The Mersey Daughter (Empire Street #3)(105)
Rita didn’t reply, just gazed up at him hungrily, and he brought his head down to hers and kissed her slowly and then with more passion, until they were leaning against the wall of the alley like the couple of teenagers they had been the first time they’d realised how they felt about one another. ‘Oh, I could …’ Rita shuddered in anticipation. What with her injuries when he’d last been home and him getting leave from only the day before the wedding, they had not had the chance to make love all the time they’d been engaged, with her a free woman desperate to make up for all those years they’d been apart. ‘I want you so badly, Jack Callaghan, and I’m not ashamed to say so.’
‘I should hope so too, now you’re my wife.’ He kissed her again, more gently this time. ‘But we’ve got all the time in the world now. We’ll wait a few more hours and then I can show you how much I love you in style.’
‘In style? What, have we got the room above the Sailor’s Rest?’ she asked. ‘No, it’ll be Bent-nose Jake’s, won’t it? Somewhere really classy.’ She laughed, sure that they’d be spending their first night together in Jack’s old room on Empire Street.
‘Even better.’ He couldn’t keep the delight from his voice. ‘Nothing but the best for you, Mrs Callaghan. We’re going to the Adelphi.’
‘What? Really? Jack, do you mean it?’ Rita almost let go of him in surprise. She’d never been into the hotel in all of her life. She’d heard all about it from Nancy and wondered at who would actually go to stay there in such opulence. She couldn’t believe it might be her.
‘Of course.’ He held her tightly again. ‘I love my old house, but I didn’t want us to spend our first proper night together with Tommy and Danny on the other side of the wall, or at yours with Ruby and the kids able to listen to everything. Why not treat ourselves? You’re the most beautiful woman in the world – why wouldn’t you want to spend the first night of our marriage in Liverpool’s finest? The perfect place for you, I’d say.’
‘Oh, Jack.’ She was speechless with love for this man. He would do anything for her, she’d known that for a very long time, but for him to have taken the trouble of such an extravagant gesture, such a luxurious treat – words could not describe her wonder at all she had to learn from him. ‘Jack,’ she said very quietly, ‘just stay alive, won’t you? I never, ever want to lose you.’ Suddenly she wanted to cry at the enormity of what losing him would be like.
‘You don’t get rid of me that easily,’ he said, holding her so passionately that they could barely breathe. ‘Now that I’ve got you, I’m never letting you go. The thought of you will always keep me safe and bring me home.’ He rubbed his face against her hair and then smoothed it back. ‘Come on, let’s get back to the party. We’re so lucky, you and I. There’s all those people come to wish us well and make sure we’re happy.’
Rita let him take her hand and lead her back to the front door. ‘We are lucky, Jack. We’re lucky because we found each other and we don’t have to hide it any more. Jack Callaghan, I love you to the ends of the earth and I’m the luckiest, luckiest woman alive.’