Everything You Want: Everything For You Trilogy 2 (38 page)

“I have a gift for you,” he says.

I turn and stare at him. “A gift? For me?” It’s his birthday, not mine. I feel ashamed that I haven’t got him anything. Ashamed that it took Amanda’s visit to remind me and far too late for me to go and get him anything before he picked me up from work in the car. It’s too late even to admit that I know it’s his birthday.

The levels of my deceit make me dizzy.

“Yes. Can’t I get my girl a gift?”

“But why?” I can’t bring myself to say it’s not my birthday. I’m far too embarrassed. And he called me ‘his girl’. That’s a gift in itself.

“Because it makes me happy.” He stuffs his hand in the hip pocket of his jeans and pulls out a little black jewellery box.

I stare at it in fascination. It can’t be a ring. I have one of those already. On loan. He holds the box out to me and gestures for me to take it. Anyone would think it might bite if they saw how much my hand shakes.

I gingerly prise open the lid to see a golden pendant on a chain. Tears well in my eyes, I’m so moved. I can hardly see past the haze in my vision to the beautiful eternal knot engraved there.

“That is so special,” I tell him. “I love it. I love –” I nearly blurt out words as yet unspoken. My eyes fly to his. His smile dims and he stares at me in such a solemn way it nearly breaks my heart. “Thank you, Jack. Will you put it on for me?”

“Of course. I’m happy it makes you happy.” He takes it from the box and turns me around. I lift my pony-tail out of his way and wait.

His fore-finger trails a gentle line down the side of my neck and he bends over me and kisses me there. I sway back into him. He’s steering with one hand so I take over the wheel. We act in complete concord. His dexterous fingers clip the delicate chain together and I look downwards at it warming against my skin.

“It does make me happy, Jack. You make me happy.”

“Don’t ever let that feeling go.”

I mean something to him. I do. I turn to him, reach up on my toes and place a loving kiss on his waiting lips. He simply accepts it without taking back and it’s the right thing to do. He raises his sunglasses and I raise mine. When I stare into his Arctic blue eyes and he stares back into mine I feel like I absorb his spirit. I’ve never felt more wanted than in this quiet moment as he holds me.

He steers us deftly under Chelsea Bridge and it seems almost immediately he’s lining up for the arches of the railway bridge at Victoria as we gracefully move along a right-hand curve of the river. It feels like my thoughts and my soul are up high and flying along and I finally understand the naming of the fly-bridge on a boat, like he said I would.

For the next twenty minutes we enjoy the warmth of the sun, the activity on the water and the world passing by. We’re locked in our own precious bubble of contentment. My fingers constantly reach for the pendant. It’s already more precious to me than all the pink diamonds in the world because it’s truly mine. And his. Ours.

Westminster Bridge comes into sight across the stretch of water with the Houses of Parliament and the Big Ben clock tower on our left. The river is very busy here with huge passenger ferries and hundreds of summer tourists. The ferries seem to turn very suddenly as they come in to drop off and pick up. Jack remains alert to all the dangers.

“Did you know the bridge is painted green to match the leather seats in the House of Commons?”

“I didn’t.” He’s a Dublin boy yet he knows so much more about my city than me. I stare at the bridge with even more interest. I’ve ridden over it many times but it’s strange to be down in the water below watching red buses and black taxis crossing high above us. I turn and look back where we’ve just been. “Is that why the bridge before is red? The seats in the House of Lords?”

“Lambeth Bridge. Smart cookie. There are security exclusion zones on the water around the government buildings here but it will make more difference to our course on the way back upriver.”

“How exciting. Like James Bond.”

He chuckles. “You’re not asking me to run the zone and risk getting detained at Her Majesty’s pleasure, are you, Miss Moneypenny?”

I laugh. “I can’t imagine you ever being escorted off the premises.”

“Are you suggesting I’m too dull for you?” He mimics an offended tone.

“I’m saying you’re perfect.”

He hugs me tightly back against his hard chest and abs. “You, Tabitha, are the one who’s perfect.”

“I’m not perfect at all. I have panic attacks.”

“True.”

“I launch myself into things without thinking them through.”

“Like that day in my boardroom. Also true.” He pauses. “But rather brave.”

“Extremely brave. You were pretty scary.”

“Me?” He sounds genuinely surprised.

“Yes, Mr Keogh. You.”

“You’re brutally frank today, Miss Caid.”

“Is that a vice or a virtue?”

“A little of both, I think. But I want your honesty. Brutal or otherwise.”

His remark makes me feel ashamed again. Before the day is over I’m about to tell him a whopping great lie so I can get him to his party. He’s suddenly quiet as I freeze again, our bodies so close that he must feel me stiffen against his hold.

“Is there something you wish to tell me?”

“Stop saying that, will you?”

“I do have your honesty don’t I?”

“Yes.” Except about the party. And the fact that I love him. Should I tell him at least one of those things? Could I?

“That’s all I want. For now.”

I’m sorry, Jack. So sorry. If I keep saying it in my mind perhaps he’ll sense it.

I spot the gigantic wheel of the London Eye. My stomach churns so much with all my little deceits I feel like I’m on board that instead of this and they’ve speeded it up a thousand fold especially for me. My head whirls.

“Seven arches.” I count them ahead.

“Necessary. This is a very busy stretch of water. But we only need one.” He’s lined up to a clear arch on the starboard side and we sail effortlessly under despite the massive tourist ferries docking and departing the piers constantly, adding to any potential hazard.

The river curves off to the right. “I never imagined the Thames had quite so many twists and turns,” I reflect.

“A little like life.”

“And now he’s a philosopher.”

He nudges me lightly for my bold remark and I smile. We’ve managed to negotiate some difficult twists of our own, through life. As the river straightens I see a whole series of road, rail and foot bridges going off into the distance.

“Look, there’s Tower Bridge.” I point beyond all the rest, like a baby in a soother store, to the one bridge that gives most visitors a thrill. I’m practically bouncing on my toes.

“The bridges run quite close from here and the arches rarely line up. We need to focus.”

“Is that your way of telling me to calm down?” I press my lips together so I don’t laugh at his serious demeanour. I can always rely on Jack to keep me grounded.

I’m fascinated by the steel suspension Millennium Footbridge too. “Did you walk over it when it still wobbled?” I ask him, back over my shoulder.

“Naturally.” It’s an admittance to doing something for the sheer foolish joy of it, I think.

“Wobbly.” It’s a stupid thing to say but I like saying it.

He grabs tight and wobbles me. I squeal and laugh as he balances me again.

I glance back over my shoulder and he grins down at me. Not always such an adult then. I muse that I was truly still a child when the bridge wobbled and didn’t even know Jack existed then. Perhaps we passed each other, laughing at the notion of the ground shifting beneath our feet? I never would have imagined, on that school field trip, I’d be sailing beneath it one day with the only man I’ll ever love.

Once more the realisation astounds me. Yet I’ve known it practically since the first day I met him. The impulse to turn and tell him that simple, deepest truth almost overwhelms me.

Perhaps today should be the day I finally do it, come what may.

We pass many of the famous sights I’ve visited over the years. The round dome of Saint Paul’s Cathedral rises to my left. We sail past the Tate Modern art gallery and Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre on my right. Maybe Titania’s enchanted love isn’t such a monster after all. My thoughts on the matter have changed radically since last weekend at Lassec.

In a relatively safe stretch of water, Jack trusts me to take the helm again. He busies himself extending a tall flag pole at the rear of the fly-bridge and unfurls a flag from it. It’s lucky he retakes the helm immediately because as soon as I see the flag, I’m good for nothing. On one side, snapping against the breeze is Zee-Com’s logo. But on the other is mine. I stare, mesmerised at CaidCo’s colours flying.

As soon as I can drag my eyes from it I turn to Jack and stare, open-mouthed. He places a finger under my chin and amusedly snaps it shut. He buttons it with a swift kiss.

“A present from Harry,” he explains. He’s laughing at a memory. An old joke between friends. I join in his mirth until the pair of us are grinning like idiots at one another.

Within ten minutes we’re approaching Tower Bridge. I know how beautiful it looks at night when it’s all lit up. And no less impressive by day. Especially with the bridge opening up. I’m astounded. The chances of that happening at the exact moment we make our approach are miniscule. Yet... I turn towards Jack with eyebrows raised. I know he leaves nothing to chance so I wait for an explanation.

For a moment he ignores me. Then he stands and acts like he has no idea what I want to know. But he does. Gradually I detect the tug at the corners of his lips as he fights to maintain a neutral expression.

“Well?” I demand.

“Well what?” He enjoys his little torment.

“How did you know?”

“How did I know what?” His grin is really starting to break free now.

I place my hands on his chest. He has to look where he’s going so he can ignore me. Although perhaps not quite so easily as he would like. I sigh audibly. He glances down at me and away again. I can wait if he can. He breaks first and gives me the happiest smile I’ve ever seen.

“Remember I was on my laptop before we left?”

“I thought for one horrible minute it was coming with us.” Including the disembodied presence of Ms Devereaux.

“Don’t need it with all the technology I’ve got on board.” He’s delaying answering my question.

“And?” I tap my foot impatiently.

“And I was checking today’s notices to mariners obviously but I was also confirming my pre-booked bridge opening time.” He glances in amusement at my puzzled frown.

“You can book an opening?” I’ll need more of an explanation than that.

He nods. “They have scheduled openings for maintenance but shipping of enough height that needs the bridge to open, doesn’t come upriver by chance. It’s all carefully managed by the Port of London Authority.”

“So you –?”

“Any vessel requiring a nine metre or more clearance wishing to leave the Upper Pool of London can request a bridge lift. I booked in writing and confirmed by email this morning.”

“The flag pole.” Now I understand the other reason he unfurled it at this very moment. Not only was it to surprise me, but to attempt the legal height requirement for requesting a bridge lift. I suspect he’s short by a fair amount. But he never did play by the rules.

Jack is James Bond audacious, after all.

And he managed the timing exactly, so we would arrive at the precise moment. No wonder he made me get out of bed. I can’t wipe the crazy smile from my face.

“Harry and I cooked up the idea to get the bridge opened one weekend.”

I feel like I’m sharing something special with Harry as well as with Jack. “Boys!” I’d almost forgotten Jack and Harry could both be so mischievous. Such fun. Spontaneous. It proves he doesn’t have to be the dreaded
Boss
all the time.

“I don’t think we’re quite tall enough,” he admits with a wink. “You might get me arrested after all.”

I giggle at the potential for fun in that. “Then I’ll have to spring you from jail and we can make our escape down river under cover of darkness to the open seas.”

“Would you be able to handle her by yourself?”

“Anything you can handle, I can too.”

His cheeky look suggests he might just have made that into a dirty joke in his mind. I swat him just in case I’m right and he laughs, leaving me in no doubt. I look back up at the road bridge. I can just about make out the barriers stopping the traffic from crossing until the bridge is lowered again.

Jack stopped London traffic for me.

“Thank you, Jack. You’re full of surprises today.” I launch myself at him.

I kiss him with all the passion I feel. It’s a hunger that astonishes me as well as him. When he parts his lips from mine I simply force my way back in again with my questing tongue. He allows me to direct the action and the moment I choose to part us. I show him I love him with that one kiss.

Staring down, his expression is delightedly baffled. “You’ve quite a few surprises of your own, Tabitha Caid.”