He blinks. ‘If you want a slick edit, you shouldn’t ever rely on one take. It might seem good now, but when you get home and look at it on your laptop, there might be a mistake, or some flaw you didn’t realise was there.’
‘Of course, that makes sense. Okay – let’s do it!’
That smile, again. Her eyes gleam with enthusiasm and flicker with firelight. She likes him. There’s no doubt about it now. Maybe it’s finally happening. As he moves back to his spot by the fire and sets up for the next take, Reubyn is sure – as sure as he’s ever been about anything. At last, he’s entering a love story that might actually have a happy ending. And one thing has become suddenly clear, like the universe is sending him a signal – it’s time for him to make his move.
Chapter 34
Miles
Miles follows Jessie into the bird hide, a shaft of artificial light from her phone guiding the way through the dark. It was her idea to come here, for some privacy. She stops, just a few feet into the hide, and pans the light around, illuminating each wall in turn, then every inch of the floor, followed by the ceiling. The wooden boards moan under her feet as she creeps over to the window. She presses the light to the glass, peers out and then returns to Miles with a puckish grin. ‘It’s just us,’ she says, taking his hand and pulling him close. ‘Alone, at last.’
‘Were you expecting a late rush of birdwatchers?’
Jessie laughs. ‘You never know what you’ll—’ A sound emanating from the forest has caused her to stop. Her eyes go wide. ‘Do you hear that?’
Miles hears it – a call from deep in the trees. It’s anxious, almost desperate in tone.
She lowers her voice. ‘I grew up in the country; there are a ton of owls where I’m from, but I’ve never heard that one before.’
‘Why are you whispering?’
Jessie giggles. ‘I don’t know.’ Her chilly hands slide up inside his T-shirt and come to rest on his lower back. She leans in andnuzzles at his neck. The timid first drops of new rain tap against the metal roof. Her hair smells faintly of lavender.
‘You’re cold,’ Miles says.
‘Maybe I just need warming up.’
She kisses him on the mouth, her tongue doing a slow dance with his, and her hands travel southward, into his jeans. Miles gasps at her touch and closes his eyes, leaning into the physicality of the moment. His hands have found a way inside her coat, have located her soft, bare skin, and his fingers trace gently up her back, blood pulsing urgently around his body.
Suddenly their mouths break apart.
An explosion of thunder shakes the air so fiercely it seems to rock the hide. They stare at each other, Jessie’s mouth having fallen open. The thunder has a long tail, rumbling on for a good few seconds. Her mouth relaxes into a smile. They turn to look out of the windows. Waiting for it. And then lightning forks flashlight the forest so that for a moment they can see far into the trees, strobes of ultraviolet briefly summoning the woods to life. As suddenly as they were illuminated, they are plunged back into darkness.
‘Where were we?’ Miles whispers. He takes Jessie by the waist and steers her a few feet to his right, so her back presses gently against the rear wall. He kisses her neck, and feels her warm, ragged breath against his ear. More thunder rumbles, this time not so violently loud. Miles ignores it, his hands tracing the curve of her hips and lingering when they reach her chest. The lightning flares again, but Miles doesn’t open his eyes, just witnesses it as a bright pulse behind his eyelids.
A shocking sound storms his ears.
Jessie screams. A bad scream. High and hacking and harsh, like it’s coming deep out of the darkest ditch of her throat. Her body has gone tense in his arms, her shoulders are raised.
Miles recoils. ‘What’s the matter?’
‘There’s someone out there,’ she says, the words tumbling out on top of each other.
‘What do you mean?’
She leans into him, and her hand trembles in his. ‘I mean, there’s a man outside, out the window.’
‘It’s all right,’ Miles says, although he doesn’t quite believe it. His skin has turned cold. The mood in this flimsy, remote structure has undergone an abrupt change. What felt playful and exciting is suddenly dreadful. The sounds of the storm, which seemed romantically dramatic twenty seconds earlier, are now menacing and unwanted. He can barely see further than a couple of yards in front of him. They’re penned in by the dark.
Jessie activates the torch app and directs it in front of her, creating a spot of light on the middle window. She points a shaky finger. ‘Right there.’
Miles takes her phone out of her hand, presses the device against the glass. ‘There’s no one out there.’
‘There was, I swear.’
‘You’re sure?’
‘I want to go back,’ Jessie says, a tremor in her voice.
