Page 94 of Snowed In with You

‘Fine, then you can do all my social. Write all the funny little captions for my TikTok.’

Lucy laughed and shook her head. ‘That’s not a real job.’

‘You’re right, it’s not.’ He shrugged. ‘Maybe you can just have an adventure with me for a few weeks?’

‘What about my job?’

‘You’ve quit your job. Sasha told me.’

‘Shit,’ said Lucy, rolling her eyes. ‘I forgot you have family spies.’

‘Do you have something new lined up yet?’

‘Not quite, but I’m working on it. I’ve been thinking about taking the rest of this year off, actually. Doing some freelance stuff and starting something new in January.’

‘Well, then,’ said Nate. ‘Maybe it’s perfect timing.’

‘Maybe,’ said Lucy, knowing that she’d go to the ends of the earth for this man right now, but not wanting to make all the decisions at once. Chemistry and timing.

‘Look, I’d just love for us to spend some time together. Just think about it, OK?’

‘I will,’ said Lucy, giving him a final kiss and extracting herself from his arms so they could both stand up.

‘I need to get back on stage. You can watch from the mezzanine with Alex and Willem. They’re both here. And some other people you know too.’

Eek, Sasha’s here, thought Lucy, wondering if she already knew that Lucy had broken her promise and was in the building. Maybe she would steer clear for now.

‘I should get back to Jonno. He’s in the bar with a bunch of teenage girls. He’s giving me a lift back to Bristol.’

‘Take him up too, I’ll get one of my people to show you the way. You’re staying for the second half, right?’

‘I hadn’t planned to,’ said Lucy awkwardly. ‘For Jonno’s sake, really. He’s gone above and beyond today, and he’s got a really early start tomorrow. Is that bad?’

‘I’d like you to stay, if you can,’ said Nate. ‘I added a couple of new songs to the set tonight, just for you.’

Lucy looked confused. ‘How did you know I’d be here?’

‘I didn’t,’ said Nate. ‘I asked Alex to film your songs for YouTube, they’re being uploaded tomorrow. So I knew you’d see them; I just wasn’t expecting you to be here in person.’

‘Well, I’ll stay, then. How will I know which songs?’

Nate smiled. ‘You’ll know.’

‘It’s just for another hour,’ said Lucy, following a harried woman in a radio headset up the stairs to the mezzanine that overlooked the main floor and the stage. ‘I’m really sorry.’

‘It’s fine,’ said Jonno, emerging onto a balcony with a neon-lit private bar and tables laden with buffet food. They were directly above where they’d stood with their banner, and it afforded a stunning view of the stage. ‘This is much more like it.’

‘Lucy!’ said a familiar voice, and before she could look up she was yanked into a hug by Willem. Lucy looked over her shoulder to see Sasha’s head whip round in her direction.

‘Lovely to see you,’ said Lucy to Willem. ‘This is my friend Jonno, can you both give me a moment?’ She extracted herself from Willem’s grasp and headed in the direction of Sasha’s steely glare.

‘You couldn’t wait until the end of the show, then?’ said Sasha coolly.

‘No, not really,’ said Lucy. ‘But I did manage to hold out for this long, so hopefully that counts for something.’

‘It does,’ said Sasha. ‘Have you seen Nate?’

‘Yes.’