“I didn’t realise you two got on so well, considering …” she ventured.
“Considering?”
“The reasons for your break-up, I mean,” shestammered. “Since she left you for someone else and –” Seeing his expression darken, she faltered.
“Things are never as straightforward as you might think.” He drank from his glass. “We both went through hell at the end. Believe me, I was no saint either. In throwing myself so heavily into my work, I abandoned her too, in a way.”
“Hey,” she interjected, annoyed with herself for saying anything, “I’m so sorry – I didn’t mean to pry.”
“It’s probably my fault for making it sound like I was the one hard done by. But you don’t know how much it means to me that Rebecca and I are adult enough to stay friends, after everything we went through together. There’s no animosity, she’s always been and still is one of my closest friends. I even get on with Graham – her new guy. I know what you’re thinking,” he smiled when Jenny struggled to keep the shock from registering on her face, “but there’s no point in being bitter. I’m glad that she’s found happiness with someone else, really I am. I still love her but not in that way, not any more.”
His eyes looked suspiciously bright then, and Jenny resolved to change the subject. How could she have been so flippant? Sounded like Mike and his ex had been to hell and back, yet still managed to maintain their friendship. It was a very mature and deeply admirable attitude.
She shook her head. “Really, I didn’t mean to – ”
His eyes twinkled with good humour. “Just forget about it. So,” he continued, pushing his empty plate away, “will we go for dessert or what?”
“No way,” Jenny put a hand on her stomach, pleasedthat the uncomfortable moment had passed. “If I eat anything else, I’ll explode even more out of these jeans.”
“Hah! If anything, you could do with a bit of extra meat on your bones.”
She laughed, her early good humour returning.“Don’t try to justify your gluttony by forcing food on me.”
“OK, I won’t have anything else either - maybe just another drink,” he said, getting up. “Why don’t you head on into the lounge and I’ll pick up our room cards?”
As Jenny watched him stride confidently through the double doors to reception, she admonished herself once again. Was she jealous of Rebecca and Mike’s relationship? It wasn’t as though she and Mike were anything more than friends, so what was the problem?
“Right,” he said, rejoining her in the lounge a few minutes later. “We’re on the third floor, across the hall from one another. I’ll tell you though,” he looked at his watch and yawned, “I’m fairly beat and after all that food, I don’t think it’ll be a late one.”
“I know what you mean,” she agreed. “I feel like I’ve eaten enough to keep me going for a week.”
He sat down beside her on the comfy banquette against the wall as they watched the various comings and goings at the hotel bar. Jenny was practically horizontal, the combination of the food, wine and the day’s adventures making her drowsy. Mike was so close; she’d only have to lift her head to lay it on his chest.
He smiled lazily across at her. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
She nodded with heavy-lidded eyes. “If it involves a bed, most definitely yes.”
“Are you propositioning me?”
Mortified, Jenny looked up and saw his eyes twinkle with humour. But as their gazes met, his expression changed and he must have seen it in her face, because she couldn’t help what she did next.
Putting a hand around his neck, she pulled Mike towards her and planted a gentle kiss on his mouth. He pulled back a bit, looking at her questioningly, but she reached for him again, answering his unspoken question.
This time the kiss wasn’t so one-sided and as it deepened, longing swept through her like a thunderbolt - until Jenny remembered where they were.
“Mike,” she gasped, opening her eyes and looking around in embarrassment.
“You’re right,” he said breathlessly, sitting up straight, “I’m sorry – it was all my fault, I shouldn’t have – ”
“No,” she said with a grin, tightening her arms around him. “I meant, maybe not here.”
They were upstairs and inside his room within minutes.
There was no point in trying to kid herself. There was, and probably had been from the beginning, Jenny admitted, a lot more between the two of them than friendship.
With Mike, it was all about touching, teasing, and laughing, not about racing to the finish line, which was mostly how it had been with Roan.
Afterwards, she nestled easily into the crook of his arm and fell fast asleep, waking only when she felt Mike kiss the tip of her nose at dawn.
