Free Taming the Beast by Emily Maguire Page B

said yes right away, and I don’t have the ring yet because we’re going to pick it together this afternoon but I couldn’t wait to tell you both the news. Ah!’
    ‘Ah!’ Shelley squealed back.
    People were staring at them because of the screaming and hugging and knocking of salt and peppershakers from the table. Of everyone in the café only Miss May and Mr December were oblivious to Shelley and Jess’s squawking. The man continued to talk in a voice far too low for Sarah to hear, and the girl continuedto stare up at him as though he was not old and ugly and wearing a dreadful Snoopy tie. Sarah felt a tiny stab of jealousy, but mostly she was happy to have discovered evidence that true love did exist. She smiled at them, knowing they would not see her even if she went and lay naked across their table.
    ‘Well, Sarah?’
    ‘I’m speechless.’ Which was not true. She had plenty to say but most of it involved calling Jess a stupid fucking idiot, and she at least had enough sensitivity to hold back from insulting the girl in her moment of frothy princess joy.
    ‘Oooh, I could scratch your eyes out I’m so jealous.’ Shelley squeezed Jess’ hand. ‘Well, maybe this news will give Jamie the push he needs to finally pop the question.’
    Sarah almost swallowed the cigarette she was about to light. ‘You want Jamie to propose? As in marriage?
Jamie?
’
    ‘What? You don’t think we’re good together?’
    ‘God, I don’t know about that.’ Sarah paused to light her cigarette. ‘But Jamie and
marriage
? He’s such a sheltered little mummy’s boy.’
    Shelley snorted. ‘So why the hell do
you
spend so much time with him?’
    Sarah thought about it, but not for too long, because Shelley’s eyes were narrowed. Also, Sarah and Jamie’s friendship was, like all long-term relationships, complicated. Her throw-away bitchy comment was coming back to bite her, because Jamie was way, way better than any man she knew; it was just that he was so
fragile
. But here and now was not the time or place to be going in-depth about what Jamie meant to her.
    ‘I just meant that he doesn’t strike me as ideal husband material. If there is such a thing, which for the record, I don’t believe there is.’
    ‘Well, he’s perfect for me anyway,’ Shelley said. ‘And he was
so
right about you. You are such a cynic.’
    Sarah’s skin prickled. Later she would deal with Jamie, for the moment she shrugged and sucked back on her cigarette like she didn’t care at all.
    Later that night, after many celebratory drinks at the pub, Mike drove everyone home, dropping off Jamie, then Shelley, then Jess. ‘Hey,’ he said when only Sarah was left. ‘Jump in the front. I feel like a fucking chauffeur up here.’
    Mike drove with one hand on the wheel and the other on Sarah’s thigh, using every gear change as an opportunity to replace his hand closer to her crotch. She laughed at him when he told her how he had wanted her since the first moment he’d laid eyes on her, and she laughed even harder when he called her a fucking bitch. When they were parked in front of her building, he grabbed her and stopped her laughter by shoving his tongue in her mouth.
    ‘You’re a nice kisser,’ he said, when she pulled back.
    Sarah kissed him again, to thank him for the compliment. He was not such a nice kisser. His tongue was sloppy and his jaw was slack. His hands were a different matter; one held her thigh firmly, while the other drew zigzag lines across her spine. After a couple of minutes, he started to fiddle with her fly.
    ‘Stop,’ Sarah said.
    ‘No.’ Mike moved his hand around to the side of her waist. His forceful tone was a point in his favour, as was the very sexy way he was nuzzling the side of her neck.
    ‘You don’t feel bad about this?’
    ‘You’re pretending that you do?’
    ‘I’m not pretending anything. I feel fine. I’m just wondering why
you
don’t feel bad.’
    ‘I love Jess. She’s an incredible girl. But