Page 13 of The Christmas Holiday
It was obscenely early, and having checked in I was now sitting in the business-class lounge at Heathrow Airport, working on my second cup of coffee and willing the caffeine to make some sort of effort to jumpstart my system. So far it didn’t seem to be producing anywhere near the effects I was hoping for. Surely, for the money they were charging for the flight, there should be an IV-caffeinesystem thrown in? I took a moment and watched Sandeep and Olivia a few chairs away from me. Her head was resting on his shoulder, and she was whispering something. He laughed softly and replied, moving his hand so it stroked his fiancée’s silky straight tresses as they lay over her shoulder. I could already feel ideas forming in my head for the feature covering their lavish Christmas wedding, whichwould be the culmination to this trip. It was clear, unlike some of the ones I’d attended in the past, that this was a match built on mutual respect and a deep and very true love.
A bag thumping to the floor beside me yanked me from my ponderings and made me start. The owner of it sauntered lazily towards the couple. They looked up and greeted him enthusiastically before he wandered off andgrabbed himself some breakfast items from the selection on display.
Having made his choice, Hunter stopped at the coffee machine, making inroads on a croissant from his plate as he waited for the cup to fill. I watched from beneath my lashes as several of the women in the room followed him with their eyes, taking in the suggestion of sculpted muscles hiding underneath the black T-shirt hewore, the long sleeves of which he’d pushed back, exposing strong, tanned forearms. Some observing eyes had wandered lower and now roved over the stone-coloured cargo pants, coming to rest on his rear. Lorelei was right. He still had a great bum. It really was so annoying.
The machine finished producing his drink and he took the mug out of the way, enabling the woman waiting beside him touse it. I watched as she smiled, and then pressed a few buttons randomly on the machine and laughed, saying something to Hunter as she did so. He looked back, gave a quick glance at the machine and then back to the woman before setting his cup back down on the counter. Taking the existing cup out of the machine, he dumped the contents then put it back under the nozzle before pressing a couple of buttons.She looked at him like he’d just solved the Rosetta Stone. He gave her a brief smile, nodded, then grabbed his coffee and headed back towards me. I rolled my eyes and went back to studying the guidebooks I’d brought with me.
‘Do you mind?’ he asked, indicating the seat next to me with his coffee cup.
I shrugged. He took that as a “no” and sat down, taking a bite of a pain au chocolat ashe did so.
‘Your new friend looks like she has space next to her.’ I kept my voice light and innocent.
He looked over the top of his mug at me.
‘What new friend?’
I indicated with my eyes to where the woman from the coffee machine was now sitting and throwing surreptitious glances Hunter’s way. Almost imperceptibly he followed my gaze then returned it to the plate of food in frontof him.
‘Not really my type.’
‘Why not?’
‘I don’t go in for player moves.’
‘How do you know it was a player move? Maybe she really didn’t know how to work the machine?’
‘There’s an empty cup in front of her with the same shade of lipstick on it as she’s wearing, so she’s obviously already had one.’
‘Maybe someone else worked the machine for her that time?’
‘Then sheshould have paid attention.’ He finished the last of his coffee. ‘What?’ he asked, seeing my expression.
‘Nothing.’
‘You think that’s harsh?’
I shrugged. ‘Maybe a little. She was obviously just trying to start a conversation with you.’
He gave a little shake of his head as he stood, brushing off the flaky crumbs that had missed the napkin. ‘So start a conversation then. Don’t playgames. I’d rather people just be honest. Life’s too short for games.’ With that he strode back towards the counter, got himself another espresso and flicked through a couple of the free newspapers provided as he waited.
I watched for a moment before returning to my book, but I couldn’t concentrate. It was strange to see this man I’d once known so well speak like that. Physically, he was muchthe same as the man I’d known – a little broader, a little older and a little more tanned than the day he’d walked out of our house almost five years ago. But mentally, he was almost a stranger. I’d seen flashes of the man I’d known now and then, when he was interacting with Olivia and Sandeep – people who’d clearly become his friends. But for the most part, I didn’t recognise him. He was tougherthan he’d been before, more critical, less easy-going it seemed. It was like working with a stranger – but twice as hard because there was this unspoken history between us. I hadn’t mentioned it and neither had Hunter but it was there. I wondered if the others knew. Neither had said anything and I hadn’t noticed any surreptitious glances going on at dinner the other evening so I made a guess thatHunter hadn’t told them.
As I flipped the page on my book, not having taken in much of the previous one, Hunter wandered back over and retook his seat, stretching long legs out in front of him and shuffling down in the seat.
‘What are you reading?’ He reached over and took the book for a moment, pulled a face and handed it back.
‘What was the face for?’
He shrugged. ‘That’s notthe best one you could have picked but…’
I blew out a sigh. ‘Of course it’s not. But I bet your girlfriend would have picked exactly the right one and could probably design a bloody coffee machine as well as operate one.’ I tossed the book in the top of my open shoulder bag and folded my arms.
‘Jesus. You didn’t get any better at early mornings, did you?’
I snapped my head around toface him. A smirk teased the corners of his mouth. I gritted my teeth.
‘What girlfriend anyway?’
