He shook his head, held up a glass of red wine. “Nah, I’ll sit this one out, thanks.”
She nodded and went to join Laura, who pulled Josie into a circle with Jess, Tom, John, and a guy she presumed must be John’s friend. “You’re married!” Josie shouted over the music, making Laura laugh and pull Josie in for a hug.
Then Laura moved Josie to arm’s length and held her there. “Why were you sat next to Rob?”
Josie raised her eyebrows. “You did the seating plan, not me.”
“You were supposed to be sitting next to Stuart!”
Josie frowned. “Stuart?”
“Yes.” Laura did a quick glance around, then pointed to the blond, tanned guy who was dancing with Bia, looking incredibly pleased with himself. “Him.”
Josie snorted. “Oops.”
Laura put her hands on her hips. “You and Bia must have sat the wrong way round.”
“Ah well, at least Bia’s happy. And it was still better than my dinner companion last night.” She gave Laura a meaningful look, and Laura grimaced.
“John’s uncle Graeme?” Josie nodded. “I’m so sorry, Jose, he literally left me no choice—he demanded to change table last-minute, and then had very specific requests on the type of person he wanted to be sitting next to, and John convinced me it’d be easier to just agree so Graeme didn’t cause problems during the actual dinner and, God, you don’t hate me for it, do you?” Laura sucked in a big breath, having apparently used up all her oxygen in that little speech. Josie got the impression Laura might be on her way to tipsy.
She shook her head, laughed. “Laura, relax, I’m kidding. I can’t even imagine how complicated it must be to pull something like this off—I’m hardly going to blame you for who I’m sitting next to.”
Laura wrinkled her nose. “I’m still sorry. It’s just, I knew you’d at least be able to handle him.” She let out a sigh, glanced across the tent. “And on the subject of handling yourself—I recognize that guy from somewhere. He’s the Christmas guy, isn’t he?”
Josie refused to let herself wince. Laura’s day, she reminded herself. She would not lament. “Yep,” she said easily. And then the song changed and everyone started dancing with more exuberance, effectively ending any conversations.
Josie danced with Laura for a bit, but when Erin came up to join John and a few others in a circle, all of them laughing and pulling each other round, she decided she’d made enough effort on the dance floor, so she grabbed her camera and snuck outside. She couldn’t see Bia anywhere, though she could hazard a guess at where she might be, she thought with a small smirk. She sighed as she walked away from the lights and chatter, looking around. She wanted to capture the castle under moonlight, to get a sense of what it must be like when it slept in the grounds. She walked with no real purpose, stopping here and there to take a photo, the sound of voices faded until all she could hear was the music. The castle was lit up now, a bright yellow-gold, showy and classy at the same time. She wanted to see if she could capture that.
She was standing by the lake, looking out at the moonlit water, when she heard soft footsteps behind her. She jumped and spun around, then sucked in a breath when she saw who it was.
“Sorry,” Max said quietly. “Didn’t mean to scare you.”
Had he meant to follow her, though? She shook the question away, even if the alcohol swirling in her brain was making her think he was far more attractive than he had any right to be, all Heathcliff-like at the edge of the water. But it had been nine months now, she told herself for the millionth time. No reason to think about how they’d been naked together. No reason at all.
“Bored of the party already?” she asked as he came up next to her, looking out across the lake instead of at him.
“Just fancied some air,” he said lightly. “You?” She lifted her camera in explanation. “Ah,” he said.
The music was distant now, but she could just about hear it—there was a pop song on, potentially Taylor Swift though she couldn’t be sure. The band were doing pretty well at alternating between Top 40s, cheesy classics, romantic classical, and Scottish jigs—something for everyone. A cool breeze kissed Josie’s bare shoulders and she shivered, just a little.
“You’re cold?” Josie looked over to see Max frowning, reaching up to take his jacket off for her.
She shook her head. “No, I like it. The breeze, the slight chill. There’s something nice and, I don’t know, real about it.” She cut herself off, wondering if that sounded stupid.