‘They’ll get lost in the snow.’
‘Amelie will be fine. Cooking is the least of your worries. If it keeps snowing, people will stay inside and entertain themselves.’
‘I love a man who has all the answers.’
‘And I love a woman who throws herself at my feet, shares her chocolate, and is always ready for the next adventure. It’s going to be fine.’
‘I almost believe you.’
‘What, that I love you?’ It wasn’t what she meant at all but now he’d asked…
‘Do you?’
His eyes locked on hers and she could see it shining in them before he uttered the quiet, heartfelt, ‘I do.’
Fizzy catherine wheels of happiness exploded in her heart. She slipped her leg over his and settled herself onto his chest, taking his face in her hands. ‘I’m not supposed to fall in love with you. You’re all wrong for me.’
‘I don’t think serendipity gives you any choice, does it? I didn’t plan on falling in love either. It just happened, and now I can’t imagine it not happening.’
She drew in a shaky breath. ‘I know how you feel.’
He held her close. ‘Sleep. It’s been a tough day.’
They woke to a snow-blanketed world of silence. Everything outside was soft and curved, and blurred by the whirling flakes that continued to stream past the window. Mina lay looking out of the window, watching the dancing snow swirl and eddy in the downdrafts like tiny feathers riding the thermals as she thought about what she needed to do today. Then she allowed herself to turn over and look at Luke, who she found was awake and looking back at her.
‘Morning,’ he said, reaching forward and smoothing her hair from her face. She reached up to touch the fine blonde fuzz she knew she’d find there. She always woke with serious bed-head. ‘You think loudly.’
‘I do?’ she asked with a perplexed smile.
‘Mmm. I can hear the cogs whirring, and you fidget a lot with your hands when you’re thinking.’
She laughed and tucked her hands under the covers. ‘That’s my tell, is it?’
‘One of them. You also get this really cute little furrow just here.’ He touched her eyebrow.
‘Smooth pillow talk, mister,’ she teased.
‘I was a late starter.’ A tiny frown darkened his face. ‘I missed out on a lot in my late teens.’
‘Well, I can tell you there are definitely a few departments you’ve caught up in quite nicely. Although I might need to check on the kissing again.’ She leaned forward and pressed her lips on his before she could let her sympathy show. Knowing Luke, he wouldn’t welcome it, but being that ill when you were nineteen and twenty must have been hellish, especially if he’d been in hospital for most of that time. At nineteen, she was at university in Leeds having some of the best times of her life. That was when she’d really discovered who she was and what life was about. Much as she loved Miriam and Derek, they led a sheltered and quite restricted life. Living in a big city had opened so many doors for Mina. New friends, new ideas, new places. She’d become a lot more worldly.
Luke’s hand slid around her waist, his fingers soothing over her skin as he pulled her towards him to deepen the kiss. She relaxed into his body, her senses humming, amazed that this felt so natural and easy.
‘I’m sorry,’ she said with a sultry twist to her lips, ‘much as I’d like to stay here all morning and see what pops up, I’m afraid—’
‘What pops up?’ Luke spluttered and lifted the covers, looking down. ‘This is as popped as it gets, in all its morning glory.’
She grazed his earlobe with her teeth and shot him a wicked grin, but couldn’t resist squirming up against him. There was something life-affirming and – to be quite honest, very flattering – about that physical manifestation of his desire for her. ‘Good, perhaps you can remind me another time. Sadly, some of us have work to do.’ She threw back the covers but before she could get out of bed, he snagged an arm around her waist, pulled her back against his chest, and kissed the nape of her neck, while lazily caressing her breast with his other hand, his fingers unerringly homing in on her over-sensitive nipple. The moan of pleasure slipped out and he let go.
‘Payback’s a bitch.’ He grinned.
She turned to face him, hooked a hand around his neck and they met in the middle with a frantic, hot kiss.
‘Now that’s how you start the day,’ said Luke with a cocky smile. ‘None of this, “much as I’d like to stay here all morning” malarkey. Kissing is a much under-rated pastime in my view.’
Mina sighed, fizzing with pleasure and happiness. ‘No argument here. But I do need to get up.’
‘Into the shower with you. I’ll clean you up.’
