‘Spoilsport.’ Seems I managed on that front.
‘Did you call for something in particular, not that it isn’t wonderful to hear you talk shop and cervix before breakfast. Or should that be cervixes?’
‘I did want something in particular. I wondered if you were hungover and if I could offer you a little of the hair of the dog that bit you. Or maybe just a little of the dirty dog that wants to bite you. All over. Repeatedly. Little nibbles and sucking marks all over your pale skin.’
‘Delivering babies makes you hard?’ I ask oh, so reasonably.Okay, taunt.
‘No, thinking about you makes me hard.’ He sighs. ‘But if I can’t interest you in beingmybreakfast, I wondered if you’d like to meet me for breakfast.’
I want to say yes because, apart from making me feel desirable, spending time with Will is fun. Mostly. And in a lot of respects, it’s a little like walking Sir Lancelot. As long as I keep the lead tight, I don’t get humped too many times.
But I also need to remind myself that we’re on a timeline. And the more I see of him, the harder it might be to leave him in the end. And then there’s what Ella said last night. Will’s background just blows my mind.
‘Have you gone back to sleep?’ Will’s teasing tone brings me back to the phone in my hand.
‘No, I was just thinking about what I have to do today.’ Which is nothing. I’m on vacation. ‘Could we rain check on breakfast?’
‘That’s fine. I should probably go home and get some rest. I look so devilishly handsome in my scrubs and bristled chin, you probably would’ve dragged me out of the café and into your bed. And I do need my beauty sleep.’
‘Because I absolutely can’t resist you,’ I deadpan.
‘Being this handsome is a curse.’ Will sighs. ‘I probably shouldn’t stop for a takeaway coffee for the exact same reasons.’
‘Are you trying to make me jealous?’
‘Did it work?’
‘Not a bit.’Okay, a little bit.
‘I’m glad to see you fared better than Ella.’
‘Why? What happened,’ I ask immediately.
‘According to his babysitting parents, she rolled in last night.’
‘Yeah?’ My reply is tinged with laughter. ‘Not surprising, maybe. She’d already started last night before I arrived. I hope she was okay?’ It’s not quite an afterthought, but a sudden concern.
‘She was in very good spirits, apparently. Maybe less so this morning. I imagine it’ll take her a while to live down her antics.’
‘Why? What happened?’
‘She was under the impression she’d rescued a piece of countryside wildlife.’
‘Not a baby fox?’ I’ve heard there are urban foxes in London, though I wouldn’t be surprised to find one nearby, given the amount of parks around here. That’s not to say I wouldn’t be surprised if Ella had found one and taken it home.
‘Not a baby fox,’ he answers. ‘Not a baby anything. She very gingerly carried home what she thought was a baby hedgehog. Turns out, she’d been nurturing a large pine cone in the cab on the way home.’
I laugh so hard, I find it hard to catch my breath.
Despite Will’s teasing promises, he’s worked all night. He also has a couple of appointments this evening. I think it’s a case of thewillbeing strong, but the body of Will being sleep deprived. Before we hang up, I may make a promise to hang out sometime later this week.Hang out. Right.
Okay, so it’s not only my will that’s weak. Weak willed about Will. So sue me.
But this is a vacation fling, not a romance.
I pull up my electronic tablet in an attempt to send the email home I’d planned to last night—before I’d fallen asleep, that is. I flick open the email app when something in my inbox catches my attention
FROM: Julian Cork
