Final.
It hit so hard I felt like someone had come in and stomped right on my chest, fuck. Had a bit of sense made him re-evaluate me?
My mind spiralled into a thousand terrible thoughts. Had it only been sex? If so, Henry deserved a bloody Oscar. Had I been too needy? Did his family decide that he needed someone more fitting? Had I made it weird?
I ruined it. He’d changed his mind. Of course, he’d changed his mind, you absolute twat-faced bell end.
I was halfway into a full, catastrophic spiral when someone knocked at the front door.
A sharp, manly knock.
I froze. Megan appeared from the kitchen, eyebrows raised, and brandishing a wooden spoon like a weapon.
‘You expecting someone?’
I shook my head. My legs felt detached from the rest of me as I followed Megan down the hallway. The knock came again, more insistent.
I opened the door.
And Henry stood there, a mop of blond curls whipped up by the wind.
He was dusted in snow, flakes caught in the mess of his hair. There was a bag slung over his shoulder, like he wasn’t just making a pit stop.
‘You can’t visit.’ His voice was low and a little breathless.
My brain hadn’t caught up. ‘What?’
He stepped closer, snow crunching beneath his boots.
‘You can’t visitme,’ he repeated, ’because I’m not home.’
The words slid into place at once, my heart lurching.
He came to me.
Before I could form another thought, he dropped his bag and cupped my face in both hands. I didn’t care an ounce that his fingers were ice cold. The touch was so familiar and so wanted, I all but melted the moment he touched me.
Then he kissed me.
It wasn’t rushed or frantic; it was slow and certain, like he’d been craving the moment just as badly as me. I held onto the fabric of his snow-dusted coat lest I float away.
When he finally pulled back, his forehead pressed against mine, and we were both breathing as if we’d just finished a marathon.
I managed a whisper. ‘How did you find me?’
He brushed his thumb along my cheek as if he couldn’t help touching me. ‘When you obsess enough over someone, there’s always a way.’
My eyebrows creased, my heart was thudding so loudly I was sure he could hear it.
‘Henry…’
He grinned, sheepish and proud all at once. ‘Alright. Lady L had your Edinburgh address on one of your invoices. She told me not to misuse it. So I immediately disobeyed.’
‘You drove all the way from Otterleigh Bay?’
Through snow and ice. And I’d do it all again for one god damned kiss. Although I’m really hoping you’ll let me in.’
The pleasure that whisked through me had me tugging him inside. I’d spent so long pretending I didn’t need anyone that I’d not seen the woods for the trees.
