“Scott, remember I have a choice here too. I have never wanted to even kiss Jake. Although I spent fourteen years not wanting to kiss you either. And you still have me. You’ve had me most nights this week.”
He had been with her most nights, spending a good portion of each evening inside her, filling her up, making her come. He’d woken in the morning with their bodies intertwined and then he’d had her again. Or she’d had him – however you wanted to phrase it. The trees shivered with the breeze and he noticed she looked pale. “It’s not that warm out here. And you said you were hungry. I’ll walk you back to the distillery.”
“I can walk myself.”
He shook his head. “There’s at least a couple of idiots about. I’ll feel better if you’re not here on your own. You don’t know who’s lurking.”
He was surprised when she nodded her consent and even more surprised when she walked over to him. Luck was pushed when he wrapped his arms around her waist, but instead of stiffening as he half expected, she relaxed into him.
“Walk me back to the distillery and then I’ll see you tomorrow. We need to have a conversation.”
He didn’t like the sound of that. “About what’s been on your mind?”
“Yes.”
“Does it have anything to do with Jake?”
“No. But I think you need to speak with him without hitting him and clear the air. What’s done can’t be changed, Scott, and he’s your family.”
They started to walk through the trees, back to the distillery. The noise from the people there carried on the breeze.
“I know. But it’s something I need to get my head round. I’ll have Zack and Alex over later telling me the same thing. But…”
“You bear a grudge. I know. I was on the end of one for several years. And yet look where we are now.” She stopped walking and reached up to put her arms around his neck, pushing herself against him.
“I keep pinching myself when I wake up with you,” he murmured into her ear. “It still feels like I’m waking up in a fantasy.”
“You actually pinched me yesterday morning.” She almost sounded cross.
“But then I kissed it better. Go get some food. I’ll see you tomorrow. Unless you want to come by the bar afterwards.”
He would leave her here and then head back down the path to the town, rather than the road, using the fresh air to blow away the rest of his mood and to think more about Jake. And Keren.
“I’m exhausted. I’m going to head home after this and get an early night.”
Maybe that was why she looked pale.
“Want me to drop a bottle of wine off for you later? A couple of glasses might help you sleep.”
She shook her head. “I don’t fancy anything to drink. I’ll stick with hot chocolate. I can see Rayah waving – see you tomorrow.”
He bent down and gave her a long kiss, needing his fill. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Shall I bring you breakfast?”
“That’d be good.”
He watched her head over to Rayah and then started the walk home, just over a mile through a path that ran next to the river and across the ancient bridge where they played Poohsticks as kids. He passed a man he didn’t recognise, suited and wearing shoes that weren’t suitable for walking these sorts of paths in. He made eye contact, hoping to read something in his expression but saw nothing.
Something rankled him, a niggle that he couldn’t put his finger on, but other thoughts took over his mind, ones about Keren and his future. Their future.
If they had one.
15
Sleep didn’t come easy for Scott. The bar was busy, which was normal for a Saturday night, but there were a couple of groups of lads in from Astley, the nearest big town, and there was a tension that was usually absent.
He went to bed on edge; thinking about Keren and what she wanted to talk about, thinking about Jake and how the hell that was going to be mended – if it could be mended, and thinking about the stranger he’d passed on the way into town. Something didn’t sit right there. Severton wasn’t the place where you wore suits, unless it was a wedding or a funeral, and you didn’t wear one to walk along the path out to the peaks.
It was still dark when he got out of bed, giving up on sleeping as a bad idea. He wasn’t working today; instead he was meeting his uncle – Jake’s dad – for a pint and some food to discuss another potential business he was considering buying and he wanted to know if Scott would sit on the board as a director and advise.
