A Funny Thing About Love by Rebecca Farnworth Page B

This was not good. Orang-utans were cute but not sexy. She tried looking down but the black-and-white tiles swam in front of her eyes. Looking up was no better as the light, table and Will started to perform a slow waltz in front of her. It was actually rather delightful but she wasn’t in her twenties any more, she knew perfectly well what this signalled – the descent into drunkenness and the certainty of a humdinger of a hangover. She had to ask Will if he had peppermint tea. She always drank peppermint tea after a night on the lash as if it was supposed to offer some miraculous cure. It never did, of course.
    Will finished the call. ‘Are you very drunk, Miller?’
    â€˜Very,’ she smiled at him. ‘So did you mean what you said about me? That I’m funny, impetuous and gorgeous?’ She swung out one of her arms and nearlylost her balance. Will put his arms round her waist and she sort of collapsed into him.
    â€˜And drunk, but very lovely with it.’ He was definitely being Sexy Will now, not smarmy. He leaned towards her and lightly kissed her lips. Yes, very sexy. Carmen lightly kissed him back, lord, how she hoped it was lightly and not a drunken slobber. And then Sexy Will slid his arms round her neck and she slid her arms round his waist, his very satisfyingly hard abs – all those sessions in the gym before work had definitely paid off. Got to love a man who worked out. She breathed in slightly. The only workout her abs had been getting lately was digesting Oreos and salt and vinegar Hula Hoops. And then the heat turned up on the kiss as it went from PG to a definite 18 certificate, a steamy, sexy, take me, devil-may-care kiss. Even drunk, Carmen registered how good the kiss was, even better than their first, and as Will pressed his body into hers she registered something else pressing into her at a very pleasurable angle – perhaps him being only slightly taller than her had its advantages after all. Except now the something was vibrating, which seemed a little freaky.
    He pulled away and scrabbled in his pocket for his phone. Ah, that explained it. ‘The taxi’s here. Are you coming?’
    I practically just have
, Carmen did not reply. ‘I should say goodbye to everyone,’ she said instead.
    She and Will walked back into the living room. Music was still blasting out, this time ‘Let’s Dance’,and Matthew and Penny were dancing with their kids. Everyone else was slumped on the sofas and chairs. Carmen went up to Matthew and shouted, ‘I’m off now.’
    Matthew raised his eyebrows when he noticed Will standing behind her.
    Carmen ignored the look. ‘I’ll give you a ring next week. Let’s have lunch – us writers should stick together.’
    â€˜I’d love to,’ Matthew replied, then reached for her hand and kissed it. ‘Look after her, Will,’ he said in a decidedly cooler tone than he had used with Carmen.
    In the taxi Carmen’s inhibitions had long since left the building. No more was she too-cool-for-school Carmen; she was drunk-as-a-skunk Carmen. ‘Lovely Will,’ she said, snuggling next to him. He really was lovely, why had she held back for so long?
    â€˜Lovely Carmen,’ Will replied, putting on her seat belt for her. And safety-conscious too. She laid her head on his shoulder. She’d just rest her eyes until they got to his place and then she’d feel refreshed and up for whatever Will was. Tea and paracetamol! Ha, she knew what his real agenda was! He really was lovely and smelt lovely too. She liked Jo Malone, they both loved comedy, liked coffee, they could share a packet of Wobbly Worms, they were a very good match, they were bound to be great in bed together. She just needed to conserve her energy for that bit.
    â€˜You okay?’ Will asked.
    â€˜Hmm,’ she murmured. ‘Lovely.’
    *  *  *
    â€˜Are you okay?’ Will was speaking