‘Oh, jeez. Now you’re embarrassing me.’
‘It’s true.’ Alicia pulled on her panties and slipped her ankle into one jean leg. ‘I’ve never experienced anything like it. I mean, penises are okay, but yours, it’s incredible. I love to look at it, I love to touch it, and when you’re inside me, it’s like you possess me. You fill every inch of me, and there are times I could come from knowing your cock is there and hard for me.’
Jamie staggered over these words. They would be music to any man’s ego, but, to him, considering he had spent the best part of a decade thinking he was the world’s worst lover, they were a rapturous symphony. And that Alicia was the one who said them was the encore that kept on giving.
‘Thank you,’ he said. ‘Right back at you.’ He fixed on those turquoise eyes he’d never imagined being lucky enough to lock with in the throes of intimacy. ‘I’m over the moon you came here today.’
‘Me too,’ said Alicia. ‘And the sun and the stars too.’
‘But I totally forgot to ask, what are you doing here?’
‘Well, I spent a week with my grandmother in Norway, loved it so much that I rescheduled my flight and spent another week with her. I had no phone signal up there, so I didn’t get your message until I was on my way to the airport. But when I did… Well, I guess I missed my flight.’
Jamie ran his hand through his hair and beamed. ‘Incredible. So, you’ll stay a few days, right? I’ll show you the place and I can tell you about my ideas for paintings, and you can meet my dad and we’ll show him your work.’
Alicia’s features flushed with joy. ‘Bring it all on. LA is not going anywhere.’
‘And that is Scotland’s gain,’ said Jamie. ‘And this guy’s.’
Chapter 25
Alicia
It was hard to tell if Jamie’s receptionist, Lorna, knew what they had been up to in his office, because she had the same goggle-eyed expression on her face when the two of them returned to reception as she had when Alicia first entered the building.
Alicia knew Lorna recognised her and it had been risky having sex in Jamie’s office, but she wasn’t in the driving seat when she was around this man. She hadn’t been exaggerating when she said that his mere presence drove her crazy. Him in his running gear, glowing with sweat, brought out her inner cavewoman.
Jamie made Alicia feel something else, something also primitive in its origins – he made her feel safe. In the past, she had thought all her boyfriends did this, mistaking for safety a muscular physique or the desire to hold her close. She had been wrong. The safety Jamie gave her was a magical combination of his physical build and his character. It cosseted her now as they stood in front of Lorna at reception. Jamie didn't touch Alicia or pull her close, and she knew why. That would give Lorna ammunition. For this,she adored him, for recognising, without being told, how important it was to her.
‘Thank you,’ she said once they were in her hire car. He would leave his car at the office and collect it the next day.
‘What for? I should be thanking you for coming back here.’
‘Just for understanding what I’m going through. It helps me to be me and enjoy things like random sex in your office. Because it was such good sex, it would be rude to not enjoy it.’
‘It takes two, you know.’
‘It does, and we clearly have some badass chemistry, but take some credit. Two weeks ago, I couldn’t show my face at the hotel reception. When I’m with you I forget that stuff and I’m in the moment enjoying my Jamie.’
Jamie’s gaze sharpened. ‘Your Jamie, eh?’
Alicia squeezed his hand. ‘Aye. Take me hame, Jamie Butler. I can’t wait to see yer hoose.’
His laughter filled the small car. ‘With an accent like that I’ll need to take you hame and sort you out. Take a left out of here and go back towards the village.’
Minutes later, Alicia was marvelling at the scenery as they drove through Kinshore. ‘Your village is adorable,’ she said. ‘All the little cottages and the quirky shops. I love it.’
‘Aye, it’s alright,’ Jamie looked out the window and she wondered if he ever tired of the loveliness of the place he’d live all his life. ‘The high street is no Rodeo Drive, but I can get a helicopter to Inverness if I want that.’
She giggled, sensing the humour in his words.
‘How did you know I was joking?’
Alicia swung the car left as Jamie signalled with his thumb to do so. ‘I don’t know. I just knew.’
Jamie's home was an adorable four-bedroom 18th-century cottage nestled on the seafront. While he showered, Alicia stood by the window, cradling a cup of tea in her hands, her eyes wide with wonder at the view. The beach stretched out expansively before her, waves crashing rhythmically against the shore. She imagined him out there, riding those breakers, feeling like she, too, belonged in this beautiful place where he surfed.
‘Would you like to go surfing tomorrow morning?’ Warmth radiated behind Alicia and there was a graze of stubble on the back of her neck. She jumped a little. ‘Oh, I was so lost in the view.’
