Goodness, he’s a quick mover, she thought hazily, she hadn’t seen that one coming. Were they literally about to go from enemies to lovers? Instead of the kiss she was longing for, he draped the shirt around her shoulders and scooped her into his arms. Being this close to the bare chest she’d been dreaming about for weeks was not conducive to sensible thought and it was all she could do to keep her head off his shoulder.
‘That’s not helping,’ she muttered as he marched into the kitchen. ‘You taking your shirt off.’
‘It’s helping me,’ he said flatly. ‘And you’re going to feel like hell tomorrow.’
‘I don’t care.’ Being held by him was making her body tingle even more than the champagne had. ‘You’re very warm.’ She giggled, her head falling onto his shoulder as he climbed the stairs.
Gil shoved her bedroom door open and deposited her gently on the bed. ‘I’ll bring you some water. You should get those wet things off.’
He closed the door, and it took her a couple of shaky attempts to get his shirt off beneath the ceiling that seemed to have started spinning. She threw it to the floor, her wet bra and knickers following. When the knock came, she let out a squeal and hauled the duvet to her chin.
‘Can I come in? I’ve brought you some stuff.’
‘Okay.’ She couldn’t look at him as he placed a glass beside her bed.
‘Water, paracetamol and chocolate,’ he said, already backing away and bending to pick up his shirt, discarded amongst her underwear. So now he knew she was naked beneath the duvet and her cheeks were scarlet.
‘Make sure you take all of it before you go to sleep, it’ll help keep the hypoglycaemia at bay.’
‘Thank you.’ Her voice was small and at the door he paused, staring at her with those impassive blue eyes.
‘You’re welcome,’ he said softly. ‘You want to know why I didn’t join you in the garden, Pippa? Because I have no idea what I’m going to do about being completely crazy for the woman who’s going to evict me. And the only reason I’m even saying this is because you won’t remember a word of it tomorrow. Get some sleep, you’re gonna need it.’
Chapter Twenty
Oh dear gosh, what was going on in her head? Pippa groaned, clutching it with both hands to see if she could hold it steady, not daring to move any other part of her body. A replay of dancing in the garden and whipping off her dress in front of Gil before he carried her up to bed was like a horror movie on a loop in her mind.
She moaned, gingerly turning her head to see that she’d not quite finished the pint of water he’d brought her last night. She inched towards it and, holding the glass, eased into a sitting position. The sight of her underwear on the floor wasn’t helpful. The metaphor was all wrong, as though those two abandoned items were suggesting something she wanted and yet had never taken place.
Even with a blinding headache she knew he’d been wrong about one thing: she remembered every word from last night. She whimpered again as she returned the glass and covered her face with trembling hands, as though that would be enough to erase her embarrassment. She couldn’t forget his arms tight around her, his wet shirt draped over her, bare skin against bare skin. His discomfort in her room, the confession he’d refused to give her until right before he’d left and burned those final words on her heart.
And as much as she wanted to, she couldn’t stay in bed indefinitely, she was due in the surgery, and it would take Gil twice as long to process clients without her. She tentatively swung her legs out of bed, pulling a face at the irony of worrying about him coping on his own. She managed to avoid the dressing table mirror and the three hungover versions of herself; she already had a picture in her mind and was more than happy to avoid the reality.
Even the dodgy shower felt heavenly and downstairs she was relieved to find Lola and Gil already gone. He’d scrawled a note to say he’d fed Maud and let her out as well. Pippa forced down a piece of toast with tea before tottering across the yard to take care of Posy. Dancing in the rain might have lifted her mood but now she ached all over and her head still felt as though footballs were being booted around inside it. After Posy had finished breakfast, Pippa put her headcollar on and led her to the paddock, Maud skipping beside her. She’d deal with the dirty bed in the stable later, she simply couldn’t face it right now.
She was in the kitchen at the vets, trying to remember how the coffee machine worked, when she heard Gil’s consulting room door open. She was hyper aware of every sound, his approaching presence was a tremor on her skin, the punch in her pulse and bright colour stinging her face. She greeted Lola cautiously, unable to bend any lower without setting off a rocket in her head.
‘Morning. Looks like a full list.’ His voice was steady, but she couldn’t even look at him, not yet. ‘You okay?’
‘Mmm.’ Pippa gulped, battling to keep this practical, professional, but there was only one thing she wanted,needed, to know.
‘I just picked up a call. Got a collie coming in with a gash on its leg. I said I’d see them first. That okay with you?’
‘Of course,’ she said. ‘Coffee?’
‘Please.’
Dare she ask, find out the truth of his words in her room last night? What if he laughed it off and told her he hadn’t meant any of it? But better that and knowing than always wondering. She was aware of him beside her, putting car keys down, one hand close to hers. Her mind caught again on him covering her to protect what little modesty she’d had left, the brush of his bare chest against hers, and she couldn’t wait another minute.
‘Did you mean it?’ Her voice was hollow, emptied of everything but desire to know the truth.
‘About the coffee?’ Gil’s quick laugh seemed forced. ‘Totally.’
‘Not that.’ Pippa drew in a deep breath, summoning her courage. ‘What you said last night. Right before you left my room.’
Her question became more weighted with every second crawling by. She tried to brace herself, physically as well as emotionally, for his brush off. Ready for him to laugh again, tell her she was a fool and of course he hadn’t meant it.
‘Pippa…’
