Page 27 of Marry Me…Maybe?
She’d figure it out in the morning.
Theo woke early the next day, with Emily’s hair tickling his nose. She’d somehow managed to wriggle next to him in the night, and was tucked inside the scoop of his body, her shapely backside pressed against his bent thighs.
After he’d been sure she’d fallen asleep last night, he’d got up and taken a freezing cold shower, only managing to take the edge off his fierce burning need to bury himself inside her and have done with it. But he knew if he took a step over the line he’d drawn for himself that would be it – there’d be no going back.
Not that he hadn’t already nudged right up to it by going down on her, but he figured if he kept her satisfied, he’d be able to get through this thing unscathed. And it hadn’t exactly been an arduous chore. She had an incredible body – one he’d enjoyed kissing and licking and feeling squirm beneath him immensely.
There was still something about her that made him jumpy, though; he sensed a deeply buried secret which she used her overwhelming personality to hide. Something dark, hidden deep. There had to be. No one could be that upbeat and carefree for real. She had to be masking something.
Not that he cared enough to find out what it was.
Getting up, being careful not to wake her, he got dressed and made his way downstairs.
He found his mother already in the kitchen, reading the papers and drinking weak tea.
‘Good morning, Theo,’ she said, looking up from what she was reading to give him an assessing glance. ‘You look as though you haven’t slept all night.’
Was that a glint of mischief in her eyes? Surely not. His mother didn’t have the verve for mischief.
‘I’m fine,’ he said, going over to the counter to set up the coffee-maker.
When he turned back, she was watching him with a discerning look in her eye. She got up gracefully from the table and walked over to where he was standing.
‘I’m going for a walk and I may not be back before Emily leaves. Would you tell her that I’ve made my decision?’ she said, pausing for effect.
‘Yes, of course,’ he said, to fill the irritating nerve-filled gap she’d left.
‘I’d be happy for her friend to hold her wedding reception here,’ she said, placing a hand onto his shoulder in an uncharacteristic show of affection.
It took him a moment to get over the shock of her touching him before he was able to respond. ‘She’ll be delighted.’
‘Good – good. Thank you, darling. See you later for lunch,’ she said, before sweeping out of the room.
He stood there, staring at the empty kitchen, feeling a strange mixture of relief and something else he couldn’t quite place. Disappointment, perhaps? Because his mother’s agreement spelt the end of Emily’s need to be here, and he didn’t quite know how to feel about that any more.
He wanted to get back to work without constantly being distracted by the thought of her, but he also accepted that she’d be leaving a niggling hole behind once she was gone from his life.
Clearly, he’d got a little too reliant on the anticipation of Emily turning up to disrupt his day with her forthright teasing and game playing.
It was time to release her from their agreement.
5
After Emily had got up and found the bed empty of Theo, she made her way downstairs and discovered him alone in the kitchen, drinking coffee and reading one of the many newspapers strewn all over the large oak table.
‘Good morning,’ she said, suddenly a little jumpy at the sight of him. He looked tired – as if he hadn’t slept at all. Perhaps he should have accepted her offer of an orgasm in return – that would have knocked him right out, just as it had her.
‘You get the newspapers?’ she said, walking up to the table and rifling through them to see which ones he chose to read. They were mostly broadsheets. ‘That’s so old school. You’re the only person our age I know who still reads the news off real paper. You know there’s this thing called the Internet, right? It’s a fount of information.’
He ignored her jibe. ‘Help yourself to coffee,’ he said, waving towards the machine on the counter without looking up.
She went over to it and poured herself a mug full of the hot liquid nectar, then sat down at the table next to him. Her body appeared to be throbbing with the pleasurable memory of howhe’d touched and kissed it last night, and she was keen to reconnect with him this morning. Just in case there was a chance of second helpings.
‘Where’s your mother?’ she asked.
‘She went out for a walk.’
Emily nodded, pleased they wouldn’t be interrupted. She had this strange yearning to spend a bit of time with Theo in the daylight, and she didn’t fancy having his mother playing gooseberry to it. If truth be told, she’d got on quite well with the woman since they’d got past their frosty start, but it would be a real mood-killer to have to hang around with Francesca all day today.
