Page 11 of Replay
A rush of blood filled Alle’s cheeks.“Never,” she gasped, not entirely truthfully.She’d been a Black Halo fan long before she’d met any of them.
“That makes one of us.”
Her mouth dropped open.
Xane smoothed his middle finger over his lips, grin broadening, while his gaze remained fast upon her.He laughed, and nudged her shoulder.“I’m ribbing you.I don’t think you need anything green and prickly getting in the way tonight, do you?”
She shook her head, mouth still agape, and heat still sizzling in her cheeks.
“Just be gentle with him.He’s had a rough week, and he’s fragile at the minute.”
She could see that.No warning necessary.“I know.I will.”
“I’m trusting you.”Xane began to pace back and forth before the main doors.
“I swear I’d wring Marsh’s neck if I could.”
Xane stopped pacing and sighed.“Your brother’s a whisper in the wind.He’s a bastard, but he’s hardly the root of the problem.Just promise me you’re not in contact with him, and that you haven’t passed anything on.”
“God, no.The lousy bugger put me in an article.His own sister.If he pokes his head up, the only thing I’ll be doing is ringing his scrawny neck.”
Xane tilted his head while he slowly rotated the ring through the centre of his lower lip.“Siblings suck,” he sighed, before startling her by placing a kiss on the top of her head.“That’s my cab beeping.”She hadn’t even registered the tooting horn.“Laters.Say goodnight to Spook for me.Tell him I’ll call tomorrow.And Alle, take care of him.”
“I will.I promise.”
He nodded, then darted out into the heavy rain and dived into the waiting vehicle.Alle watched the vehicle lights scintillate like a million tiny rainbows in the water droplets clinging to the building’s glass frontage as the taxi pulled away.The air around her seemed weightier now Xane was gone, like he’d been keeping the fiercest, darkest shadows at bay.
Fuck it; her anxiety levels were climbing again, meaning she had to mindfully stretch her jaw to alleviate the ache.She had to get a grip on herself.They were okay.A little examination of the facts wasn’t going to explode into a drama.They were on the same side in this.
“Dinner?”Spook pulled her into an embrace from behind.
Alle sank into the welcoming haze of his aftershave.“My stomach certainly likes that idea.”It gurgled as if the emphasise the point.She’d been running on fumes for too long now.
Spook pressed a hand to her tummy in response to the sound.“Sounds like you’re up for eating an elephant.So, do you just want to nip into somewhere and grab something, or shall we clean up and go out for dinner?”He still had on his stage clothes and make-up from the photoshoot.The eyeliner smudged across his lower lids was making the blue of his irises hypnotic.
She stood staring at him for so long he leaned in and kissed her.“Alle, is everything okay?”
“Fine.”They needed to talk, that was all.Properly talk.And that wasn’t something they could do over dinner in a restaurant full of other people who were likely to gawk at them.In any case, she’d packed for utility not a fashion parade.
“Where are you staying?Could we eat there?”
Spook gave her a coy smile.“I’m not in a hotel.Actually, I’ve a place here.”
“Like a house place?”
“An apartment.It’s just off Oxford Street.Nice and central.Not that I’m there very often.”
That was now two homes she knew of, one here in London, and the other on a private island in Sweden, away from prying eyes, and well, everyone as far as she could tell.
“So, is that an offer to show me your pad?”
If this had been any other relationship, they’d have been in and out of one another’s houses and beds multiple times by now, and met one another’s families, but it wasn’t, and maybe it would never be.Hell, she hadn’t even seen his berth on the tour bus yet.Didn’t know the names of his sisters.And, well… the less said about his encounter with the one of her four brothers he’d met, the better.
Even though they definitely had to talk about it.
“Does this mean you’re offering to cook, too?”
He pursed his lips.“I’m not sure I’ve a whole lot in, but if you’re content with chicken and mushroom fricassee, I can probably manage that.”
Anything whipped up by him sounded good.“Will there be wine?”
“That I can also manage.”
By now, she couldn’t help the smile stretching her lips.
“Cool.”
Spook returned her grin.“Come on then, Ms Hutton.Let’s go brave the tube.”
