Page 5 of Prudence (Balfe Family #1)

Milly

Every time Derek called me Camille, something warm and fluttery unfurled in my belly. It felt intimate, like a little secret between us. I’d never cared much that everyone called me Milly, but since my friendship with Derek, I’d developed a new fondness for my given name.

When I’d told him about my anxiety over attending Aidan’s party, there’d been no judgment, only patient understanding.

These past months of having to come up with excuses every time he invited me out had been awful.

My guilt had grown and grown, but Derek had just kept on kindly bestowing me with invites until today when I’d decided enough was enough.

I was going to face my fears and go to a party with him.

I wanted to. In all honesty, I’d missed seeing him since school had ended for the summer.

Now, walking through his friend’s house with my arm through his felt surreal.

He’d promised to stick by my side all night, and he had no idea how much that reassured me.

When I was with Derek, I had this feeling of safety, like nothing could go wrong.

I caught a few surprised looks from other girls, a couple catty, jealous ones, too, and had to fight the urge to self-consciously tug at my cardigan sleeves.

I’d never been to a teenage party before and had to guess what might be an appropriate outfit.

I’d guessed dead wrong because compared to the other girls I’d seen so far, I was dressed like someone’s mother.

So many super short dresses and miniskirts.

“Do you want anything to drink?” Derek asked when we entered the large kitchen filled with teenagers, completely unaware that I was internally spiralling.

“Um, sure. What are you having?” I managed to reply, and Derek’s gaze flicked my way.

He cast his warm eyes over me, seeming to detect the discomfort in my voice as he frowned. “Milly?”

“I’m dressed all wrong,” I blurted, and his eyebrows jumped before his expression gentled. His attention went around the room, taking in the other partygoers for the first time. When he looked back to me, his face was dead serious. “Are you comfortable in what you’re wearing?”

“Well, physically, yes, but—”

“Would you be comfortable wearing something more revealing?” he went on.

“No, but at least I’d fit in better.”

“You don’t need to fit in. Just be yourself.

That’s the girl I want to spend time with.

And besides,” he paused, his gaze running over me intently as though momentarily distracted.

Heat rose to the surface of my skin everywhere his eyes touched.

He bent close, his breath whispering over the shell of my ear.

“You look beautiful. You’re the prettiest girl in the whole party,” he spoke low, and I swear my brain short-circuited.

He thought I was beautiful? Was this a dream? It had to be.

“That’s not true,” I breathed, pulse pounding.

He caught my gaze with purpose and stroked a hand down my arm, still with that distracted look on his face like he couldn’t stop staring at me. “Yes, it is.”

My breathing grew choppy, and I felt like I was trapped in a bubble with Derek, unable to escape the intensity of his stare. The way he looked at me, I suddenly believed him. He made me feel beautiful.

“Thank you,” I whispered at last, and his expression heated, his eyes dropping to my lips. He gazed at my mouth for several prolonged seconds before turning away and dragging a hand over his jaw. “Feckin’ all-girls schools,” he rumbled unhappily.

“What?”

He turned back to me, wry humour marking his features. “If you hadn’t been cloistered away at St. Colmcille’s for the last five years, you’d know exactly how gorgeous you are. If you’d attended my school, you’d have been beating the lads off with a stick.”

I laughed nervously. “If you say so.”

“I do say so,” he stated firmly then exhaled heavily, glancing about. “Right, drinks. How about a rum and Coke?”

I was glad for the subject change, because honestly, I could’ve basked all night in him convincing me of my prettiness, but indulging one’s ego rarely ended well.

I hadn’t tasted rum before, only the vodka that Tara sometimes snuck out of her parents’ liquor cabinet.

We’d mix it with orange juice while watching whatever silly reality show we were addicted to.

Currently, it was Big Brother , though Real Housewives was a close second.

“Sounds good,” I said with a nod, and Derek took my hand, his warm palm sliding against my skin, strong fingers interlocking with mine as he led me over to the island.

Every square inch was taken up by bottles of alcohol and mixers.

I watched silently while Derek put together two rum and Cokes.

He handed me mine, and I took a sip, glad it tasted mainly of cola with only a faint hint of rum.

“Okay?” he asked.

“Yes,” I answered. “Thank you.”

“All right, let’s go and find out where the birthday boy is hiding.”

I let him lead me farther into the house, eventually arriving at some kind of lounge where the guest of honour, Aidan Finnegan, was hanging out listening to music.

Derek’s brother, Tristan, was there, too, alongside his other friends Rhys and Theo, plus several girls from their school whose names I didn’t know.

Aidan, who had a reputation as a bit of a ladies’ man, sat surrounded by most of them as they hung onto his every word.

Tristan and Theo were flirting with two other girls, while Rhys, who struck me as the shyest of the group, sat by himself in an armchair nursing a beer.

The song “MakeDamnSure” by one of Tara’s favourite bands, Taking Back Sunday, was playing on the speakers.

“Derek! Where the hell have you been?” Aidan called out as we entered, clearly already tipsy. “And where’s my birthday kiss?” He came forward, but Derek held up a hand.

“No birthday kisses for you this year. Not after what you gave me the last time,” Derek joked.

“Ah, what’s a little herpes between pals?” Aidan exclaimed jovially before his attention fell on me with keen interest. “Who’s this?” His hooded gaze travelled over me, and Derek’s hand tightened on mine.

“This is my friend, Milly,” Derek replied.

“Milly!” his brother Tristan said loudly as soon as he spotted me.

“I remember you! We went to the same primary school. You healed my boo-boo.” Okay, Tristan was even more tipsy than Aidan.

I laughed quietly. I’d completely forgotten that I’d assisted in cleaning and bandaging Derek’s brother’s scraped knee until he’d reminded me that day at the supermarket.

Honestly, I’d proudly pulled out my first-aid kit too many times to count in the school yard that year.

So much so, I’d earned myself the nickname Nurse Milly.

My teacher, Mrs Freyne, had given me a special gold star and everything.

The strange thing was, whenever I’d focused on helping with an injury or tending to someone who was sick, all my social anxiety had fallen away.

I’d been too driven by purpose to think about being nervous.

“Bloody hell, Tristan, how many beers have you had?” Derek questioned, frowning, his protective big brother instincts coming out.

“Ah, he’s only had two,” Aidan interjected. “Sure, you know he’s a terrible lightweight. Anyway, welcome to my party, Derek’s friend Milly. I hope you’ll have an enjoyable time.” Then he turned and rejoined the gaggle of girls he’d been impressing with some anecdote before we’d arrived.

“So, where was I? Oh yes, and then I said to her, I’ve never even seen a penny-farthing!” Aidan proclaimed, finishing his story, and the girls giggled wildly.

Warm breath hit my neck as Derek bent to murmur. “Sorry about Aidan and Tris. They can be a little overzealous when they drink.”

“That’s okay,” I replied, my voice suddenly breathless with how close he was.

“Come on, let me introduce you to Theo and Rhys.” A pause as he smiled. “My hopefully less drunk friends.”

I chuckled and allowed him to lead me farther into the room.

Once I’d been properly introduced to everyone, I sat next to Derek on one of the couches, and we sipped our rum and Cokes while observing the drunken antics of his friend group.

At one point, his sister, Nuala, arrived with a pretty brunette, who Derek quietly informed me was their cousin, Charli.

She was visiting from America and staying at their house for the summer.

Nuala and I shared a few classes at school, but we didn’t move in the same circles.

Still, even though she was friends with the popular girls, she was one of the nicest people I’d ever met.

Her eyes lit when she saw me with her brother, a smile gracing her lips as she cast me a little wave before Theo grabbed her hand and pulled her over for a chat.

The entire time I sat there, I was aware of Derek’s arm resting across the back of the couch.

I felt the heat of his arm at my neck. When I finished the last sip of my drink, Derek quietly slid the empty glass from my hand and set it down on the nearby table.

His eyes met mine, slowly travelling back and forth before dipping to my mouth.

“I feel I need to clear something up,” he said, frowning hard like he was having trouble grasping some philosophical concept or mathematical equation.

“Oh?”

“Contrary to what was said earlier, I did not, in fact, contract herpes from Aidan.” His deadpan delivery had me bursting into laughter, and a pleased smile graced his handsome face.

“That’s good to know.”

His smile deepened, and he nudged my shoulder with his. “Just in case you were thinking of kissing me later, you don’t have to worry about contracting any venereal diseases.”

My skin heated so much my cheeks were probably bright red. “Thank you for informing me of your clean bill of health,” I managed to reply evenly. “And as romantic as that sounds, I don’t currently have any plans to kiss you.”