Tilly’s face was unreadable.
‘Yes,’ she said.
His lips twitched. He respected that she wasn’t a pushover.
‘Will you accompany me on my holiday, Mathilde? As my guide and companion?’
‘On one condition,’ Tilly said.
‘Which is?’
‘That you do not call me Mathilde. You sound like the headmaster of my school when I was in trouble. Again.’
The very idea that a young Tilly could be some kind of troublemaker gave Angus another, inexplicable, shaft of a sensation he had no ability to name. This time, though, he could identify notes in what had to be a complex mix. There was curiosity there. And amusement.
He kept his face straight. ‘Agreed,’ he said.
As long as you’re not in trouble, he added silently.
‘Have you had enough to eat?’ he asked.
‘Yes.’
He had eaten more than he probably should of what had been a very enjoyable meal, but for some reason they both reached for a last frite at the same time and their hands met over the top of the basket.
Skin on skin again.
That crackle. Again, although it wasn’t as strong this time.
Maybe Tilly had felt it, too? Was that why they both pulled back, avoiding eye contact?
‘We should go,’ Tilly said. ‘We have a very early start tomorrow.’
Angus put his hand up to signal to the waiter for the bill.
‘I’ll meet you at the hotel,’ she added. ‘At 4.30a.m.’
‘I’ll be ready.’
He was, he decided, walking back to his hotel a few minutes later, ready for anything.
A phrase that he had never heard leave his lips was suddenly right there, just waiting to escape.
Bring it on…
6
Tilly had found the proximity to Angus disconcerting enough when he’d been in the passenger seat of her mother’s SUV.
Sitting in the passenger seat of the little red sports car – without the distraction of having to focus on driving – was a whole new level of intimacy that was more than disconcerting. This was downright disturbing.
The fabric roof reminded Tilly of the canopy of a four-poster bed. The seats were so low it felt as if her bottom was dangerously close to brushing the road surface. With the vibration of the engine and the speed with which the countryside was flashing past, it was…
…thrilling, that’s what it was, she had to admit, but it was also definitely out of her comfort zone.
She was sitting so low that she had to look up to see over that long bonnet to where the headlights were illuminating the road ahead, and the backs of the seats were reclined enough to feel as if she was almost lying down.
In a bed.
