‘Are you trying to kill those plums?’ asked Leo, his mild curiosity like flame to the fuse of her irritation. Did he not feel the same pressure? That feeling that she might burst out of her skin any minute?
She looked down at the plums she was ramming into the top of the dough.
‘I think they’ll be fine, they’re about to be incinerated,’ she said, shoving the whole thing into the oven.
‘Here you go.’ Leo pushed the bowl of cubed bread towards her. ‘All done. What do you want me to do next?’
Her mouth tightened on the words she couldn’t say. Instead she grabbed the bowl and tipped in the eggs.
‘You could weigh me some flour,’ she said with an edge to her voice. She knew she shouldn’t add but she did anyway, ‘If it’s not too much trouble.’ She picked up the open bag of flour to hand to him.
‘It’s no trouble.’ His tone was low and gravelly. ‘Nothing’s ever too much trouble for you, Love.’
That did it! She tossed the bag towards him, deliberately showering him in flour.
Time slowed as she watched in shocked disbelief at what she’d done.
And then she swallowed as Leo, his face coated in white, stared back at her. Blue eyes in sharp contrast as he blinked furiously at her.
‘What was that for?’
‘Because you’re driving me mad.’
‘I’m drivingyoumad.’ He glared at her.
She stood her ground, nerves sizzling at the fury burning in his expression.
He took a step towards her, his hands clenched by his sides. She raised her chin, not giving an inch.
‘Anna Love,’ he ground out, low and dangerous.
She swallowed. Good and mad was the only way to describe him right now. But she wanted him mad. She was fed up with having to keep her emotions in check, from hiding what she felt.
His Adam’s apple dipped several times. ‘Oh, fuck this,’ he said under his breath, and swiped at the flour across his face with his forearm before reaching for her, his hands clamping on her arms, leaning in to kiss her with a fierceness bordering on desperation, as if she were the very last drop of water in a desert.
The spark leapt between them as fast and furious as a crack of lightning, and the kiss went from inflammatory to an inferno within seconds. His mouth scoured hers as if he were seeking redemption from every sin on earth. But she gave back with equal hunger, her heart exploding with a flash of delight and excitement as it thudded like the hooves of a Grand National winner. Reason and coherent thought went out of the window as she pressed closer, enveloped by the scent of him, the warmth of him, the feel of him. Her legs almost buckled as they turned into noodles but Leo was there to hold her up.
He smoothed a floury hand down her hair, his breathing harsh. ‘I can’t fight this anymore.’
‘Good,’ she said, lifting a hand to his face, stroking away some of the flour and the slight lines of concern around his eyes.
‘I love you. Never stopped. It’s been killing me these last few weeks.’
Love surged in her chest, a tsunami of heat and joy. ‘I love you.’
They stood looking at each other. Leo’s eyes were sombre and serious as he focused on her face. His fingers tracing her lips.
‘I’ve been trying to deny it and then you come in this morning, your hair in that just-out-of-bed mussed-up style, and smile at me, all sexy and serene, like the Mona Lisa, as if you know all the secrets of the world and … I’m gone. Completely and utterly.’
ChapterTwenty-Five
Anna couldn’t help herself. ‘Then take me to bed.’
‘I thought you’d never ask.’
‘I’m not asking,’ she said feeling a little bit pleased with her assertiveness.
‘Anna, love,’ Leo’s words finished on a heartfelt groan that vibrated through her chest, sparking little fires of want throughout her body.
