Roxy was wagging her tail furiously, letting out soft barks when I was clearly too slow at opening up the door.
The second I did, she was off like a rocket.
The place we were staying was in the middle of thick, dense wood. Tall pines towered on all sides and the sweet scent of dew hung in the air. I came around the side of the car to see where Roxy had shot off too and found George standing, hands in his pockets, head tipped back, eyes closed.
He looked… at ease.
‘You love it out here, don’t you?’ I sidled up to him, keeping an inch of space between us.
George slowly looked down at me. Something terrifying and beautiful hiding behind those eyes. ‘Never been here before.’
I elbowed him gently in the ribs. ‘I meantoutside.’
He chuckled, and my damn brain immediately recalled how that same low laugh had echoed down the phone last night. ‘Yeah, you don’t get this kind of peace in the city.’ He took a deep, cleansing breath.
We lapsed into silence as we watched Roxy sniff and mark her scent on every tree she found. Running all over the place like she’d never been this happy.
I jolted when a warm hand fell to the small of my back. George had snuck closer and, without giving me a chance to think, he pressed a kiss to my temple.
‘Let’s get the stuff inside. Fallon texted saying they were an hour away.’ He walked past me to the boot, starting to unload all of our stuff.
My fingers touched the spot he’d so casually kissed.
It took longerthan I’d anticipated to get everything inside and set up.
The place was beautiful. A mixture of rustic cabin, and luxury retreat. A log fire was tucked away in one corner. Soft, plush sofas crowding around it to complete the cosy vibe. Since we were technically in a treehouse, we had to walk over a few bridges to get to our particular cabin. A hot tub sat outside, looking out into the forest and giving the perfect backdrop. I had no idea how Fallon found this place, but it was incredible.
George had already put our suitcases away, put the cake in the fridge and was sitting on the sofa, blowing up balloons and grumbling.
‘I already told you I’m sorry. I didn’t do it on purpose.’ I smothered a laugh, watching his face get redder by the second as he blew up his eleventh balloon. Eleven out of thirty-four.
Which wouldn’t have been a problem if I’d remembered to bring the pump. But in the rush of leaving, and George’shabit of taking away my ability to think coherently, I’d left it sitting on my kitchen counter.
‘I’m not sure I believe you. It’s the perfect murder plan, death by exhaustion.’ He scowled at me before taking a huge breath and blowing it into the balloon.
‘I have no desire to kill you.’ I paused, as if genuinely mulling it over. ‘Not yet anyway.’
He did his best to glare, but I saw the corner of his mouth twitch.
I tugged out the banner from the box, the last thing we needed to hang before the place was finished. It already looked like a circus had thrown up in here. A small part of me revelled in the fact that Oliver would hate all of this attention.
‘Why does your brother hate his birthday?’ I asked as I unravelled theHappy Birthday Oliversign.
George took some deep breaths and tied off the end of the balloon, batting it away more violently than strictly necessary.
‘I don’t think he does, not really. But he gets so much attention on all other aspects of his life. People are always looking at him, I think when it comes to his birthday he’s sort of over it.’
‘Do you like your birthday?’ I grabbed a chair from the dining table and pushed it up against the wall. George eyed what I was doing and abandoned his balloons to come striding across the room.
‘What are you doing?’ The frown on his face shouldn’t have been sexy. And I shouldn’t have got such a thrill out of being the one to put it there. But here we were.
‘Putting the banner up.’
‘Let me do that.’ He lifted one end of the paper, ready to tug it from my grasp.
I tightened my grip. ‘I’m not incapable, you know. Plus,you’re on balloon duty. I’d hate to cause even more strife to you.’ My eyelashes fluttered as I spoke, earning me a deeper frown.
‘Rosie, give me the banner.’ His voice dipped low in warning.
