Page 71 of The Alpha Escort Agency
He takes her to his spot and they lie down, side by side on the tarpaulin, snuggling together as he draws the blankets over the both of them.
“It’s so beautiful here,” she says, “so peaceful.”
“I always like it best when it’s just me. No one else.”
“Oh, did I disturb you?” She glances up at him.
He kisses the end of her cold nose. “I like having you with me.”
“Have you seen any birds?”
“Not today. But I got some nice shots, anyway.”
“That reminds me. Thank you for my gift. I got you one too." She shuffles about, reaching down into her coat pockets and pulling out a small wrapped parcel. He leans up on one elbow, and rips off the paper with his free hand. It’s a small silver flask, the size of his palm.
She watches as he examines it. “I can’t bear the thought of you out here in the cold. I thought you could use a shot of whisky or two to keep you warm … when I can’t.”
He laughs. “I’d much rather you kept me warm.”
She peers straight ahead, eyes gazing across to the water, rippling slightly in the light breeze.
“I wish you’d told me about your nan.”
“I suppose I was being all Alpha about it — taking sole responsibility for trying to sort it all out.”
“I suppose you were. I wouldn’t want it to be that way between us. One person shouldn’t depend solely on the other. It should be a partnership, don’t you think? Two people looking after each other.”
“That’s how it is with my nan and grandad.”
“They are still really in love.”
He chuckles fondly. “Yeah, it used to drive me nuts as a kid. All the snogging.”
“I think it’s sweet.”
“It is." He nods, thinking about it. "I hope I’m still snogging you when I’m in my seventies.”
She stares at him, a little open-mouthed, then nods, tucking her hair under her hat and behind her ear, the lobe burning scarlet. “You want to be with me that long? I mean, I’m 28. That’s a long time.”
“I wish I’d met you years ago. It seems like a waste.” He takes her hand in his, the tip of his gloved thumb circling her palm, warm through the wool. “So you saw my nan?”
“Yes … she had a few words to say to me.”
He groans. “Oh shit. What did she say?”
“Nothing bad," she says, "well, maybe a bit forthright. She knows her mind.”
“You have no idea.”
“She told me I was a fool for letting you get away. I said I’d realised that and that was why I was there. Then she told me, quote, ‘to get my arse over here’.”
He lifts the blanket and peers down behind them. “It is a very fine arse.”
She shifts round, tucking her body into his and kissing him, sliding her tongue into his mouth and sucking on his lips. “Can we go somewhere warm?” she whispers.
He glides his hand down the outline of her body, finding her backside and gripping it hard, squeezing it tightly, and she shivers against his touch. “Yes,” he growls. “I’m taking you home, Alice. It’s been too long.”
Chapter 22
