Page 20 of Kiss Me Ever After
“And you’re not even going to say thank you?”
I spun around and fixed him with a glare. “You haven’t given me the chance.” His brown and gold eyes glittered mischievously. “Thank you for coming into the cafe when you did. If you hadn’t…” My voice trailed off, suddenly struck by thoughts of what could have happened if he hadn’t arrived.
He reached a hand towards me and traced a line down the side of my jaw. “I’d never let anything happen to you.”
My insides turned to jelly, much like they had earlier, although this time for all the right reasons. “Do you… want to come in for a coffee? I’m guessing that’s why you came to the cafe earlier.”
His mouth stretched into a grin. “I thought you’d never ask.”
Once inside the house, all I wanted to do was get out of my work clothes. Ideally, I’d like a shower too, but I didn’t want to keep Justin waiting too long. I told him to make himself comfortable while I went upstairs. Racing into my room, I stripped off my jeans and polo shirt and quickly freshened up. I selected a pair of denim shorts and an oversized t-shirt which always slid down one shoulder, then shoved my feet into a pair of flat sandals. I headed back downstairs to the kitchen where I’d left him.
He had his head in the larder and let out a similar whistle to when he’d been outside. “I think this place is bigger than my bedroom.”
I laughed.
To be fair to my grandparents, they both loved to cook and had created the extensive pantry as a luxury. Ingredients from all around the world used to be stored in there, along with almost every alcoholic drink you could imagine. Now they were no longer spending as much time in the house, the food had disappeared, but a lot of the drinks remained. Maybe I’d host the end of summer party for Amber’s birthday this year and we could clear the lot out.
“How do you take your coffee?” I asked, heading over to the counter where the espresso machine sat.
Justin disappeared into the pantry again. “Hold the coffee. I think we need a proper drink.”
“What?” I joined him, totally conscious of how close we were.
“You’ve been through a traumatic experience, a small shot of something to calm your nerves would be better than caffeine.”
The way my heart was racing, he might have been right, although I was pretty sure the effect was down to him and not anything else. I opened my mouth to protest, but he placed a finger against my lips.
“Don’t worry, I won’t pick the expensive stuff. No one will even know we’ve had any.”
He swiped a bottle from the shelf and barged past me back into the kitchen. I waited a beat, trying to calm my breathing before I followed. Justin had opened each of the cupboards, trying to locate glasses.
“Here.” I went to the one right at the end and took out two tumblers. “We can use these.” I led the way into the living room and curled up on one end of the sofa. Once Justin settled at the other, I held out the glasses. He sloshed a healthy measure into each of them. I had no idea whether the amber liquid was whisky, brandy, rum or what. Right now, I didn’t really care either; I needed something to calm the swirl of emotions rushing around my nervous system.
Our fingers brushed as he took the glass. My skin tingled.
I took a tentative sip of the drink and coughed. “Jesus, Justin, what is this?”
He held the bottle up and turned the label towards me. It was shop brand whisky from the cheapest supermarket in town. Cooking whisky, as my grandad called it. “I said I wouldn’t go for the expensive stuff.”
“And you think a sniff of cheap whisky after everything I’ve been through today will make me feel better?” I stood up with every intention of going to find something decent to drink.
Justin leaped to his feet and grabbed my arm. “I think you need to sit down and rest.”
I screwed up my face. “But you were saying I needed a drink?”
“Which you do. One drink. Then you need to go to bed.”
Our gazes met. All the breath sucked from my body until I couldn’t get enough air into my lungs.
It was last summer all over again.
“Lennon.”
One word. Spoken with little volume but all the impact.
His hand slid to my bare shoulder where he pulled my t-shirt up to cover it. Next, his fingers travelled along the side of my neck, tickling the sweet spot behind my ear, before he moved to trace the outline of my lips.
My breath hitched, proof that I was at least still capable of the act.
