them, couples walked slowly while friends walked faster. For the couples a street at night was a place to enjoy while for everyone else it was a nowhere between two somewheres.

  They stopped at a cross road and stood for a moment, looking at each other, the world continued to move around them. He stepped closer, she lifted her chin to keep eye contact. Dan leaned towards her, his face closer to hers, she closed her eyes and their mouths met. He held her hip, keeping her close to him while his other hand slowly moved up her spine. His fingers felt the bump of her bra clasp as he slid higher, under her hair. She gasped as he gripped her hair firmly and continued to kiss her in the street, they stood joined at their mouths like teenagers oblivious to everyone who might see them.

  Their mouths parted and Dan rested his forehead on Emma’s. Time had a way of playing tricks and they felt like they had been kissing for hours while at the same time it felt like only seconds. She opened her eyes and glanced around, conscious for the first time that they might have an audience. Nobody watched, it was unlikely anybody even noticed. The evening in a city was a good time to be a couple, there was privacy in public as everyone chose to ignore everyone else.

  CHAPTER TEN

  The lobby was a large open space, the lighting dimmed. Reception was deserted but for one man working there instead of the five or six that would usually be there. They walked past without noticing him, the bored man working the night shift. Dan had his arm around Emma, his hand on her hip, in his spare hand swung his overnight bag. He loved how her hips made a perfect handle for his hand. They reached the elevators and one stood open.

  ‘Which floor is it?’ Dan asked.

  ‘Erm, hold on.’ Emma said rummaging in her hand bag. ‘Fourteen.’

  Dan pressed the button and frowned when nothing happened. ‘Ahh you need to put the key in.’

  ‘Oh ok sorry.’ Emma said slipping the key into the slot by the numbers.

  Dan pressed the number fourteen button and the doors closed behind them, sealing them in temporary privacy. He turned and kissed her, his body pressed against hers, pinning her to the mirrored wall. His hand slide higher from her waist to cup her breast, she moaned as his hand began to massage her, his thumb brushing her stiffening nipple. The elevator pinged as the doors opened making Dan pull away, he looked into Emma’s eyes as he did, she lowered hers and blushed.

  Dan led Emma along the
corridor by her hand, he walked as if he was being evacuated from a fire. She tried to keep up but a figure-hugging dress and heels limited her top speed. Dan slipped the card into the door lock and pushed the door, he ignored etiquette and walked through first, he dropped the card into the slot on the wall and the lights turned on.

  Emma stood behind Dan, he turned to her and lifted her chin to kiss her neck. She responded by draping her arms around him. Her earlier nerves had vanished and she trembled as his mouth moved from her neck to her lips and she opened her mouth to his. Dan gripped her waist and pulled her against him, he felt the softness of her breasts squash against his chest as he slid the zip of her dress down her back.

  Emma groaned as she felt his fingers brush the length of her spine, the butterflies in her stomach drowned by the spreading warmth in her abdomen. It grew like ripples in a pond from her belly button through her body, every contrast in his touch from firm to gentle fuelling the flame.

  Their lips pressed together, brushing over each other to become one as their tongues flicked like moths at a light. Her butterflies now boiled in the growing heat, she raised her hands and held the back of his neck. She jumped and he responded instinctively by lifting her by her buttocks, he stood holding her weight. Their mouths remained locked together as she wrapped her legs around his waist taking the pressure from his neck.

  He carried her across the room, despite her curves she was still light enough for Dan to easily hold her. He lay her down on the bed and lay on top of her, she slipped off her heels as he fumbled with his laces.

  Dan rolled onto his back, pulling Emma on top. She straddled him now, her dress up to her waist as his hands slid up the soft skin of her thigh above her stockings. Emma groaned as she felt his fingers gripping her bare buttocks, her hair tumbled into his face as she began to move her hips against him.

  Then, almost as suddenly as it started, Emma stopped. She sat upright and rolled off Dan to sit on the bottom of the bed, feet on the floor, shoulders hunched.