Page 35 of About Last Night
‘Hey, Lula, how are you doing?’
Her pupils seemed huge in the muted light of the bar. ‘Not bad, but my new boss is a bit of a slave-driver so I’m pretty wiped out.’ She shot him a teasing smile, which he returned, pleased she was joking around with him again. ‘I was thinking about heading off soon actually,’ she continued, her gaze sliding away from his. ‘Need to get an early night in.’
‘Yeah? Me too. I’ll walk out with you,’ he said, standing up and waiting pointedly for her to do the same.
He missed the flirty banter they’d had between them and this was an ideal opportunity to get her on her own and talk freely without the worry of being interrupted or overheard.
Her look of surprise swiftly turned to apprehension. ‘You don’t need to do that, Tristan?—’
‘I know that, but I’m pretty done in too. I’ll walk you to the tube. I’m in an apartment in St Pancras now so it’s on my way.’
‘You’re not in the hotel any more?’ From the pink hue of her cheeks, she was evidently thinking about the night she’d spent there with him – just as he was now. Blood roared through his veins and he shifted behind her, attempting to disguise the incongruous effect the memories were having on him.
‘I thought if I was going to be here for a couple more weeks, I’d be better off renting a short lease apartment. A friend of mine owns a place in the clock tower of St Pancras station.’
‘Really?’ She widened her eyes, her interest clearly piqued.
‘Yeah, it’s a great place. Good location.’
‘It sure is.’
There was an awkward silence.
‘Okay. Let’s go,’ he said, not wanting to give her an opportunity to back out.
She studied him for a few more beats.
From the way her eyelids flickered, he felt sure she was having another of those internal arguments in her head.
‘Okay, that would be great,’ she said finally.
After saying their goodbyes to a rather inebriated Claire, who was now happily being charmed by another of the foppish youths in the party, they exited the bar into the cool night air of the cobbled square.
‘I should have made it clear we weren’t leavingtogether,’ Lula muttered, frowning hard at the door they’d just closed behind them.
‘Want me to go back and make an announcement to the bar about how we’re not going to sleep together tonight?’ Tristan teased. He was gratified to see her mouth twitch into a begrudging smile.
‘No!’ She slapped him gently on the arm, her touch leaving an echo of sensation on his skin. ‘That wouldreallyset tongues wagging. Protesting too much, and all that.’
He grinned, resisting the urge to bend down and kiss the pseudo scowl off her face and gestured for her to start walking.
After a couple of steps, she stumbled on the cobblestones and he instinctively took her arm, feeling her tense beneath his grip, but she didn’t pull away.
Her body felt warm and solid next to his and her hip bumped gently against his thigh as they walked, only increasing his desire to push her into a dark alleyway and make a mockery of his last statement.
They strolled in edgy silence as they navigated their waythrough the narrow, cobbled back streets of Farringdon towards the tube station.
‘Are you really living in the clock tower at St Pancras?’ Lula finally asked.
‘Uh-huh.’
‘That’s just so…’ She searched around for the word she was after, her cheeks glowing pink with the effort to locate it.
‘Pretentious?’ he supplied, grinning at her growing frustration. ‘Ridiculous? Showy?’
‘It’s just so goddamncool. How do you manage to makecoolseem so effortless?’
He snorted. ‘I didn’t realise I did, but thanks for the compliment.’
