‘Here, can you take her again?’ He indicates the koala. ‘Or shall I put her in front of the heater?’
‘No, give her to me.’ I have an odd desire to feel his arms pressing into mine again, and once more when they do, my pulse picks up its pace. Oblivious, Ben hands over his charge and walks out of the living room.
I cuddle the joey and tell my heart to calm down.
‘Actually,’ Ben says, coming back into the room and startling me, ‘do you want me to take you home? I’ve just seen the time. It’s one-thirty. I’ve been getting carried away, talking to you.’
‘Doyouwant me to go home?’ I ask unhappily.
‘No, but aren’t you knackered?’
I shake my head. ‘No.’
‘I’ll get on with the tea, then.’ He chuckles and goes back into the kitchen.
Hang on. He’s got work tomorrow. Does he really want a teenage girl taking up his precious sleeping time? I feel very awkward by the time he returns.
‘I forgot you’ve got work tomorrow,’ I say. ‘I could call a taxi?’
‘You’ll struggle to get one at this hour. Don’t worry, I’ll drive you home. You could even crash in the spare room, if you like. Oh no,’ he immediately dismisses that idea. ‘Josh might worry about you in the morning.’
I snort. ‘Are you kidding me? Josh won’t even know I’m not there. He never gets up before midday on a Sunday.’
Ben shrugs and sits down again. ‘If you want to stay, you can take the baby to bed with you.’ He nods at the fluffy lump in my arms.
‘Hey?’ My brow furrows.
‘It’s what a lot of keepers do in this situation. Others prefer to leave them alone so they can go through the mourning process on their own.’
‘That’s awful!’ I exclaim. ‘Of course she can sleep with me.’
‘I thought you’d say that.’
‘Would you have put her in a box by the heater?’ I know I won’t be able to help feeling disappointed if the answer is yes.
‘The last two times this happened to me, the joeys lasted in the box for all of ten minutes.’ Ben grins. ‘She would have ended up in bed with me for sure.’
I smile back at him and feel my stomach tingle.
‘Are you going to let Josh take you on any more driving lessons?’ he asks casually.
‘No. It’s such a bummer though. Michael has been letting me drive to work on the odd days, but he needs his truck most of the time. I don’t know when I’m going to learn and I’m desperate to pass my test.’
‘Won’t your mum teach you?’
‘I’m notthatdesperate.’
‘I’ll take you for the odd spin if you like?’
‘Would you?’
‘Sure. You can drive my car home in the morning.’
‘Aw, Ben, you’re the best!’I could kiss you!Ha ha, have another drink, Lily. I beam at him in a ridiculously OTT fashion and he starts to look uncomfortable, but that only makes me giggle. He drinks his tea and drums his fingers on his thigh. I suddenly find myself yawning.
‘Come on,’ he says, putting down his mug. ‘You should get to bed.’
I’d rather stay up talking to him, but I do as he says.
