He had to walk past me to get to the radiator in my bedroom and although we didn’t touch, I could feel the heat from his body and smell his aftershave. When our eyes met for an instant, I actually considered dropping the towel. And unless I was completely misreading the look in his eyes, I think he was hoping that I would.
At first, that made me even more aroused, but then I remembered that phone call and it was as though I’d had another cold shower.
Would he cheat on his partner? If so, he wasn’t the kind of man I’d want to take to my bed.
I turned away but I could feel his eyes on me and, even though it shouldn’t have, it made me feel sexier and more desirable than I’d felt in many years.
Twelve
‘Are you serious?’
Madi couldn’t believe it when I told her about my talk with Marcus, or that I’d offered Adele a job, but what really blew her mind was when I told her about Alec Richman and the bedroom incident.
‘Deadly serious. I’ve never experienced anything like it before. It was as if a magnet was pulling us together. And the lust and longing I felt were out of this world. Talk about animal instincts. Honestly, if we’d been in that bedroom for even a second longer, I think we’d have been having sex. And we’d still be having it now. Several hours later. There’s something about him. Don’t ask me what because he was rude and sarcastic and he’s got a girlfriend, fiancée, or wife, so he would’ve been an absolute bastard if he had had sex with me. But even so.’ I let out a long and wistful sigh. ‘I’ve never wanted a man as much in my entire life.’
‘Crikey. That’s worrying. You said he’s coming back to finish the job. Did you mean the heating, or something more personal?’ She laughed.
‘Hilarious. I had to stay out of his way while he was here and I’ll have to do the same when he comes back, because believe me, if he looks at me again, the way he looked at me in my bedroom, I think I’d throw myself at him.’
‘Perhaps you should ask Adele to stay with you while he’s there. You said she’s starting tomorrow, didn’t you?’
‘She is. And maybe I should.’
‘So is Paul ancient history now then?’
‘Paul who? That was a joke. I don’t know. And that’s another problem. If Paul asks me out, I think I should say yes. Because whatever this is with Alec, it can’t go anywhere, can it? And it’d only be a fling for him, and I think I’m ready for something more. Something serious. Something lasting. I want what you’ve got with Tristan. Minus the apples and the cider. No wait. I’ll have the cider too.’
‘I think you should go out with Paul. I don’t know why he hasn’t asked you yet though. Maybe he feels he needs to leave it a few days and not rush into another relationship right away.’
‘Maybe. And that makes sense. I’ll see Berry on Thursday so I might try to find out what’s going on, and perhaps I’ll drop a hint and see what she says.’
‘That’s a great idea. Are you going to stay at your parents’ house again tonight?’
‘Yep. The heating won’t work properly until Alec gets the new timer and does something else that I can’t remember, because all I could think about when he was telling me what was wrong with it, and also with the tap, was that he had come to bed eyes, and how gorgeous and sexy his mouth was and how much I wanted him to kiss me. All over. Every single inch of me.’
‘You’ve got it bad.’
‘I know. There should be a vaccine for this.’
‘Well, speaking of kissing someone all over, Tristan has just walked in with our fish and chips, so I’ll love you and leave you. Call me tomorrow with all the details.’
‘Love you both. Bye for now.’
I rang off and glanced out of my sitting room window, just in time to spot Marcus. I was going to rush outside and ask him why he’d called my plumber and how he’d got the man to come to me today, but I realised he was walking past my cottage and was therefore either popping to the post box, which for some reason seemed unlikely, especially as it appeared that he had a wine bottle in one hand, or he was on his way to Adele’s.
I got rather excited until it struck me that his walk was unsteady. Was the man drunk? Was it wise to go and have a chat with Adele after all this time, if so? Or had he needed to be tipsy to pluck up the courage to go and apologise after nearly two years of not speaking to her?
I watched surreptitiously until he made it to the front door and then I waited for a few minutes longer to be certain she had let him in. I smiled to myself as it was obvious that she had and I kept my fingers crossed that my work here was done. At least as far as getting Adele and Marcus to talk to one another and to be friends with me. There might still be a way to go until Adele and Marcus would be best friends again. And maybe something more.
I knew Adele still had feelings for Marcus, however much she might try to convince herself those feelings were of hatred. And Marcus had told me himself that he had once thought of asking her out but that his so-called best friend at the time, Jeff, had persuaded him not to. He’d said that I had made him see something in a new light; something that had only been dark until now. Was that something the realisation that what he felt for Adele was love, or something close to that, and not bitterness and hate.
Only time would tell. And on the subject of time, I had less than three hours until curfew at Mum and Dad’s.
I had intended to spend the entire day making Christmas decorations for my business. Instead I’d spent more than an hour with Adele, a few hours here, and then almost an hour with Marcus, counting both times we talked. The first time over the fence and the second inside his cottage.
After that it was back to Adele’s for twenty or so minutes and then here, getting soaked by a tap, and then thinking about why I shouldn’t be wanting to have sex with a gorgeous, hunky and, I suspected, exceedingly passionate plumber.
So, although I had avoided him as much as possible and shut myself away in the sitting room on the pretext of making my Christmas decorations, all I had really done was stare out of the window, and swoon over Alec.
