‘Do call me Alec.’
Suzanne smiled and nodded.
Alec Marshall turned to Raine. ‘I must say I wouldn’t have put you down as sisters … and it’s not just the hair colour.’
Raine sucked in her breath. She knew he was having a dig at her.
Without pausing, he added, ‘So now we’ve been officially introduced, perhaps I’ll have the pleasure of a dance with both of you.’ A smile hovered over his lips, then became a delighted grin. ‘You know something, Raine? I’ve seen you before.’
‘I can’t imagine where.’ She glared at him. ‘And by the way, only people close to me use my nickname.’
She felt Suzanne give her a sly kick under the table but took no notice. How dare he be so familiar.
‘Oh, so-rry,’ he said, bowing his head in mock subservience. He looked up. ‘I completely forgot my manners. Do forgive me, Miss Crosspatch.’
She wouldn’t lower herself to answer, though she kept her eyes on him. He was too attractive for his own good. He held her gaze, causing her pulse to quicken. Why was she being so prickly with him? After all, he was right. She’d seen him, too. Well, she wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction that she’d realised who he was.
He suddenly tapped his head. ‘I’ve got it! You were the kid at Biggin Hill. You caused quite a stir with the chaps when one of them told us you were learning to fly.’
She shook her head, pretending to recollect when and where it could possibly have been.
‘How soon we forget.’ He gave her a half-mocking smile. ‘It was when we delivered the new Hurricanes that time – before the war even started. It was you, I’m sure, and if you gave me a little smile now as you did then, I’d know definitely.’
Yes, she had smiled back at him that day. Now, she would die before she gave him another.
‘You saw me coming over to talk to you, but the chaps called me back. And it wasn’t anything that couldn’t have waited. But by the time I came to look for you, you’d vanished. I asked who you were, but no one knew your name, only that they thought you were one of the clerks. I kept hoping we might run into each other one day – and here we are.’ He grinned then took a deep swallow of his beer without taking his eyes off her.
She hesitated as though she was thinking. ‘Yes, I do remember the Hurricanes being delivered,’ she said after some deliberation, ‘but I can’t say any one of the pilots caught my attention.’
Alec Marshall drained his glass. ‘You know, if you weren’t so prickly, Lorraine, I’d ask you to dance. But if I did, I’d be worried you’d pierce my heart with one of your barbs.’
‘That is, if you have a heart.’ She sent him a steely look.
‘Raine, stop being so horrible,’ Suzanne said, tapping her sister’s arm. ‘It’s not like you.’
At that moment, the music changed from another jazzy piece to a slow foxtrot. It was ‘Moonlight Serenade’ – one Raine particularly loved. If she hadn’t been so cutting with Alec he might have—
‘May I have the pleasure?’
A well-built boy about her own age in a smart suit stood in front of Raine with a hesitant smile. Without a backward glance she nodded and rose, following him onto the floor, feeling Alec’s eyes boring into her back. Her partner put an arm around her waist and took her hand in his.
A minute later she wished she hadn’t been so keen. His hand became sweaty as he lowered his head, watching his feet and muttering in her ear, ‘Slow, slow, quick, quick, slow.’
Raine knew she was a good dancer. She’d enjoyed learning at school and nothing would have given her greater pleasure than to glide around the dance floor with a partner who knew what he was doing. Unfortunately, this poor boy didn’t.
‘I’m sorry,’ he said as he stepped on her foot for the second time.
‘It’s all right,’ she said, not wanting to make him even more nervous.
After the band finished that particular piece, she made her excuses and walked back to her seat. The lovey-dovey couple had vanished and the two other chairs were empty. Presumably, Suzy was dancing with Alec Marshall. Well, her sister was welcome to his charms.
She picked up her glass and took a few sips of lemonade, irritated that he’d bought the drinks. The liquid soothed her hot, dry throat. She drank some more while scanning the dance floor. Yes, there they were, making a striking couple with Suzanne’s gleaming blonde head resting on his shoulder. She could tell he was an accomplished dancer by the way he was holding her, taking the lead, his movements fluid and practised. She felt a trickle of envy as he bent his head to say something. Suzanne laughed and Raine cringed at the thought they were laughing at her. Then she told herself off. Of course they weren’t. Suzanne would never do that. But the thought didn’t make her feel any better towards Alec Marshall. He was a conceited oaf and she hoped to God she wouldn’t bump into him again.
‘May I have this dance?’
A smiling man in uniform stood in front of her.
‘You may.’
Raine rose to her feet and soon she was on the dance floor again, chatting to this very pleasant officer. But her thoughts were elsewhere. And she couldn’t help looking over his shoulder every few moments – just to check her sister was all right, she told herself.
‘Is anything wrong?’ Suzanne asked as she and Raine were on the last bus back to Downe.
‘What on earth makes you say that?’ Raine said, inwardly battling with her annoyance at the whole evening.
It hadn’t been as much fun as she’d thought. None of her partners had been good dancers.
‘Because you’ve barely spoken since I danced with Alec.’
‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’
‘Oh, I think you do.’ Suzanne looked serious. ‘And something else. I think you have met him before but won’t admit it.’
‘What makes you think that?’
‘Because underneath it all you find him attractive but you won’t admit that either, so you’re trying to have the upper hand and put him in his place. But you’ve picked the wrong one. He’s more than a match for you.’
Raine was silent.
‘And when I happened to mention you were a qualified pilot—’
‘You didn’t!’ Raine interrupted. ‘I don’t want him to know my business.’
‘Why? He’s really nice when you get to know him.’
‘Well, you should know. You had enough dances with him.’
Suzanne’s eyes clouded. ‘Don’t be so dog-in-the-manger, Raine.
