Page 56 of You Only Live Once
He gave a soft smile. ‘There is that.’ He lifted his head a moment, sniffing the air like Clive had earlier when someone had lit a portable barbecue. ‘That smells wonderful.’
‘It’s really relaxing. Do you want some for your bath?’
‘Umm, no. No, that’s fine. I’ve got some Radox. That’s fine.’
I laughed. ‘I promise I won’t tell either,’ I whispered.
Jack took a step closer, his chest millimetres away now as he tilted his head down. ‘How do I know I can trust you not to ruin my reputation as an outdoorsy, tough guy type?’
‘You know that’s not what people really think, don’t you?’
‘Huh?’ He stepped back and looked surprised. ‘They don’t?’
I couldn’t keep the straight face I’d fixed on. ‘OK. They do, but it’s actually posh outdoorsy tough guy type.’
He pulled a face at me. ‘Great.’
‘Oh, don’t be so silly,’ I said, turning away in order to go and stop my bath, and grab the bath crème. Putting a little more distance between me and Jack for a moment might have also had something to do with it. Believe me, there was no chance the general population had any doubt as to the veracity of Jack being a gorgeous specimen of alpha masculinity and I wouldn’t be among those questioning that. Sometimes, when Jack was close, it was easy to feel like a planet being sucked into his gravity field. And I knew that wasn’t a good idea. I had my own orbit that I’d been happily, or mostly happily, pootling around in for the last decade or so. I definitely didn’t need any celestial moments to come along and wreck all that.
* * *
As I lay back in the bath, surrounded by bubbles and heady scents, I could hear the rain begin to fall more heavily. There was something comforting about being inside, warm and relaxed with the soft wash of rain hushing the sounds of the evening outside. I took a sip of the Baileys that Jack had brought me, before resting it on the small table to the side of the bath. Picking up my book, I began to read.
Between the exercise, good food and a relaxing soak, I was asleep almost as soon as my head touched the soft, expensive cotton of my pillowcase. Three hours later, I was woken suddenly by a huge and extremely loud crack of thunder breaking close to the house. My eyes flew open as I lay there, frozen for a moment, my brain putting together all the pieces as it roused itself from the deep sleep I had been enjoying until that moment. Just as it was doing so, another huge clap resonated and I pushed back the covers, grabbed my dressing gown and headed downstairs.
Clive was standing by the sofa, his tail tucked under, and upon hearing me by the door, he practically flattened me as I entered, launching himself at me, and almost winding his body around my legs. I crouched down.
‘It’s OK, sweetheart. I’m here. It can’t hurt you.’ I cuddled him to me. His body shook with fear, making me hold him closer. After some more soothing words, I stood and pulled his bed over to the front of the sofa, holding out Hot Dog for him to take. Clive took him gently and followed my silent instruction to get into his bed. I grabbed one of the blankets and tucked it around him and then settled myself next to him on the sofa, lying down so that I could rest my hand on him, letting him know I was there before pulling a quilt that normally draped over the side of the sofa up over me. Clive gave a couple of whines but, with a few more strokes, seemed to settle.
After a few minutes, Clive sat up again. ‘It’s all right, boy,’ I tried to soothe but he was focused on the door, whining at it. Outside, the thunder rumbled again. It seemed to be stuck right above the house. I pushed back the quilt and followed Clive over, trying to coax him back to his bed with gentle movements and words. Suddenly the door pushed open slowly, and in the bright flash of lightning that accompanied it, from my crouched position next to the dog, I found myself face to face with a pair of muscular legs.
‘Hi,’ a deep, sleep-roughened voice above them said.
‘Hello,’ I said, straightening up and, with kind permission of another bolt, saw shorts, T-shirt and what, in my books, would be described as that just out of bed, sexily ruffled look some men do so well. Like I didn’t have enough to contend with.
‘You OK?’
‘Yes, thanks. It’s a bit loud out there, isn’t it?’
Jack was crouched now, fussing Clive. ‘It is. I came down to check on him, but I can see I was slow to the party,’ he said, straightening up and leading Clive gently but firmly back to his bed. I briefly lit up my phone to help him see his way.
‘I wasn’t sure if he would be all right with the storm. I know some animals don’t like them.’
‘By the looks of it, that includes this one. That was kind of you.’ He turned immediately, holding up his hands. ‘That sounded way more patronising than it was supposed to. I mean, obviously it wasn’t meant to be patronising at all.’
‘It’s fine,’ I said, touching his arm briefly. ‘I know what you meant. You can go back up to bed, if you like. I think we’re all right here.’
‘I don’t mind sitting up for a while.’ He paused as another loud crack broke over the house. ‘It’s not exactly like I’m going to be getting much sleep anyway.’
‘It does rather seem that way. I can make some hot drinks, if you’d like,’ I said, snuggling Clive back under the blanket and tucking Hot Dog in with him.
‘Nope,’ he said, straightening out the quilt I’d been lying underneath. ‘You were obviously pretty comfy under there before I came down. You get back in there and I’ll make the drinks.’
‘You don’t have to do that.’
‘I know I don’t. But I want to. Come on, in you hop.’
‘I’m not five.’
