Page 89 of The Christmas Holiday
He tilted his head and smiled. ‘No. That’s not what I’m saying.’
‘My flatmate thinks certain aspects of my wardrobe need… cheering up.’
Hunter laughed. ‘Is that so? And do you agree?’
‘No. I’m perfectly happy with my choices.’
‘So how come you’re wearing them?’
‘Because it’s become apparent that not only shouldI not leave my luggage unattended in the airport, I shouldn’t leave it unattended at home either.’
‘Ah! I see.’
‘Yeah.’
He pushed open the glass door to the conservatory, now shrouded in darkness, and stood aside for me to go past him. At the far end, snuggled up on one of the couches, looking out through the plate glass onto the star-speckled night sky were Liv and Sandeep.
‘CanI ask a question?’
‘Sure.’
‘Is this same flatmate responsible for the bikini too?’
I snapped my head up. ‘What?’
‘The white bikini. You always veered well away from anything like that before. I just wondered if that had come about in the same way as those.’ His eyes dropped momentarily to my shorts before raising again and meeting mine.
I scratched the back of my neck. ‘Yes.’
He nodded to himself as I waved hi to the others and took a seat on the sofa next to them. Hunter flopped in next to me and stretched out his legs. It was kind of a squeeze, but still… Grabbing a blanket off a pile on the table next to us, he shook one out and drew it over me.
‘Thanks.’
‘No problem.’
He leant over, his eyes still facing forward. ‘Your flatmate has great taste.’
‘Ha ha.’
Hunter looked directly at me now. ‘I’m serious.’
‘Oh. I, er, I don’t think… Oh my gosh! Did you see that?’ A stream of meteors suddenly caught my attention and, somewhere in the back of my mind, the thought registered that that was probably a good thing.
Two hours later and the shooting-star show was beginning to wind down. I’d wiggled around a bit trying to get comfy andhad eventually found a spot with my back against Hunter’s side. He’d nudged me after a few minutes to say thathis arm was going numb. I’d gone to shuffle again but he’d merely moved his arm and slung it along the back of the couch and eased me back into position. For a split second, I’d resisted. But then I told myself to stop being so ridiculous. It was just two people sitting on a couch. Whenyou shared a small sofa with Hunter Scott, it was kind of hard not to be wedged up against him anyway. It was really just a matter of which particular position you were wedged in. Just because I’d had a wobble when he’d bent towards me out in the snow yesterday didn’t mean I had to have any more. Hunter was just being Hunter and I was clearly writing too much romance and passion without experiencingenough myself. Lorelei was right. When I got back I was going to take her up on her offer of introducing me to the dating scene again. Just because I’d had a few bad experiences didn’t mean they were all going to be bad. Hunter tipped me up a little and out of my daydream, stretching as he stood, exposing his toned lower back. I dragged my eyes away. Yep. I definitely needed a date.
‘We’regoing to go up,’ Sandeep said, helping a very sleepy-looking Liv to her feet. ‘Thanks for keeping an eye on that for us, mate. It definitely looks like you picked the right night. It was amazing.’
‘Yes. You’re really quite lovely when you want to be.’ Liv reached up to hug him, stifling a yawn into his shoulder as she did.
Hunter grinned at her. ‘Thanks. I think.’
Liv smiled and thenwrapped me in a hug too. ‘Night night. See you in the morning.’
‘Night, Liv. Sleep well.’
She nodded sleepily. Sandy gave her a look, shook his head and swept her up into his arms. Liv giggled, and wrapped her hands around his neck before snuggling into his chest as they headed off up to their room.
‘They’re so adorable.’
