“Private terrace? You are spoiling me.”
“I know and no staff discount,” he replied earning himself a smack across the arm. “I didn’t realise you planned on dishing out the spanking as well as taking it,” he laughed leading her back into the bedroom.
They stopped when they reached the side of the bed and as Steph looked up at Jon he viewed her seriously before pushing her back onto the bed.
“What about the terrace and the bar?” asked Steph as Jon lowered himself over her.
“They can wait. I think I should relieve you of your status as a vestal virgin.” he told her before devouring her mouth with his.
Steph becameaware of a siren behind her and pulled over as far as she could to allow the ambulance to squeeze through the traffic.
Knowing she wasn’t going to be getting home any time soon, she called Jon.
“Hello darling, are you almost home?”
“No such luck. I have moved about fifty yards and an ambulance has just squeezed past so I could be here some time.” She thought that if she had gone into work on the tube she would have been home by now.
“If I hadn’t finished extra early you could have come home with me and probably missed it.”
“I was just thinking I may stick to public transport in the future, but I will not be travelling home with you and some of us work til the close of business every night,” she said seriously.
“You worry too much about other people’s thoughts and opinions,” he told her. “But use public transport if it makes you happy and for the record, I put more than the required hours in and you didn’t work til the close of business last Friday,” he chided. “In fact that really could be a disciplinary offence.”
“I do worry about what people think, but not too much, I don’t think,” she corrected him. “And as for my hours, I too put more than the required hours in, although my crazy boyfriend now forbids me to bring work home,” she said.
“I stand corrected. We both work very hard and your crazy boyfriend does indeed forbid you from bringing work home, but I still think you must be in breach of some disciplinary offence,” he said more darkly now.
“I’m sure I am.” The sudden urge to get home to him even sooner washed over her as her whole body seemed to come alive with sensation and anticipation at what may lie in store for her.
Another police car appeared in her rear view mirror with lights flashing and siren blaring causing her to refocus.
“That’s another police car so it must be major and I think I could be here a while, but I will be there as soon as I can. Have dinner without me if you’re hungry,” she suggested.
“I’ll wait for you, darling,” he replied making her smile.
“Okay, I will see you later.” Ending the call her thoughts returned once more to the wonderful weekend they’d shared.
It was actuallySaturday morning before they got as far as the private terrace, although with the champagne on ice the previous night they hadn’t needed the bar.
As Steph looked across from the terrace she couldn’t believe just how far the grounds stretched, gardens, lakes, woods, meadows and even a 13thcentury church. Jon had ordered breakfast to be served on the private terrace. They sat opposite each other wearing the very fluffy complementary robes and as Steph poured a second or third cup of tea she remembered the tastefully decorated floral wallet that Claude had given her the previous evening. She almost skipped into the bedroom and returned seconds later and retaking her seat, she pulled out the details within it and began reading the information out loud.
“Stone House Manor is a contemporary country house hotel nestled within the scenic Cotswold countryside surrounded by sixty-five acres of parkland, woods and meadows. The gardens feature several natural springs and a series of lakes,” she said to Jon’s amusement, but she ignored this and continued anyway.
“Since opening in 2002 it has won multiple awards for design and architecture, but with emphasis on comfort, service and relaxation Stone House Manor is the ideal place to unwind and indulge in the heart of the British countryside.”
“Darling are you putting together a sales pitch for this place? If you are I have a real bitch of an accountant you will need to get past first.” He smiled, arching a brow at her.
She scowled in return and continued, “The Garden Room is a popular space with views over the gardens and St Peter’sChurch. With a casual seating area, a dining table for up to twenty people. It is a popular space in spring and summer as a wedding venue.”
He looked up from the newspaper he was reading and smiled at her mischievously. “As proposals go Steph that is pretty lame.”
“Hardly,” she said instinctively bristling, but resisted the temptation to point out that he was already married so even if she was proposing he would be unable to marry her.
He stared at her and waited for further comment, but there was none to his surprise; no ‘you already have a wife’, or ‘Mrs Brooker may object to that’.
“Ooh, there’s a terrace too,” she said excitedly as she read from the literature again, “The Terrace runs along the length of the hotel and has extensive views of the gardens and beyond.”
“Are you going to read every detail out loud to me?” Jon smiled as he put his paper down onto the table.
