Page 37 of Electric Kiss

“To make you cower in the corner, something must havemade you feel that way. It looked to me like you were hiding, but there wasn’t anyone in the cottage.”

“I’d got changed out my work clothes into comfy, sitting in a bathroom, clothes,” she said, her lips tipping up.

Thank God she was coming back to herself. Nate began to relax.

“Go on,” he said, slouching down and putting his feet on either side of her hips.

“I’d gone to the window to close the curtains,” she said.

Then she craned her neck to look out through the bathroom door into the bedroom.

“I can’t see. Are the curtains closed?”

Nate turned around and saw most of the windows, then turned back.

“One is open, and one is closed.”

“I must have seen something,” she mused.

“Someone from the movie set?”

“I doubt they would get past the security fences erected to protect the cottages.”

“You must have seen something that sent a message to your mind that scared you.”

“I’m not sure what would have sent me into a spiral. Thank you for turning up when you did. I’m not sure how long it lasts.”

It was on the tip of his tongue to offer to move in, but even to him that sounded extreme, but she brought out all his protective instincts. He couldn’t bear the thought of her being alone in the cottage, terrified and vulnerable to whatever it was that had caused her distress.

As Nate looked at her, he couldn’t help but notice how strikingly beautiful she was. Her long dark hair cascaded down her back in gentle waves, and her eyes seemed to sparkle with intelligence and humour.

He cleared his throat and tried to sound casual. “Listen, I know this might sound crazy, but why don’t I come and stay with you for a few days? You have a spare room, and it might help you feel more at ease.”

He couldn’t explain why he felt so drawn to her, but something about her made him want to keep her safe at any cost.

She looked wary, so he changed the subject.

“Do you have anyone to talk to apart from me?”

“I talk to my mum. She’s trying to help me work out what is freaking me out. I send her pictures of where I am after it happens. Did you know the armchair in your garage used to be in my playroom at Turner Hall?”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah. How did you get it?”

“My dad bought it from someone on the island. I’m not sure, really. I can ask him when I call him next.”

“I think that might help. It seems bizarre that you have it.”

“Maybe it is fate.”

She gave him a baleful look, and he grinned.

“Daisy?”

“Yeah?”

“I didn’t think any of you were in contact with your mother. Throughout school, it was rife about your mum leaving your dad and the four of you. Do your brothers talk to her too?”

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