Page 105 of For Love or Money
‘True. Jane did sterling work last night with that Philippe bloke.’ Lesley ate her last chip and sighed, leaning back. ‘I’m going to miss this,’ she said, looking out at the blue water, sparkling with sunlight. ‘I can’t believe tomorrow is our last day.’
Al smiled sympathetically.
She was going to miss the heat of the sun and the intensely blue sky. But she felt a little pang at the thought of not being with Al all the time, chatting to him in bed at night about everything, bouncing ideas off him and going over the events of the day. She’d found it surprisingly easy being thrown together so intimately with him. She liked how friendly and confident he was, and she’d got used to him putting his arm casually around her shoulders or holding her hand. It felt nice, and she’d miss it. She wondered whether they could stay friends when the case was over.
‘So am I forgiven?’ she asked as they got up to leave.
‘Yes, I’ve decided you were just acting out of jealous rage at seeing me with Cassie, so I’ve forgiven your momentary lapse.’
‘Huh! Good story.’ She knew he was joking, but it felt dangerously close to the bone.
‘But I’ve assured you that you have nothing to worry about on that score, and now we’re stronger than ever.’
‘Sounds good,’ she said. And even though there was no one around to see, she didn’t protest when he took her hand in his as they left the restaurant.
34
‘What the fuck?’ Lesley was startled awake by a loud booming that seemed to permeate the walls of the house. It sounded like a long series of explosions, and she half expected to see the house crumbling around her as she tentatively peeled her eyes open. She quickly realised it was thunder when she saw the room lit up by sporadic flashes of lightning.
She squeezed her eyes closed again as the thunder rumbled on, hoping it would stop in a minute. She hated lightning. But when she peeked again, it was still flashing constantly at the window, lighting the room in jagged bursts like a strobe, and making her feel sick and dizzy. She’d never experienced such a dramatic electrical storm before.
‘Al?’ she whispered, groping for the switch on the bedside lamp. ‘Are you awake?’
There was no answer. She was about to flick on the light, when she remembered you weren’t supposed to touch anything electrical during a lightning storm.
‘Al,’ she hissed, louder this time. She leaned over and peered down at him. His eyes were closed. ‘Al!’ she shouted.
‘Huh?’ He stirred.
‘Are you awake?’
‘Well, I am now,’ he said, his voice thick with sleep as he looked up at her blearily. ‘Something wrong?’ He shifted up on one elbow.
She gave him an incredulous look. ‘There’s thunder and lightning.’
‘So I see. It doesn’t bother you, does it?’
‘I can’t say I’m a fan,’ she said, cringing away from the window as there was another booming roll of thunder, and a spectacular flash. ‘I’ve never seen lightning like this before.’
‘It gets like that here sometimes. It’s nothing to worry about.’
‘That’s easy for you to say all the way over there. I’m here next to the window. If anyone’s going to be a lightning rod in this room, it’s me.’
He blinked at her dazedly. ‘Want to swap?’
She shook her head. ‘What if the lightning got you, and I’d have to break it to your family that it was my fault?’ She squealed as the lightning flashed brighter, squeezing her eyes shut. ‘I don’t want to have you getting burnt to a crisp on my conscience.’
‘Well, you’re welcome to join me over here, if you like.’
It was tempting. It definitely looked safer on his side. ‘Maybe ...’ Then there was a spectacularly loud boom of thunder and the light show seemed to crank up a notch. ‘Okay,’ she said, throwing off the duvet and diving across the pillow barrier as if trying to escape a bomb blast. Al pulled back his duvet and she scrambled onto the mattress beside him.
‘Do you want me to go over to the other side?’ he asked. ‘I don’t mind.’
‘No, this is fine.’ It was comforting to have the warmth of another body. It felt cosy and safe. Well, sort of ...
She yelped, clutching the sheet as there was another clatter of thunder. A flash at the window filled the room with piercing light, and she squeezed her eyes shut, turning away from it. When she opened them again, she found herself staring straight into Al’s eyes, his face inches from hers. He was so close she could feel the warmth of his breath, and she suddenly felt very aware of the intimacy of the situation, their near-naked bodies crushed together. She only had knickers on under the short T-shirt she slept in, and Al was wearing nothing but boxers. Her heart started pounding very fast, and it had nothing to do with the storm.
She pressed herself closer to Al, huddling into his bare chest, and his arms came around her. His eyes dropped to her mouth as she leaned closer. When she touched her lips tentatively to his, he pulled back slightly, frowning at her questioningly.
