The sun was still shining as she locked up and the salt air tasted so delicious that she filled up her lungs over and over.Setting off down The Butts, she saw Martyn instantly, perched halfway up his metal staircase in the shade. As she drew near, he came down to intercept her. His hair was shower-damp and he looked great, as if he’d slept all morning and run all afternoon.
His smile was a caress as he tipped up her face and kissed her. Taking his time. Deepening the kiss, settling her against him so that they touched in the maximum number of places. ‘You look seriously cute in that hat.’
‘I feel seriously exhausted and icky. I’m going home to shower, then sleep until it’s time to get up in the morning and open the Teapot again.’
Horrified eyes opened wide. ‘That’s a terrible plan. I have a better one — come upstairs to my place. I have to be at a shoot in Paris at dawn on Sunday, which means setting off Saturday afternoon.Tomorrow.’ He kissed her again, a gently coaxing kiss that sent such a tingle through her that she half-expected a shower of stars around her head, like a fairy waving her wand in a Disney cartoon.Turrrrrring!
‘What’s so good about your place?’ she mumbled, leaning her cheek against his chest to feel the steadybmm-bmm-bmmof his heart.
‘Big bed,’ he whispered.
‘Mm?’ She pretended to be considering.
‘Sleeping all night in my arms after hours of sizzling sex. I’m feeling very . . . attentive.’
‘Mmmmmm.’
‘Creative.’
‘Mmmmmm.’
‘There’s wine chilling.’
‘Mm.’
‘Fish and chips for supper—’
She pushed herself away and planted a kiss beside his mouth. ‘OK, you got me. I’ll be back in an hour, when I feel clean.’
His eyes gleamed. ‘So that I can make you feel dirty?’
With that thought whizzing around her head, she needed less time to recharge her batteries than she’d anticipated and it wasn’t even the hour she’d promised, when she returned with a smile and an overnight bag.
The instant that she stepped inside his front door, he trapped her between his body and the wall. She turned to spaghetti. And his kisses were the boiling water.
Slowly — because he didn’t seem inclined to unwrap himself from around her or to stop with the kisses — he guided her to one of the big, squashy sofas, pausing briefly in the kitchen area for chilled white wine and glasses. His big, swanky laptop stood open on the table, ticking away to itself, demonstrating how busy it was with a download or an upload or something as a blue line grew slowly across the screen.
He poured the wine then swooped her up and on to his lap, nodding at the screen. ‘I’ve been doing a revamp of Ace’s agency site. I’m uploading files. Now I’ve started I need to stick with it for a while.’
‘Sure.’ She smothered a yawn and tucked her cheek against the hollow beneath his collar bone.
‘Tired?’ He traced her jawline with a fingertip. ‘It’s damned Robina’s fault. You could have stayed in your bed all morning. Like I did.’
She widened her eyes, fighting their demands that she should let them close. The first sips of wine, however crisp and chill on her tongue, had let fatigue press down on her eyelids. ‘You slept all morning while I slaved? I knew it, you rat bastard.’
‘I’d had a hard night.’ His lips touched butterfly kisses to her forehead.
‘You bet.’ Despite her best efforts, she heard her voice fading into the distance as sleep began to melt her. Then jumped awake when his doorbell rang.
He sighed. ‘I really hope that this is someone I can either get rid of quickly or push down the stairs. Not a sister. Sisters are like limpets when you don’t want them around.’
She let him pour her into a corner of the sofa, where she curled like a puppy. But her eyes reopened when she heard Ru’s voice. ‘Ru? What’s up?’
He slouched across the carpet towards her, hair falling over his face and hands so far in his pockets that it looked as if his jeans were going to slide off over his bony hips. ‘Nothing,’ he shrugged, aimlessly. ‘I just saw you coming up here so I thought it would be OK if I said hi to Martyn, too.’
Martyn, she could see from the frustration burning in his eyes, wasn’t totally appreciating Ru’s neighbourliness. She smiled at him, hoping she was telegraphing,don’t throw him out; he’s just an insecure kid.
Ru dropped on to the sofa, next to Honor. ‘Cool laptop. Your download’s finished.’
