“Oh, so me naked is funny?”
“No! No, you naked is… uh… Look, please can I come in? I feel like an idiot standing out here talking to a door.”
He’s not going to go away until he gets an explanation. It’s also probably a good idea for me to give him one. I don’t particularly want him thinking that I run about naked for my own amusement. With a heavy sigh, preparing myself for alotof mockery and keeping my dressing gown wrapped around as tight as possible, I reluctantly open the door.
He comes in, walking past me to the middle of the room and turning round with a quizzical expression.
“Hello,” he begins.
“What are you doing here? You were meant to be at the wedding!”
“Why are you running up and down the hotel corridor naked?” he asks, intrigued. “I’m not against it, but I’m just interested to—”
“It was one of the tasks, okay?” I explain grumpily. “The survival guide I told you about earlier.”
“Oh right.” He nods, shoving his hands in his pockets.
“Clearly, it’s goneverywrong and I will be killing my friends as soon as I land on British soil.”
“I don’t think it’s gone wrong at all. You did it, didn’t you?”
I sigh, closing my eyes in despair. “Yes. But no one was supposed to see.”
He holds up his hands, his lips twitching into a smile. “I promise I won’t tell. If it helps, I didn’t see everything, I just saw—”
“Please don’t detail to me what you saw.Oh bloody hell, this is so embarrassing,” I mumble, running a hand through my hair. “Please can we just pretend that didn’t happen? You need to erase it from your brain.”
“Okay. I’ll erase it from my brain.” He hesitates. “If you want me to?”
“Yes,I want you to!” I say, aghast that he’d even check. “Why wouldn’t I want you to? You’ve just witnessed me running about with no clothes on!”
“And you think that’s a bad thing?”
I frown in confusion. “Is that… is that a trick question?”
He stares at me. I stare back at him. Hang on. What’s happening here? Is he… is he saying it’s a good thing he saw me running around with no clothes on? Is that what’s happening? And now that I think about it, how has it come about that he’s seen me at all?
“Your room is on the first floor,” I say out loud as my brain becomes muddled. “Why were you even up here?”
His turn to look bashful. His eyes drop to the floor guiltily.
“I was coming to see you,” he admits eventually. “In case…”
He trails off.
Oh my god. What do I do?What do I do?I feel like my throat has got really tight and I need to swallow, but my throat is soconstricted that if I swallow it will be so obvious. I do it anyway and I can hear the audible gulp. I’ve given away that I’m nervous. I am nervous. I’m really nervous. And I’m scared. In a good way.
I like him.
Wait. I need to clarify what’s going on. Technically, he hasn’t explained exactly why he was coming to see me. He could have been coming to see me to ask if I had a spare shower cap he could borrow. It could be completely innocent.
I open my mouth to ask him what exactly he means, but I don’t get the chance to. Because he’s walking toward me with purpose and I can see exactly what purpose that is. I think the audible nervous gulp, as unsexy as it was, may have given away my position. He’s so close now, right there in front of me, and as I tilt my head up to meet his eyes, he lifts his hand to the side of my head, while keeping the other hand in his pocket.
Yes. That’s right.That’s how sexy and casual he is.
Good lord, who knew? Who knew a casual hand in the pocket could be soexciting?!
I close my eyes and he kisses me, and it’s quite soft and gentle at first, then it gets more urgent and his pocket-hand is suddenly round my waist and on the small of my back, pulling me closer to him.
