Page 158 of Off the Pitch

“Nessie!” I breathed, and beside me, Hugo chuckled.

“It wouldn’t hurt to look, would it?” he said.

“Of course not. As long as you’re okay living near my overbearing parent.”

“I’m sure I’d manage,” Hugo said. “I can get deadbolts for the door.”

“I’m not that bad,” David protested.

“You rang me from your luxury holiday in the Maldives to check on me.”

“That’s different.”

“I’m not sure it is, babe,” Christian said quietly.

“Hang on, you’re supposed to be on my side.”

“I am on your side,” Christian added, suddenly having to dig himself out of the hole he’d found himself in, smiling sweetly at his boyfriend who just raised an eyebrow. I didn’t know if it would work though. I’d tried the sweet smile on David before, and it had never had the desired effect. Then again, our relationship was vastly different than his one with Christian.

“Oh good, I’m glad I found you,” said Hélène, who had appeared at my shoulder like a very elegant ghost. “I’m sorry to drag you away from your guests, but I do have someone who wants to meet you. They’re one of my best clients, so I can’t really say no.”

“It’s fine,” I said. I took a deep breath and straightened my jacket. “Just please tell me you have some more of those little cheesy tartlet things. All this talking has made me rather hungry.”

“Sorry, we’re all out, but I do have an emergency Snickers in my handbag if you want that.”

“Amazing,” I said gleefully as I followed her across the room, Hugo just behind me. “Now, who is this person again?”

Chapter Thirty

KitSerious question… if we had a big enough house, could I have a pet highland cow? They’re so orange and I love them

HugoPotentially, but only if they got on with Nessie

Hugo

We were both dead on our feet by the time we got home.

The whole evening had been a success, and Hélène had casually mentioned before we’d left that virtually everything had sold, which was incredible considering the exhibition didn’t officially open until tomorrow.

Kit had nearly fallen asleep in the taxi, curled up with his head on my shoulder. I knew he’d been increasingly stressed over the past few weeks, especially after his mother had called, but now that it was all done his body had decided it was time to shut down and sleep. I couldn’t say I blamed him.

“C’mon,mon chéri. We’re here,” I said as the taxi pulled up outside the flat. Kit made a soft groaning sound as I nudged him into a sitting position and directed him towards the door.

“Are we home?” he asked, his voice thick and sleepy.

“Yes,” I answered, pulling my wallet out to pay the taxi driver. Kit nodded, taking hold of my hand as we pottered inside, then leaning on my shoulder as we climbed into the lift.

“Thank you,” he murmured, looking up at me through his long, dark lashes. “You were amazing tonight. I couldn’t have done it without you.”

“You’re welcome.” I pressed a soft kiss to his temple. “I’m so proud of you. You know that, right? Everyone loved your work.”

“I’m glad,” he said. “At least I can stop worrying now, although…” He paused, a tiny wrinkle of concern appearing between his eyebrows that was utterly adorable. “Hélène was muttering something about needing more paintings. I don’t know if I’ve got any more in me.”

“Well, we’ll just have to go back to Scotland,” I said, half-teasing.

“That sounds nice, maybe one day we can go in the winter. I bet it would look so pretty in the snow. And we can see more highland cows! They’re so orange and fluffy. I think we’d be friends.”

“I think you would too.” The lift pinged, and I dug around in my suit jacket for my keys as we walked down the short stretch of corridor to our front door. We’d left a couple of lamps lit earlier so we wouldn’t have to stumble into a dark flat, but the curtains were still open and now London was lit up in front of us. It was almost magical. I wrapped my arms around Kit, who was watching the lights out the window, and kissed the back of his head, breathing in his rich, perfect scent.

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