The next morning, I woke up slowly and in the warmth of Johns arms despite the bangings and shouts coming from downstairs. John must have woken up around the same time as his arms tensed around me as there came more bangs. From the nosies it sounded like the shop was open and looking over at the clock confirmed my suspicions. "What time is it?" John mumbled, not opening his eyes. "Just gone ten." I told him, burying myself back into his chest, expecting him to say he's got to get up. But he didn't, he just kissed the top of my hair and tightened his arms around me.
I let a few more moments pass before nudging John. "Come on, Tommy will have our heads if we are much later." I told him, placing kisses along his chest. "I told him I'm taking you out for the day. He's not expecting us." John replied. I pulled away from him to look up at his face. He was smiling. "You're taking me out?" I asked, a smile in my voice. He nodded. "Yeah, thought we could get away from the city for the day." he told me, trying to pull me back to him. "Where are we going?" I questioned, watching his face. "You're not going to let me go back to sleep, are you?" he laughed, kissing my nose. I shook my head, "Nope." I laughed. "Get dressed then, we will have some breakfast and we will go." he told me, still smiling.
I jumped out of bed, happily going over to my wardrobe and picking out a deep red dropped waist dress. It was the dress I wore when I had met John at the train station after the war. John watched as I placed the dress carefully over the back of my dressing table chair and go over to the drawers to get a clean slip and stockings. I knew I was making a show of it but I slowly dropped my nightdress to the floor and seductively pulled on my slip, letting it envelope my body. I had chosen one of my more expensive lacy ones for today.
By this point, John had sat up slightly in the bed, leaning on the headboard with his hands behind his head. I flashed him a smile as I placed one foot on the bed and slowly pulled my silky stockings up over my legs, clipping them into my suspender clips that hung on my slip. I had barely got the second one over my knee when John pulled me onto the bed, placing me on my back as he hovered over me and kissed me deeply. I welcomed the kiss, placing one hand on the back of his neck and the other on his side, pulling him into me.
Luckily, as John had moved the bedsheets had tangled around his waist as suddenly the door flung open. "Aunt Polly! They're having sex!" Finn shouted, even though I couldn't see him as John's arm was in the way, I knew his voice carried throughout the house. John reached over my head to grab a pillow and threw it towards the open door, causing Finn to run down the hall. "Could've shut the bloody door!" John shouted, getting off me to go and slam the door. I laughed at him, sitting up and pulling my stocking up the rest of the way. He came back over to me as I stood up, wrapping his arms around me and kissing me deeply. I pulled away after a few moments. "We will finish this later, Mr Shelby." I told him, looking up at him through my thick eyelashes. He was reluctant but let me go.
I slipped on the red dress over my head as John pulled on a clean pair of pinstripe trousers. I lifted my hair out of the way as he came and did the buttons up on my dress, I could still feel his excitement from earlier through his trousers on my back and he finished doing up my dress with a kiss on my neck. I let my curls drop around me as he went back to getting dressed and I sat at my dressing table. I gently brushed out my curls and by time I had done that, John was fully dressed in a three piece navy pinstripe suit and was smoothing down his hair. "I'll go down and make some breakfast." He told me, kissing my cheek and giving my shoulders a squeeze before leaving the room.
I quickly pinned up the top half of my hair, letting the majority of my dark curls fall around me, gently brushing the top of my exposed arms. I brushed a bit of mascara and kohl onto my eyes to make the green sparkle before applying a small amount of dusky rose rouge to my cheeks and lips. I finished off by dabbing a small amount of my (and Johns) favourite woody perfume onto my wrists, elbows and neck. I stepped into a pair of four inch black pumps to complete my outfit. I took one final look in the mirror before going downstairs.
When I reached the kitchen, it was empty. I walked to the shop doors to see John, Tommy and Arthur deep in conversation. Scudboat and Lovelock noticed me first, both sending out whistles in appreciation causing all three brothers and half the shop to look up. I laughed at them, shaking my head. They were used to the heels, being only 5 foot 4 I had to wear them to content with a nearly 6 foot John. However, the hair, makeup and nicer than normal dress was what got their attention. Johns face lit up when he saw me, giving me a broad smile. "You've got a right beauty there, John boy." Arthur said, clapping him on the back. "Go on, out. Take the car and go." Tommy told him, pushing him towards me.
John walked to me, cap in hand and still grinning. I gave Tommy and Arthur a wave as John shut the double doors before turning to me. "I made us a picnic to take with us." he told me, gesturing to the basket on the table. "You made a picnic?" I asked, eyebrow raised. "Alright, Polly may have helped but it was my idea." he admitted, wrapping his arms around my waist. I smiled up at him as he bent down to kiss me. It was a short and sweet kiss that made me tingle all over. I was still smiling when he pulled away and he was smiling back. "Come on." He said, releasing my waist and taking my hand. "We better be going." he pulled me towards the door, picking up the basket with his spare hand. We pulled on our coats at the door and he led me outside to the already waiting car.
We had been driving for just over an hour and we had left the city smoke far behind us. We drove in silence as we had both got bored very quickly of me trying to guess where we were going. I could tell John was starting to get annoyed as he threatened to gag me for the rest of the journey. I was tucked under John's arm as we drove, my hands in my lap and taking in the rolling scenery around us.
Suddenly, we came to a stop at the side of the road. I looked around, confused, before turning to John. "You haven't brought me here to murder me, have you?" I questioned. "I did think about it, but no." He laughed. I looked around again. There was a thick forest on one side of us and a big open field on the other. "I am really not wearing the shoes for this." I told him, sliding over to follow him out of the car. "You'll be alright. There's a path." he told me, picking up the picnic basket and taking my hand with the other. I looked up at him suspiciously but didn't say another word. He led me to a small gate that led towards the woods and pulled me through it, despite my protests.
We had only been walking for a few minutes when we came across a yard. There were stables down one side with a big riding paddock behind it. Three of the five stables were occupied and I couldn't help but go over and stroke the beautiful creatures. John had placed the basket on a nearby bench and joined me as a man approached us. He was an older gentleman, with graying beard and hair and lines from years of smiling.
He shook John's hand warmly as if they were old friends and my suspicion grew again. "Mr Everett, this is Evie." John introduced. I held out my hand and Mr Everett took it, placing a gently kiss on my knuckles. "It is a pleasure to meet you. Mr Shelby has told me so much about you." he told me, releasing my hand again. "Are these your horses, Mr Everett?" I asked, gesturing to the animals. He looked at John. "No, they're yours." John told me, putting an arm around me. I laughed at him. "Excuse me?" I said, looking up at him. "Tommy and I got them for you. You can come here and ride them anytime that you like. Mr Everett will look after them in your absence." he explained. I couldn't contain my excitement as I jumped on John, wrapping my arms around his neck and kissing his face. He laughed, wrapping his arms around my waist and squeezing slightly before letting me go. I turned back to the beautiful creatures, still smiling. "What are they called?" I asked, "You can call them what you wish, Miss Evie." Mr Everett told me, lovingly stroking the dark brown thoroughbred closest to him.
"While you think about it, I want to show you something else." John told me, taking my hand and gently pulling me away from the horses. We excused ourselves from Mr Everett and I let John pull me back towards the path. We continued on the path for a few more minutes before we reached a run down cottage. The garden was overgrown and the building was missing some windows but it looked like it was once a magnificent place. I wanted to stop and take it all in but John pulled me towards the cottage, still smiling.
He stopped me outside the front door, finally giving me chance to look properly. "This is a beautiful place, John." I told him, slowly circling to take in the size of the garden. John stopped me once I had turned back round to face him, placing his hands on my waist. I smiled up at him and placed my hands on his forearms. "It's ours." he told me. "Excuse me?" I said, shocked. "It's ours. I know it needs a lot of work but we don't need it yet. It can be our project." he responded, a small but nervous smile on his face.
I turned so he was behind me and the cottage was in front of me. With John's arms still around my waist, I leant my head back into his chest, resting there at looking at the house in front of us. Our house. "Do you like it?" he whispered. "I love it." I whispered back.
A/N What did you think of some cute John/Evie? Let me know what you think is going to happen next!