Her heart was thudding so hard she was sure he must be able to feel every beat. She hoped her reaction wasn’t obvious. She didn’t want to give their parents any more fodder for their gossip.
“I don’t suppose you feel like getting out of here?” His voice was rough and soft. “I’m finding the scrutiny a little wearing. I’m sure you are too.”
She glanced across the room and saw her grandmother and Audrey watching them.
And she had a feeling that this time she’d really given them something to talk about. They’d probably been able to feel the heat and chemistry from across the room.
Over by the door her mother was in deep conversation with her father, both of them smiling, as if they were celebrating something.
Were they talking about her? Thinking about her? Planning her future?
She wasn’t looking forward to the conversations that were no doubt going to come her way.
“You’re right, we should get out of here. Should we tell people we’re leaving?”
“No.” His answer was clipped. Brief. As if other people were the last thing on his mind. Without letting go of her hand, he led her out of the room to the stairs and this time she didn’t look left or right because she didn’t want to know who was watching them leave or imagine the level of speculation.
And anyway now she had something else to think about, something more immediate and pressing. Sharing a room.
She kept telling herself that this was no different from the night before, when they’d shared a bed in the hotel. But it felt different. It felt as if everything had ratcheted up several notches.
Earlier in the day when she’d been unpacking and wrapping presents, Will had disappeared home for an hour and returned with a small suitcase which he’d stowed in her bedroom. She stared at that case while she was getting ready for the party, its presence in her bedroom a glaring reminder of the mess she’d managed to create.
And she no longer knew what was fake and what was real, and she truly had no idea how Will was feeling so when they reached the door of her bedroom she stopped.
The moment they stepped through that doorway the pretence would end. No more dancing. No more long looks. No more people watching. Stepping through the door meant stepping back into reality. Which was maybe why she hesitated.
She had her hand on the door handle when she heard voices on the stairs.
Before she even had time to react, Will turned her to facehim, slid his hand behind her head and lowered his mouth to hers.
Excitement engulfed her in a whoosh, and she melted against him, grateful to whoever it was who had chosen to use the stairs at that moment.
She heard the slam of a door in the distance and understood dimly that he was doing this for someone else’s benefit, but she didn’t care about that. She only cared that he was kissing her again and that it felt every bit as good as it had the first time.
She clung to the front of his shirt and he nudged her gently into the bedroom and shouldered the door closed behind them.
She expected him to immediately release her, but he didn’t. He kept kissing her, his hand in her hair, locking her mouth against his and she thought that if all she did for the rest of her life was kiss Will then it would have been a life well spent.
He shifted his hold on her and she wrapped her arms around his neck, off balance both physically and emotionally. She’d learned how to keep her emotions and senses under control, locked inside, but now there was no containing them.
But then she remembered that he was doing this for her. To help her out.
Harnessing all her willpower she eased her mouth away from his.
“Do you think they’ve put a camera in this room? Are they watching through the keyhole?”
“I don’t know, and I don’t care.”
She closed her eyes as his mouth brushed the tender skin of her jaw and then her neck. “All I’m saying is, you don’t have to do this.”
He paused long enough to speak. “Do I look as if I’m being coerced?”
“Will—”
“Forget them, Becks. Forget all of them. What do you want?Should we stop?” His mouth was so close to hers she couldn’t focus. “Is that what you want?”
He was asking her to make a choice. To decide. No more acting. No more fake.
