Page 70 of Mercury Rising

“I’m dismayed we don’t warrant your full glam look.”

She swatted him with her cloth. “Do you want to know or not?”

“I do. I do.”

“So we were both at a rave. Somewhere near Southend, I think. God, he was so fit. A bit like Keith from The Prodigy.”

Mercury resisted the urge to let his jaw drop. Bill had a receding hairline and scruffy ponytail now.

“We moved in the same circles for a bit,” she continued. “Then one day it all kind of happened.”

She blushed.

“Gwen!”

“You don’t own sex, you know. I had no intention of letting him slip through my fingers.”

Mercury was seeing a whole new side to them.

“But when did I know for sure?” Gwen asked. “It was on our third date. He took me to seeFour Weddings and a Funeral.I knew Bill would hate every minute of it. I asked him why he chosen that film. He said the smile on my face was the only thing he’d been watching.”

A lump formed in Mercury’s throat. “Oh my God, Gwen. That’s so nice.”

“I know,” she said. Her eyes glistened at the memory. “I made up my mind then and there. I was going to fall in love with this man and I had no choice in the matter. We’ve had our ups and downs but he’s never given me a reason to regret it. I don’t think you can ask for more than that.”

Mercury took her words in. They’d known each other less time than he’d known Nick and Gwen had been totally sure. He’d been trying to dismiss his feelings. Maybe he should be more like Gwen and just give in to them.

“Are you asking for a reason?” Gwen asked.

“I am,” Mercury replied. “I really am. There’s a guy I’m working with. Gwen, I think I’m really falling for him.”

She hopped up and took hold of his arms. “Now the mother in me wants to tell you how inappropriate that is and how it can’t possibly work.”

“But?”

“But the young girl who went to the movies all those years ago is saying to tell you to go for it. My darling, love isn’t as common as all those crap singers would have you believe. If you genuinely think there is a chance, grasp it with both hands.”

He hugged her close. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

She wriggled out of his clutches. “Then you’d better let me get on with those windows or your mother might have a different opinion.”

Mercury laughed. “She would never sack you. No one else knows how to use the dishwasher.”

She flicked him with her cloth. “I know how close to the truth that is. Now scoot.”

He made his way through the kitchen and up the stairs to the drawing room. An evening in front of the television beckoned. Not that he really minded. Soon he would be able to spend the night at Nick’s. The anticipation burnt through him.

As he flicked the TV on, he remembered Gwen’s words.

What if I already know he’s the one too?

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

“I’m free,” Mercury said as he walked into the office. He punctuated it with a high kick of his liberated ankle.

He’d spent the morning having his tag removed and was on cloud nine. Nick and Gavin looked up from a document they’d been reading.

Mercury straightened up when he saw Nick wasn’t alone.