Against the Tide (30 page)

We sit in silence for a while, watching the sun just begin to lower on the horizon and the tide creep up the pebbled shore. “Lizzie loved it on the pier,” Finn says with a smile in his voice. “She was loud and full of fun. You two would have gotten on well.”

“I’m sorry I never had the chance to meet her.”

“Me too.”

She makes it so damn easy to be around her. Her smile makes me smile. Her laugh makes me laugh. She’s infectious and I don’t know if I can stay away from her after today. Christ, I never want to let her out of my sight, isn’t that a stupid thought? Is it right that some people that come into your life are just meant to fit?

“Shall we eat?” I ask. She shivers before she can answer and I notice she has goose bumps creeping up her arms. “You’re cold?”

“A little.”

“It’s because the sun is going down, here …” I slip my jacket off and place it over her shoulders.

“You’re really going all out on being a gentleman today, huh?” she jokes.

“Just wanted to show you the part of me that you hadn’t seen yet.”

“I’m enjoying this side of you.”

“Good, let’s make a move.” I stand and tuck the bear under one arm and put the other arm around her shoulder, pulling her close to my side to keep her warm. Thankfully she doesn’t protest, instead she snuggles in close.

It doesn’t take long to get to the marina and there’s plenty of restaurants to choose from.

“You wanna go to the steak house? Or something a little different?” I ask.

“Anything.”

“There’s nothing you don’t like?”

“Nope.”

“Nothing?”

She shrugs. “I don’t think so, never found anything I wouldn’t try once.” Her eyes widen as she realises the double meaning of what she’s just said and she spits out a choked laugh.

“Good to know, Meg. Good to know.” I wink at her and take her hand, deciding against steak for our first date and leading her to the most upmarket restaurant this side of town.

“This place is really expensive,” she whispers tugging at my hand.

“That’s okay.” I frown, wondering why she mentioned that.

“I don’t want you to think you have to spend money on me. I would be just as happy with fish and chips.”

“Well, if I had thought that I wouldn’t have asked you out on a date to begin with. If they have fish and chips on the menu then you can order it, okay?”

“If you say so,” she sings sarcastically, looking up at me with the cheekiest of smirks.

We have to wait at the door to be seated and as a waiter approaches, I see him look us up and down. “May I help you?” The tattoos and probably Meg’s lip piercing can cause a few looks in establishments like this and it gets my back up immediately. I know we are not dressed in our Sunday best but my money is as good as anyone else’s.

“Table for three, please?” I ask the waiter, keeping as straight a face as I possibly can.

“Three, sir?” he replies with an edge of importance in his voice and his nose in the air.

“Yes, me, my lady and the bear.” Meg snorts beside me, squeezing my hand and I try to hold in the laughter. The waiter shows us to a table of three and I make a show of seating Meg and then the bear. Meg places her stick of rock in front of the bear on the place setting and the waiter’s eyes widen. He looks between us like we are a couple of crazies. I guess he’s not far wrong.

“Would you like to see the wine menu?” he asks with forced politeness.

“Yes, please,” I answer in the same tone of voice as him, which I can see really pisses him off.

He hands us both a huge wine menu, and just looking at it makes my eyes cross. I’ve never heard of most of these wines and I’m starting to feel a little stupid thinking I could know which one is best. I need a list that says, red wine, white wine, beer, tequila. That would make it much easier.

“Meg? What would you like to drink?”

“Oh, no wine for me. I don’t even know why I’m looking at the menu. Sparkling water is fine.”

“No alcohol, you sure?”

“Yup. Once I start, I won’t stop, and when I don’t stop, it’s not pretty.”

“Two sparkling waters please, waiter,” I call and Meg frowns at me.

“Why are you having water, too? You don’t have to not drink because of me.”

“It’s no problem, Meg. I don’t want you having an advantage over me if I were to get drunk, so I’ll stick to the water,” I say with a wink. I’d happily give her advantage over me.

We order a feast despite the disapproving glare we keep getting from the waiter. I’m not sure what his problem is, maybe we’re not upmarket enough, maybe he thinks I can’t afford to pay for a meal in such a high class establishment, but if he looks down his nose at me just one more time, I won’t be able to hold my tongue.

“So, you already know where I work. What do you do?” Meg asks.

“I’m a mechanic. I haven’t worked since … Lizzie.”

“Will you go back to it?”

“Yeah, for sure. I love it. Besides, it’s the only thing I’m good at.”

“I’m sure that’s not true. You could do anything you set your mind to.”

“What makes you think that?” I don’t understand how someone I barely know can have such faith in me, especially after our rocky start.

“Well, you wouldn’t give up on a date with me. If you hadn’t been so persistent, we wouldn’t be here now.”

“Now that would be a shame.”

“It would,” she agrees with a nod. “Why did you change your mind? About me,” she asks, taking the conversation in a more serious direction and I decide it’s about time I was honest with her.

“I was scared, Meg. Everything had happened and it was such a mess, and you made me feel all these things that made me feel … guilty, okay? I felt guilty as fuck that I was with you and I should have been with her.” I know my voice is getting louder and the people at the tables close to us are starting to stare, even the waiters are nervously looking in our direction but I don’t give a shit about them. However, I do care about what Megan thinks of me and I have to be honest with her from now on.

“I’m sorry,” she whispers, her gaze dropping to the table.

“Don’t be sorry, Meg.” I shake my head and speak to her more softly this time, “I don’t want you to be sorry. I’ve wallowed for long enough, it’s time to try and move forward.” She nods with understanding and I stretch my upturned hand across the table toward her. She curls her finger tips around mine and gives me a reassuring smile.

“The police were at his house this morning, you know?” she says, squeezing my hand.

“Whose house?” I snatch my hand back and sit further up in my seat. I know who she’s talking about as my skin prickles at the thought of him.

“Damien. They pulled up outside in the middle of the street.” Well, fuck me if that doesn’t stab me in the gut with a mixture of emotions. I should be jumping up and punching the air over the fact that he’s actually going to pay for what he did. That’s if they’ve watched the CCTV yet, it could be something totally unrelated, but either way, I’m jumping up and down for fucking joy. But she was there? Why?

“You were at his house?”

“Uh, yeah.” She lowers her gaze and looks sheepish, maybe even guilty, “I went to−”

I place my elbows on the table and rest my chin on steepled fingers. “Is this your way of trying to get back at me for being a dick towards you? Is that why you agreed to go on this date with me?” I keep my voice low for fear of losing the tiny piece of self-control I have left that is dangerously wavering on the edge.

“What? No! I went there this morning to … I wanted to help you.” She sighs and swallows hard, trying to continue. I don’t stop her. This is make or break time. She either explains herself, or … I was wrong about her all along. I want it to be the latter. “I wanted to make him tell me what he did. I wanted to hear him admit that he drugged your sister and I wanted to get it on recording so he couldn’t back out of it. I know you said you didn’t want my help, but I knew I’m probably the only one he would talk to, and I just wanted to take away some of your pain.” She takes a deep breath then screws her napkin up in a ball, throwing it on the table before scraping her chair back to stand up. Now everyone is watching and listening to our conversation, but I still don’t care. In fact, she’s so honest and sweet and thoughtful that I want to drag her over the damn table and show her exactly how I feel about her. She did that, for me?

“Sit down,” I order, speaking calmly. She glances uneasily over her shoulder and opens her mouth to speak. “Just sit down, Megs, please?” I interrupt, only softer this time.

“If you’re going to yell or make me feel even shittier than you have done before today, then I suggest you let me walk away.” She jabs a finger in my direction and it takes everything I have not to burst out laughing at her. She’s so cute when she’s mad.

“Meg, please?” I indicate to her chair and she scowls at me before deciding to sit down. She catches the eye of the woman at the table next to us. It’s clear she thinks of herself as a better class of person by the way she peers down her nose at us, but her lips are pulled tight like she’s been sucking a lemon. God, I hate judgemental people like that.

“What are you gawking at?” Meg snaps at her, making her scoff and turn away fast. I choke on the water that I have just taken a gulp of and spit my mouthful all over the table cloth, before launching into a coughing fit. Meg just sits down quietly with a scowl fixed on her pretty face and a pointed look, waiting for me to finish coughing.

“I’m okay,” I offer sarcastically grabbing a napkin. “Just went down the wrong hole is all.”

“You want to be careful getting your holes mixed up,” she says dryly, but her face betrays her blunt tone with the hint of a smirk and with that, the air between us is lightened again.

“You have such a filthy mouth.” I chuckle, wondering how we can go from something so serious to laughing about wrong holes.

“Just so you know, Finn. I don’t do payback. I wouldn’t try and get back at you for being an arsehole to me because I’m not like that. I was just trying to help, that is all.”

“Okay.”

“So, if this is how it’s going to be between us, I can’t, I won’t do it …”

“I know you’re not vindictive like that. Or at least I should have known. I’m sorry, again. I know I have no reason to be jealous that you were there, but I was, I am. I didn’t want the only girl I’ve ever really been interested in to mess me about, especially by going back and forth between me and Damien Brooks.” She stays silent, which makes me feel even guiltier for jumping to conclusions.

“I wouldn’t−”

“I know. Thanks for telling me about Damien.” I feel lighter just thinking he could have been arrested this morning. I’ll need to check for sure, but if they are acting on the CCTV footage Harley handed in, then he might finally get what he deserves.

“Thought you ought to know.” She gives a small shrug, making me realise that I don’t think it would be possible for her to lie to me. She’s straight up.

I place my knife and fork neatly together on my plate and sit back in my chair. “Oh my god. I am stuffed like a turkey at Christmas.”

“That was really good, huh?” Finn chuckles, finishing off the beer he ordered halfway through his dinner.