‘Half five, to be accurate,’ Jess said, pulling on her pyjamas and then a woolly jumper.
Sebastian levered himself onto his elbows. ‘You don’t need any help in the kitchen?’
Jess stifled a laugh. ‘After your exhibition of culinary expertise last night?’
‘No, fair enough. That’s a good point.’
She leant over to kiss him. ‘It wasn’t a total bust, though, was it?’
‘Best night of my life,’ he said, frowning at his own words as he gazed at her.
Jess wasn’t sure how she stopped herself from saying ‘me too’, orwhyshe stopped herself, except that a question was pricking at the back of her thoughts. It was a question she should ignore, but now it had made its presence felt Jess knew she just had to come out and say it.
‘That’s a bold statement,’ she said, shimmying closer to him. ‘Are you sure you mean it?’
‘Of course I do.’ His hands strayed across her body again. ‘Best. Night. Ever.’
Jess should take the compliment and run with it; now was absolutely not the time to allow anyone else to invade her thoughts.
‘But there must have been plenty of others,’ she said, before she could stop herself. ‘Like Catriona, for example?’
She was looking for reassurance, she knew there was nothing more to it than that, but all she’d managed to do was muddy the previously clear waters of a fantastic night with Sebastian. He pushed away from her and sat up against a pillow.
‘Why would you want to talk about past relationships right now? That’s ancient history.’ He shook his head. ‘Last thing I want to think about is the past, Jess, when what Ireallywant to do is live in the present.’ He gave her cheeky grin full of innuendo.
It should have been a good-enough answer. He tried to pull her close again, and as she gently extracted herself from his eager grasp and padded from her room, she knew it was a decent reply. It had been ten years. There must have been others in the meantime – why wasn’t she worried about them? Surely, if he was going to rekindle a relationship with Catriona, he would have done so by now – logic suggested as much. Jess took a breath, understanding in that moment why it was niggling at her so much. She had thought it was Kirkshield which had managed to steal her heart over the past few weeks, but last night with Sebastian had been magical in a way Jess couldn’t put into words.
They had tag-teamed her, or at least that was how it felt. If it wasn’t the place softening her up, squeezing its way into her heart, it was the man. It was as though they’d taken it in turns, working in tandem to create a perfect storm, an environment in which Jess felt everything in technicolour, with an intensity she’d never experienced before.
She thought she’d known what falling in love felt like. But she couldn’t have. Because she hadn’t ever felt like this: like everything could either work out perfectly, or her life would end, and it all hung on the crash of a wave. The sensation was terrifying and incredible, all at the same time.
Footsteps pattered in the opposite direction and Jess froze, heart rate spiking at the unexpected noise. A rustling sound preceded Freddie and Karl, both dragging pillowcases half-filled with lumpy shapes as they tiptoed into the corridor.
‘Jess!’ Karl’s stage-whisper was enough to wake the house.
Freddie hushed him, then studied her. Eventually, he pointed at the bags. ‘TheChristkindmanaged to find us, Jess. We were going to tell Mummy and Daddy the letters worked. Even though we sent them up the chimney at home, theChristkindbrought our presents all the way here for us.’
Jess presumed they were talking about Father Christmas – or at least the Austrian version – and so she smiled and nodded.
‘But then we saw the clock was still only the number five and so we thought we’d tell you instead.’
Jess laughed. ‘Happy Christmas, boys. Do you want an early-morning snack before you go to your parents’ room?’ she said, leading the way into the kitchen as they nodded, thumping and thudding their Christmas hauls behind them.
Dee emerged from her room early, well before Christmas daylight had any intention of peeking from between snow-heavy clouds, and was surprised to see Sebastian climbing the final few treads of the staircase. Even more surprising was the fact he was dressed as though he’d returned from a ball: carriages at three, bow-tie askew and hair mussed after an exhausting night of partying. But that didn’t make any sense, because Sebastian had chosen to remain behind, in the castle, when the rest of the family had gone out for supper.
As he noticed her, colour flushed his cheeks, and she saw the buttons on his shirt were misaligned. He looked tired – no, it was more than that – he looked contently exhausted, like he hadn’t had enough sleep but couldn’t care less.
‘Did you go out after all, last night?’ she asked, although the answer hit her between the eyes even as she asked the question.
‘No. Felt like dressing up a bit, for …’ He swallowed. ‘Um, anyway – Happy Christmas, Mother. I’d better go and …’
He might be her only son, but Dee knew enough about boys to recognise the expression. Her son had spent the night with a woman. Dee frowned, her early-morning brain taking a while to wrap itself around the obvious conclusion. He’d spent the night with Jess. There wasn’t anyone else.
Dee took in a breath as Sebastian tried to sidle past her. His bow-tie slid from his fingers, dropping like a discarded ribbon and, as he stooped to pick it up, she shook her head. It was almost impossible for her not to be reminded of Henry, the same expression she’d seen so many times on her husband’s face writ large across her son’s. It was too much.
‘With the housekeeper?’ she said, her words as spiky as cactus thorns.
‘With Jess, yes. She’s … I think she’s very special.’
