‘The ice queen, yes, I’m fully aware.’
Confusion skitters across his face as if perhaps that isn’t what he meant. ‘Well, I have wine. So, how about you come inside.’ He moves to his right to give me space to pass. He smells of the same dark and woody aftershave and my heart skips as I step into his home.
I reach out to touch him as I pass, my fingers grazing the skin of his forearm. A shiver runs up the back of my neck. My fingers. I tamp down the desire to kiss him right there on his doorstep, the irony not lost on me that I’m finally in a world where I can kiss him, but given we barely know each other here it would still be wildly inappropriate.
Or would it? There’s a small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth and a glint in his eye. I can only assume the other Tyler has been telling him things about me. And we have known each other in this universe for years, even if we did think we hated each other.
‘It was a misunderstanding,’ I blurt out. ‘I thought you blanked me that morning in the hotel and that’s why I never called.’
He takes a step towards me. ‘I would never have blanked you.’
‘Well, I know that now.’ I pause for a moment. ‘Can we start again?’
He takes another step, so close now I could reach out and touch him. Lily takes matters into her own paws and scampers round him, pulling my hand holding her lead around his waist. He catches me as I stumble. ‘Woah there, Raven,’ he whispers.
I look up to find his eyes locked on mine. I throw caution to the wind and stretch up to kiss him. His lips are soft as they meet mine.
He tastes of custard creams.
