"What's that?" Grace looked quizzically at the drink he placed before her
"Diesel. It's lager, cider and blackcurrant. It's nicer than it sounds."
Grace shrugged her shoulders and took a swig. Rich copied her movements and looked at her over the rim of his glass.
"Not bad." Grace wiped her mouth carefully and placed the glass on the table. Rich did the same.
"Told you."
Rich cast an eye over her, she wasn't as metalled-up as the last time they'd been in the rhubarb but she still looked good, her hair was wild and curly and she was wearing a tight black t-shirt and jeans. He found he had to stop himself from staring.
"What?" Grace laughed a little.
"Nothing...just...you look really good. A bit of metal really suits you."
"Thanks. I thought the full metal styling was a bit over the top – it was just meant to make you sit up and pay attention." Grace grinned sheepishly
"It did that!" Rich took another swig."I couldn't believe that was you, you looked so..."
"So, what?" Grace picked up her drink again and turned to face him as she sipped.
Rich couldn't quite get the word out but something told him he really should say it, he took another big swig to buy himself sometime.
"Sexy." He finally managed
Grace's eyebrows shot up momentarily before she regained her composure.
"I didn't expect you to say that, I thought you'd say metal or cool or different or something."
"Well you did look all of those things; I guess that was what made you look so sexy."
"You're not really how I imagined you'd be, Rich." Grace absent-mindedly fiddled with the zip on his jacket sleeve.
"Yeah neither are you."
"I thought you came across as a bit of an arsehole."
"Oh cheers!"
Grace ignored him
"But I always thought you had a nice face, I wanted to like you, I wanted you to be nice under the bravado."
Rich opened his mouth to speak but thought better of it.
"That's why I thought I'd help you. I thought I'd be able to get closer to you and find out what you were really like."
Rich was staring into his drink by now; he was beginning to feel manipulated, as if what he was starting to feel for Grace was all part of her grand plan.
He realised then that Grace had stopped talking and was staring at him.
"What's wrong?" She placed her finger under his chin and turned his head towards her.
Rich smiled in spite of himself; he loved it when she did that.
"Nothing's wrong." He said. "I just wasn't sure what you were getting at."
"Oh right, I was rambling again." She giggled; her finger was still resting gently under his chin. Their faces were close now, Rich could smell her hair. His heart was pounding but he daren't move for fear of breaking the spell.
Grace moved in and pressed her lips gently against his. She moved back and studied him. He looked shocked."Fuck..." He whispered
Grace laughed and raked her fingers through her hair, nerves suddenly getting the better of her. She thought maybe she should let him take the lead but then noticing the dazed expression on Rich's face she made up her mind.
Grace moved back into him and sliding her arm around his neck she brought her lips to meet his again, licking his bottom lip slightly and slipping her tongue in his mouth when he gasped.
She felt Rich's arm snake around her waist, pulling her in to him as he finally came to his senses and kissed her back. His tongue was lapping against hers and his hand was trailing up and down her spine. She let out a soft moan and drew back slightly, kissing him gently a few more times before she sat back.
Rich looked shell-shocked and Grace wondered if he'd ever speak again. She licked her lips, really wanting to kiss him again but she had to know what he thought, whether he wanted her too.
He was a good kisser, or a quick learner, either way it had been good, it felt right to be there with him. He still had his arm around her and her leg was pressed up against his. She liked the warm feeling of him, the smell of his leather jacket and she particularly liked that all the bravado had gone. He didn't know how to deal with her now and she loved it.
Grace reached up and traced her fingers along his cheek.
"You ok?"
"Yeah," He whispered. "You just took me by surprise."
"I did?" Grace laughed again."I thought you would have seen it coming."
"Not really, things like that don't normally happen to me." Rich said, looking at the holes in his jeans.
"I don't see why not." Grace smiled
"Too weird." He shrugged
"Well you're not the one who went crowd surfing in a ballet outfit!"
Rich turned his head and burst out laughing, Grace giggled.
"You looked fucking amazing up there!" He squeezed her leg. "Mental, but fucking brilliant."
"Mental?" Grace raised an eyebrow
"Totally mental, I fucking loved it."
He leant in and kissed her again placing his hand in the small of her back as he did. Grace smiled against his lips.
"Same again?" He gestured to the two empty glasses sitting on the table in front of them.
"Yeah, thanks." He squeezed her hand and bounded over to the bar.
