Nine
The next morning, Bel frowned at the persistent ringing that had woken her from a deep sleep. She fumbled on the bedside table, trying to locate the phone, and mumbled a groggy, ‘Hello?’
‘Are you still in bed?’ Emma asked.
‘Yes. Why? What time is it?’ Bel rolled over and sat up, peering at the phone screen.
‘It’s nine o’clock!’
Bel scrambled further up in the bed. It couldn’t be. She never slept in. She started work at six and could never manage to get her body clock to sleep longer on days she wasn’t working which, in fairness, was only every second Sunday.
Then again, it wasn’t every night that she had unbelievable sex with a drop-dead gorgeous specimen of manhood like TateMcBride. She glanced regretfully at the empty side of the bed. He’d reluctantly left a few hours ago because the groomsmen had an early start, spending the day in Toormanlee.
‘I’ll be there in five. I’ve got coffee.’
Bel only had time to pull on some clothes and run a brush through her hair before Emma was knocking on the front door.
‘Are you coming down with something?’ Emma asked, heading to the lounge room.
Bel almost ran into Emma as she abruptly stopped, and it took a moment for Bel to work out what her friend was staring at.
Crap.She hadn’t had time to clean up. Bel’s gaze fell to the wet towels along with the pile of discarded clothing—or, more to the point, her discarded clothing, left where it’d been flung as Tate had peeled it off.
Bel hastily began gathering it up, snatching her bra from where it had landed on the table lamp, and dumped everything in the laundry. As she re-entered the room, she found Emma watching her with a strange expression.
‘So, I take it you had a good night?’
Bel straightened her shoulders and reminded herself she was a fully grown adult and not under interrogation from a parent. ‘I did, actually.’
Emma put her hands on her hips and tilted her head slightly. ‘It’s not that I’m not thrilled you’ve found this guy. I’m just … a little bit concerned that maybe you’re jumpinginto something you may not be ready for. I mean, he’s only here for a few days. Are you sure this is such a great idea?’
‘I thought you’d be happy, not all judgy.’
‘I’m not judging you,’ Emma said, sounding a little hurt. ‘I’m worried that you’re setting yourself up for heartache.’
‘You’re the one who’s always trying to get me to go out with someone.’
‘I was thinking more in terms of someone local, someone who isn’t going to leave in a few days and you’ll never see again.’
Emma’s words hit a little too close to home. Bel didn’t want to think about that part.
‘I’m glad you’re having fun, really I am,’ Emma said gently, ‘but … be careful. These people aren’t like us. They think coming to a place like Wessex isquaintandinteresting,’ she said, rolling her eyes, ‘but they don’t look back when they leave. They’re all eager to get back to civilisation and wash off the country stink. A guy like that won’t stay in a place like this.’
‘Maybe I don’t want him to stay,’ Bel snapped. The truth hurt, more than she was ready or willing to admit. She didn’t want to lose this brief tingle of happiness.
‘Then enjoy the fling,’ Emma said. ‘But don’t start feeling things for him that aren’t real.’
Bel reached out for the coffee cup and sat down, eager to push away the uncomfortable feeling of reality beginning to settle in the pit of her stomach. ‘The rain put a bit of adamper on the movie night, I’d imagine,’ she said to change the topic.
‘Quite literally,’ Emma agreed, taking a seat opposite. ‘We had to make a run for the car. Ended up drenched. The kids thought it was great. Which reminds me, Dean has your chair. He said he’d drop it around. I think he was pretty disappointed that you didn’t come back.’
‘Why?’
‘Because he was obviously there to see you.’
‘No, he wasn’t.’
‘Bel, seriously? A good-looking, single guy would choose to sit in a park with a bunch of kids instead of hanging out at the pub, where every other male in town preferred to be?’
