Oh, Jeez.
I clear my throat. “Right, I’ll just rinse this off, and then I’ll condition it for you.”
“Wonderful. Um, I mean, thanks.” There’s a pillow talk quality to her voice, but it seems to be making her self-conscious, so I decide to crack a joke to ease her tension.
“Going anywhere nice on your holidays?” I ask, putting on my best hairdresser voice, and it makes her laugh. Her eyes open, and for the millionth time in our lives, our gazes hook on each other’s, and it goes on for far too long for it to mean nothing.
So, once the shampoo is gone, I pick up the conditioner and run it along the thick, satiny wet lengths a bit slower than I was planning, enjoying the slip and slide of them through my fingers. Feeling bold, I step a little closer to her, not enough to touch her, but enough so that if she inched closer to me she’d feel the effect this is having on me.
Though, I think wryly when she ‘innocently’ rolls her shoulder and it brushes against my crotch, I must be some kind of fucking masochist. Because even that light touch sends a spine tingling throb through my cock, and makes me want more, and more, and still more. “Let it soak in for a bit, right?” I murmur, my voice husky.
“Y-yeah…”
I notice a tiny blob of conditioner on her neck. “Hold on, some escaped…” Running my finger gently over it to pick it up, I notice that her pulse is leaping, and she shivers a little at my touch.
So I do it again, craving the physical proof that I’m not alone in how badly I want this. A gruff little noise escapes from her throat, and she’s holding her breath again. I go further, running my thumb over her cheek in a way that cannot be dismissed as just friendly, because fuck this. Fuck all that time we’ve spent holding ourselves back. El’s right: we could have made it, Natand I, if we’d stayed together. The feelings have always been cast iron strong. We’ve been fools. Scared, overly cautiousfucking idiots. And it ends now.
“Tim, what - ” she whispers, and the pad of my thumb finds its way to her lips. They’re so soft and warm, and I feel like I’ll die if I don’t feel them under mine immediately, and if I don’t have them wrapped around my hard-on, stroking it up and down in her wet mouth, and… God, everywhere.
I lean closer. “God, I’ve missed you,” I whisper against her lips, the lightest touch…
“Dad!”
Nat pulls back.
“Dad, sorry, are you there?” To her credit, Eleanor does sound apologetic and awkward from the stairs. “I’ve got the hospital on the phone, and they need to talk to you.”
For a brief moment, I close my eyes. So close, and yet so far. “OK, princess,” I call back, and grab a towel to dry my hands and to hang down in front of me so I don’t traumatise my daughter with my bulging crotch. Nat has gone silent, and she doesn’t look at me as I leave the room. Shit, I hope this hasn’t set things back for her. We were so close.
“I was just washing your mum’s hair - can you rinse off the conditioner for her?” I make a show of drying my hands, for some reason, as El hands the phone over.
“Sure.” She gives me a rueful look, seemingly somehow aware of her shitty timing. Or rather, Foxton General’s.
“Mr Stewart?”
“Yes,” I say into the phone, reminding myself that they didn’t and wouldn’t have deliberately torpedoed my long awaited reunion with the woman I love.
“Hi, Nurse Pritchard from Ravenston Ward. We’ve found Miss Karas’s wallet under her bedside cupboard.”
“Oh.” Well, OK, I guess that’s a good enough reason to call, but did it have to be right then? “Thanks, we didn’t even know it was missing!”
“Oh, good, so you haven’t cancelled any cards!” I can hear Nurse Pritchard smiling. “Will you be able to pick it up today?”
“Uh, yeah, sure.”
“Great, I’ll leave it at the front desk for you. I’ll let them know to expect you.”
“Brilliant, thanks so much.”
I sigh, and look towards my room, where I can hear El chattering to Nat. If it hadn’t been for that call…what would be happening right now?Fuck. An ache of longing spreads through my chest at how close we got. I don’t know how I’m going to be able to recapture that moment, but I’ve got to.This isn’t over.Not by a long shot.
Especially considering what I have planned for her birthday next week.
Chapter 9
Now
Nat is 31, Tim is 30
