Page 91 of Under Your Spell

‘You look…’ He trails off, his voice rusty.

‘Yeah. You too,’ I manage.

‘I can’t touch you,’ Theo says carefully. ‘Because if I touch you, I’m not going to be able to stop touching you, and I cannot be late for my sister’s rehearsal dinner.’ He pauses. ‘Right?’

There’s something hopeful in his voice that makes me laugh. ‘That’s right. They’re doing canapés and cocktails outside and we’re already late. They’ll be waiting for us and people will definitely notice you are missing. We should go.’

‘Okay,’ Theo sighs. ‘But later. Later I’m going to have a lot to say about you in this dress.’

‘I’m not going anywhere.’ I smile, feeling suddenly shy.

Theo’s throat bobs. He doesn’t say anything, just nods, then holds out his hand.

I slip my fingers into his and the two of us head out the door and downstairs in a fraught silence that seems only to lessen its grip slightly as we get further away from a bed and closer to civilization. By the time we hit reception I feel more like a human and less like a walking bag of uncontrolled hormones, but I’m still careful not to look directly at Theo in case I end up accidentally climbing him like a tree in front of his friends and family.

The place is much busier than it has been, with a few guests who have obviously driven up after work to check in to their rooms ahead of the dinner. I catch a glimpse of Cassandra, behind the desk, directing various staff members with an elegant wave of her hand like a virtuoso conductor, completely at her ease.

It’s a short walk around the side of the hotel to the patio where pre-dinner drinks are being served. Lisa said around fifty guests were joining us for dinner and to stay over tonight and then about the same again were coming tomorrow for the wedding. We join the crowd, walking across the gravel paths which are proving a challenge for those in spiky high heels. I have never mastered walking in high heels so today for once I actually feel quite smug in the pair of flat, gold sandals I picked up last summer in the supermarket. Sure, they might have cost £12 and be made out of plastic, but I’m not the one sinking into the driveway like I’m unsuccessfully traversing the Fire Swamp in The Princess Bride.

I start to feel the eyes on us, the people nudging one another, the whispers. Theo is wearing his sunglasses, but they’re not really a miraculous Clark Kent/Superman disguise transforming him in the eyes of strangers. Unsurprisingly, I was always way more into Clark than Superman. When I say this to Theo, he smiles.

‘Typical you to fancy the handsome nerd.’

I nod, trying to ignore the interested stares. ‘That is my type.’

‘Well, lucky for you I’m a handsome nerd who looks great in Spandex. So you don’t have to choose – the best of both worlds.’

‘You’re so full of yourself, Eliott.’ I bump him with my hip.

Of course, lots of people actually know him, and we stop often so that he can introduce me to friends or more distant family members. He’s polite, engaging, quick to smile, but I know him better now, know that he’s not as relaxed as he seems. I see the way his smile shows off his teeth, but not his dimple. I feel his hand tighten in mine, hear the way he talks – his words smooth as a pebble skipped across water, and I realize that for all the charm and warmth he exudes he doesn’t give himself to everyone. Not the way he does to the people he really cares about.

‘Excuse me.’ One of the guests approaches us nervously; she’s probably in her mid-thirties, wearing a spangled purple gown that looks like a grown-up prom dress. Cara was not lying about how dressed up people were getting: it’s like the Oscars red carpet out here.

‘I’m really sorry to bother you,’ she continues breathlessly. ‘I hope this isn’t really rude, but I’m such a big fan, I wondered if you would mind taking a picture with me?’

Theo smiles with his teeth again. ‘Of course,’ he says lightly, ‘that’s so nice of you to say. Are you a friend of Lisa’s?’

‘I actually work with Rob,’ the woman says. ‘They’re such a lovely couple.’

‘They are,’ Theo agrees.

‘I love your dress,’ I tell her. ‘Would you like me to take the picture for you?’

‘Oh, yes, thank you.’ She hands me her phone and I snap the photo. Theo literally looks like he’s stepped out the pages of GQ magazine; the woman’s smile is wide and disbelieving as he loops his arm around her shoulder.

When she thanks me again and wanders off with a dazed expression I realize that the floodgates have opened now, and there’s a small, awkward crowd surrounding Theo as each person plucks up the courage to approach him next.

Every time, Theo seems surprised, delighted, only too happy to meet them, but I can see the tension in his jaw, the way his eyes slide over to where Lisa and Rob are having their photos taken by the professional photographer, blissfully unaware. The relief he feels in that moment, that he’s not somehow stealing attention from her, is obvious.

‘Do you want to be in the photo?’ a younger guy asks at one point and I realize that he’s trying to work out if I’m someone worth meeting. After all, I am here with Theo.

‘Oh, no,’ I say awkwardly, ‘I’m just the photographer tonight.’

‘I think she might be that one from Game of Thrones,’ I hear him say to his friend as they lope away, and I stifle a giggle that borders on the hysterical.

‘You okay?’ Theo asks quietly, his hand resting on the small of my back. ‘I know these things are a lot…’

I look up at him, at the worried crease between his brows. ‘I’m good,’ I say, and it’s mostly the truth.