“Hold on a minute,” Saskia said, laughing. “Why feng shui? You don’t seem the kind of person who’d know about that, if you see what I mean.”
“My ex was half-Chinese.” Kivi flapped a hand. “She explained the logic – how the way that furniture in your home is arranged has a bearing on energy flow, so you can try and create a sort of balance with the natural world. It’s not just colours – it’s keeping a clear path to the front door, the placement of your bed, things like that. You might notice that my bed is in an awkward place – it’s so that I sleep facing South, because that helps the flow of positive energy.”
“I never had you down as someone so… in tune with energy flow, and things like that,” Saskia said. “I always thought you were more… I don’t know. Down-to-earth.”
“I’mverydown-to-earth,” Kivi said. “The Earth is our rooting point, after all. There’s nothing more constant. You didn’t expect this of me?”
“No,” Saskia said. “Not in the slightest. But it’s intriguing. And – dare I say? – adorable.”
“Adorable, hmm?” Kivi said, moving around so that she could press her lips to Saskia’s for a kiss. Then two. Then three.
“Mm. And I can’t say I noticed where your bed was, in particular,” Saskia said when she came up for air. “I was more focused on… what we were doing in it.”
Chapter Thirty-Six
Kivi
“I say, what on Earth happened with you last night?”
Kivi had been floating all morning, but the enquiry from Mr. Ridgley brought her back to reality with a bump.
“What do you mean, Mr. Ridgley?” Her heart began to pound. Surely he hadn’t seen – had she left the curtains open? – had he seen her and Saskia-
“I looked out in the night, and Toto was out in the garden,” the old man said. “Having the time of his life, mind you, but it struck me as an odd time for him to be out. I wondered if you’d gone out in a hurry and forgotten about him, or something like that.”
His blatant nosiness raised Kivi’s hackles, but this was part and parcel of owning a guest house. If you opened up your house to people, they very often expected to get to know you in return. Kivi was careful to maintain a professional distance between herself and her guests – well, most of them – but sometimes, they still attempted to worm their way into her personal life. Like right now.
“Oh,” she laughed, praying her cheeks weren’t turning red. “I accidentally fell asleep in front of the telly. Didn’t wake up until gone twelve.”
Which was true. She had been asleep. He didn’t need to know about the carnal activities that had gone onbeforethe sleeping.
“Oh.” Mr Ridgley looked almost disappointed that there was such a simple explanation. “I looked out again at about twelve-thirty, and I couldn’t see him.”
“Yes, that was around the time I let him in.” It had also been around the time that she and Saskia had had sex in the kitchen, but he didn’t need to know about that either.Stop thinking about it. Be professional!
“Morning,” Saskia said from behind her, just as she turned away. Kivi’s heart rate, which had just started to slow, skyrocketed again. Saskia was wearing an emerald green peplum blouse that set off her hair perfectly, her make-up was immaculate, and her entire being seemed to… well,glow.Kivi realised she was staring at Saskia like Toto stared at his food bowl while she was filling it, and forced herself to snap back into life.
“Good morning,” she replied, the very picture of professionalism. “Did you sleep well?”
“Very well, thank you,” Saskia replied, all very innocent aside from the twitching of her mouth at one corner. “And you?” She must have realised that this would appear a strange question to ask a near-stranger, because her mouth thinned. However, Kivi decided to style it out.
“Yes, very well also. I was just telling Mr Ridgley that I accidentally left Toto out until the small hours. Fell asleep on the sofa watching a movie – next thing I knew, it was twelve-thirty and the poor mite was still outside!”
“It was a warm night,” Saskia said. “I shouldn’t think the poor mite minded.” She held eye contact with Kivi, as if daring her to slip up.
“I shouldn’t think so,” agreed Mr Ridgley, who seemed oblivious to the conversation’s undercurrents as he buttered his slice of toast. “He was jumping about and wagging his tail like nobody’s business.”
“Probably chasing bunnies,” Kivi remarked dryly, raising an eyebrow at Saskia. She had to hand it to her – her poise was unflappable. The ‘bunny’ thing wasn’t entirely untrue, since her back garden was frequently visited by all sorts of wildlife all year round, but she’d really dropped it in there to make Saskia squirm. Over the course of the night, she’d used the phrase ‘fucking like bunnies’ to describe the two of them, and it had sent Saskia into a fit of adrenaline-filled giggles. But Saskia didn’t even flinch, and the eye contact didn’t drop – at least until another guest distracted Kivi with a request for decaf coffee. Saskia took this opportunity to slip into her seat, and she was happily sipping tea and eating a croissant when Kivi next entered the dining room.
But, of course, she manufactured things so that she was the last person in the dining room after breakfast concluded, and wordlessly began helping Kivi clear things away. Now that it was just the two of them, the unease began to take hold. For once, Kivi really didn’t know what to say. She’d woken up alone at five o’clock, Saskia presumably having crept out shortly after Round Two. Kivi couldn’t blame her for wanting to avoid the morning-after awkwardness, or having witnesses for the ‘walk of shame’. But they hadn’t managed to avoid the former, for it was rearing its head between them now, and the soft jazz that Kivi always played at mealtimes for ambience was doing nothing to abate it.
“Computer, off,” she commanded to make it stop, and Saskia flinched, nearly dropping the plates she was holding. The next time their paths crossed in the kitchen, Kivi shut the door, took the mug that Saskia was holding out of her hand, then picked her right up. Then she placed her down so that Saskia was sitting with her rear on the kitchen counter and an expression of pure shock on her face.
“Jesus,” she gasped.
“Didn’t expect me to be so strong?” Kivi smirked.
“No,” Saskia swallowed.
