She hugged him. ‘Thank you.’
‘It’s Ruby’s special day,’ he said. ‘I want her to be happy—and I want you to be happy, too.’
‘I am, but I worry about you. So does Ruby.’ Rosie looked at him. ‘I saw you dancing with Abby earlier.’
‘We’re both adults. We can be civil to each other,’ he said mildly. Even though ‘civil’ didn’t even begin to cover the complexity of his feelings towards her.
‘She’s still part of our family,’ Rosie said.
‘She’s Ruby’s best friend. Of course she’s part of the family.’ Even though she wasn’t still married to him.
‘She’s not just Ruby’s best friend. I still think of Abby as a daughter and I love her dearly. I just wish...’ Rosie broke off and sighed.
‘I know, Mum.’ He hugged her. ‘But you can’t change the past. Now, go and dance with George, and let me get you both a glass of champagne first.’
Abby was dancing with someone he didn’t know, someone who was clearly attracted to her by the way he was holding her. Jealousy flickered through him. And how bad was it that, when she didn’t accept a second dance, he was pleased about it?
He ought to let her move on. Find someone else. Hadn’t that been the whole reason he’d walked away from their marriage, to give her a chance to find happiness?
The problem was, his twin’s wedding had brought back so many memories of his own.
Of dancing with Abby in their room on their wedding night, with music playing on his phone.
Of making love with her...
He managed to keep his distance for a full hour and a half.
But then another slow song came on. ‘Moon River.’ The song he’d always associated with Abby’s favourite Audrey Hepburn movie and it made him itch to hold her. Before he knew what he was doing, he was right by her side.
‘Might I have this dance, Ms Scott?’
‘Sure.’ She gave him a polite, civil smile.
But the dance wasn’t polite and civil at all. They moved closer and closer together until their feet were barely moving and they were just swaying together; her heels were high enough that all he had to do was dip his head slightly and he could press his cheek to hers.
And how good it felt to be cheek to cheek with her. Holding her close. Feeling the warmth of her skin against his, the regular thud of her heartbeat.
But this time he was all too aware of the people around him. Right now, he wanted to be alone with her. Find out what was going on in her head.
‘Do you want to go and get some fresh air?’ he whispered in her ear.
‘Good idea,’ she whispered back.
He broke the dance hold and just about stopped himself taking her hand, but they walked out together into the garden. There were fairy lights strung all round the garden through the trees and shrubs, creating a soft warm glow in the twilight. The romance of the garden was intensified even more by the roses, where all the blooms were out and it felt as if they were breathing nothing but the sweet scent of them.
They’d been here before. A different function and a different garden, but it felt the same. The same as the night they’d first got together at their school prom.
He could hear the music from the ballroom, another slow song.
‘Dance with me here?’ he asked.
And it was just as if the years had melted away, as they held each other in the light of the moon and the fairy lights. Dancing cheek to cheek.
Except this time he moved so he could kiss the corner of her mouth.
And she responded by twisting slightly to brush her lips properly against his.
And then they were really kissing, holding onto each other as if to save each other from drowning in the sudden sea of emotion that threatened to swamp them both.
When he broke the kiss, he was shaking and her pupils were enormous.
He stroked her cheek. ‘This reminds me of prom. The day when I really noticed you for the first time.’
‘So before then I was just your sister’s annoying friend?’
He smiled. ‘No. I always liked you. But that time in the garden when I helped you and Ruby revise your Shakespeare—I felt something different, then. I knew I shouldn’t get involved with you because you were my sister’s best friend, and that made you off limits.’