Page 39 of Starting Over at Halesmere House
Alice refilled his own glass from earlier with water and took their plates to the table. She’d wondered what sitting down alone with him would be like. Different now, with Neil just through a door off the kitchen.
Zac reappeared, sinking onto a chair and running a weary hand over his face. ‘Thank you.’
‘It’s okay, you don’t have to keep saying it – once is enough. I know.’
‘Not the evening I thought we’d have.’ His gaze was level on hers as he picked up a thick slice of toast loaded with tuna and cheese.
‘Don’t say it, if you were going to apologise again. Also fine.’ Alice had refilled her wine glass. With Zac here, there was a driver if Neil needed one. Although that was hopefully unlikely, with him comfortable in the guest room and the noise of the television quiet beneath her and Zac’s conversation. ‘What kind of evening were you expecting?’
‘I’m not quite sure how to answer that.’ He was halfway through a first piece of toast. ‘Actually, I do. I was thinking we’d have a great time and I’d go home when it was over. How about you?’
‘Same.’ She waited a beat. ‘Maybe a little more. Not planned, though,’ she added hastily. She wasn’t that good at this game, not yet.
‘You didn’t tell me your guest room had an en-suite.’ That languid smile was back, and Alice swallowed as she put her wine glass down. ‘Why didn’t you make me shower in there instead of in your bedroom?’
‘I knew there weren’t any towels in the guest room,’ she improvised quickly.
‘Right.’ The smile widened as his voice lowered. ‘You couldn’t have brought one in for me?’
‘And disturbed you in the shower? Of course not.’
‘For the record…’ Zac’s gaze caught on her mouth and her lips parted. ‘If you ever need to bring me a towel again, just come on in. Disturb me some more.’
‘More?’ The word was forced out past the croak in her voice, needing to be certain of where they might be headed. A rush of desire came again, a new longing to touch and be touched, to wrap herself around him. The scent of her own rose and almond shower gel was fragrant on his skin, as fresh and sensuous as Zac himself.
‘More than you already do.’
‘I like that I can.’ It was true and Alice felt lighter, less afraid of what she wanted and how it might end.
He reached across the table to brush her fingertips and she drew in a sharp breath. How would more with him feel if this simple gesture was a means of measure?
‘I heard you before, at the fridge,’ Zac said softly. ‘Muttering out loud that you weren’t going to let yourself misbehave with me.’ He leaned over, smoothing loose hair from her face. ‘Just so you know, you can misbehave with me as much as you like.’
‘Your dad’s here,’ she whispered. Behind that door, a few feet away. ‘We can’t; he’s expecting you to…’
‘I didn’t mean right now.’ Still his eyes refused to let go of hers and she felt the disappointment rush back. ‘But getting to know you is fast becoming the most fun I’ve ever had in my experience of dating. Or not dating.’
‘And if we…’ Alice paused, not certain quite how directly she wanted to frame her question. In truth she knew she’d changed the game the moment she invited Zac to stay for dinner. She just couldn’t have imagined that Neil’s accident would have upped it some more.
‘What do you want, Alice? I know what we said the other night but…’ Zac covered her hand and this time she was the one to raise them and brush his in a soft kiss. Her confidence soared as his eyes darkened, breath trapped in his throat. His hands weren’t smooth, the skin worn by working outdoors and she let her lips trail across his fingers. This was her reply, and his voice was hoarse. ‘I have to leave. We can’t forget that.’
‘I won’t,’ she whispered. ‘And it’s okay.’ Right now, it was. She’d barely touched her food, and she didn’t want any more. She stood up, holding out her arm. This evening couldn’t be over yet.
‘Do you want to go upstairs? I’ll light the fire.’
Zac pushed his chair back and accepted her hand. ‘In a different house that would be a very different question,’ he said wryly.
Chapter Twelve
The fire in the sitting room didn’t take long to catch and Alice chose the sofa, leaving space for Zac beside her, but he settled on an armchair to her left. She supposed talking would be easier if they weren’t touching – this swerve in their relationship was still very new and for all her burgeoning flirting skills and apparent confidence at what might come next, she was still nervous about how it would be between them.
‘You look miles away.’ Zac’s voice jolted her out of the apprehension, and she sipped the wine she’d refilled.
‘Just lost in thought.’
‘Nice ones?’
‘I was thinking about you and me. How lovely this is.’ She couldn’t help it, her thoughts were bound up in his leaving, too. She was going into it with the facts of his situation clear. But still, a part of her already knew it wouldn’t be easy when he left. ‘Tell me about your new job.’
