Hunter’s arm was still around me.
‘You all right?’
So long as feeling like an absolute idiot doesn’t count, then sure, I’m absolutely bloody peachy!
‘Thanks.’ I nodded stiffly, acting terribly British and hoping that single action and word covered everything.
‘Guess I’ll see you at the airport then.’
‘Yes. I guess so.’ Silence. ‘Are you getting a train?’
He shook his head. ‘No,’ he said, checking his watch. ‘I’ve got a friend just down the road. I think I’m going to stay there tonight.’
Can anyone say booty call?
‘Right. That’s nice then.’
That’s nice then? Jesus, Mia.
The smallest of smiles flickered at the corners of his lips. ‘See you in a few days, Mia.’ With that, he turned and walked away, shoving his hands in the pockets of his impeccably cut woollen coat, the collar turned up against the chill of the wind. I watched him for a moment before turning away and heading in the opposite direction to my flat.
Chapter Four
‘How was it?’ Lorelei asked, emerging from her bedroom dressed in a silk kimono as I slid the security chain on the door and kicked off my shoes.
I flopped face down on the sofa, burying my head in the myriad cushions that seemed to multiply the moment I turned my back.
‘Ugh.’
‘That good, huh?’
I added one slow hand flap for emphasis before wriggling around and lying on my back, staring at the ceiling. Lorelei threw a few cushions down and sat on them on the floor beside me. She reached over and held my hand.
‘Want to talk about it?’
I rolled my head from side to side and one of the tears I’d been holding in escaped.
‘Oh, honey,’ Lorelei said, softly, handing me a tissue.
‘He hates me. He did everything he could to get me off the assignment because he thinks I’m not up to the job, and because he doesn’t want to have to spend time with me.’
‘I’m sure that’s not really the case. Did he actually say that?’
‘Yes. Pretty much with those exact words.’
‘Oh.’
I swiped at my eyes and nose with the tissue. ‘Yeah. Maybe he’s right. Tonight was bad enough. How are we going to spend the next two months together, trying to capture this romantic journey, when all he wants to do is turn his back on me?’
‘OK. That’s it. Sit up.’
I made a protesting sort of noise but once Lorelei decided on something, it tended to happen. I sat up.
‘You listen to me, Mia Walker. Olivia and her fiancé chose you to do this job. She still wants you, right?’
I sniffed. ‘Yeah. She was really nice, actually. Not what I expected at all.’
‘Right. Good. Then that’s all that matters.’
‘But she just reads my wedding coverage pieces. She’s not experienced in the field like…’ I stopped because Lorelei was looking at me like she was thinking of having me committed. ‘What?’
‘Do you think you’d have been allowed anywhere near this job – whatever Olivia said – if Jeremy didn’t think you could do it? Sandeep Singh is not a man to waste money. He’s a really savvy guy and Jeremy doesn’t take shit from anyone. There’s no way you’d be doing this if either of them thought you were as flaky as you’re trying to sound!’
‘I’m not trying to sound flaky! You didn’t see the way he looks at her. She could ask for the moon and he’d have it gift-wrapped and delivered by dinner time! It’s sickeningly adorable! Getting the writer she wants wouldn’t be something he’d even think twice about, I’m sure.’
‘He’ll have checked you out and spoken to her father. I know these sorts of guys. Hell, I dated one for two years. Believe me, they don’t do anything without checking it out first, especially when it involves money.’
‘I guess.’
‘You guess right. You’re a great writer. Hunter Scott’s just got a stick up his ass because you dumped him. He has no right to try and get you replaced with his girlfriend because of that. It certainly isn’t professional.’
‘I think he makes an exception for me. From everything Jeremy said, professionalism is his middle name.’
‘Was he an ass all evening?’
‘No,’ I said, closing my eyes, ‘not all of it. Mostly he just ignored me if it was possible. And he did stop the cab driver strangling me…’
‘What!’
My eyes flew open. ‘Oh! No! My scarf. I shut it in the taxi door and he drove off and it was… Hunter caught me and stopped the cab.’
‘Right. There you go then!’
‘What?’
‘Well, he clearly doesn’t want you dead, so that’s a start.’
‘Right.’ I wasn’t sure that the fact he didn’t mind if I was alive was a whole lot to grab on to but I didn’t have much else. ‘I need to go to bed,’ I said, giving her a hug. ‘Thanks for everything.’ With that I went tramping off in the direction of the bedroom.
I closed the door and heard Lorelei’s close just after. Moments later, sounds began drifting through the flat. Sounds I most definitely recognised the tone of – although unfortunately not from any recent, firsthand experience. I fell on the bed fully clothed and pulled the pillow down over my head. The tension with Hunter aside, at least this assignment, taking in as it did destinations like India, Malaysia and LA, would not only get me away from a grey and cold London for a while, but hopefully might also have the added benefit of affording me a few solid weeks of undisturbed sleep.
***
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-caffeine system 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, which would 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 and grabbed 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 he wore, 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 to use 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 as he 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 front of 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 she should 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 play games. 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 much the 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 tougher than 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 that Hunter 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 not the 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 to face him. A smirk teased the corners of his mouth. I gritted my teeth.
‘What girlfriend anyway?’
‘The one you wanted to take on this trip. Instead of me.’
He ran a hand over his short crop. ‘I already told you she’s not my girlfriend any more. She’s just a really good journalist.’
‘And I’m not. Thanks. I guess all the support you gave me before was just a load of—’
He snapped his head up. ‘What happened between us was a long time ago and anything I said then is completely irrelevant today.’ His voice was low but tight, and I could see a muscle flickering in his jaw.
‘Right. Yes, obviously. But if you’re going to crap all over my work, I’d at least like to know what it is that you object to about it.’
‘You’re inexperienced out in the field. Liv and Sandy are good friends and they’re excited about this trip. I don’t want it cocked up. That’s all.’
‘Thanks.’
‘You’re the one that asked.’
‘Olivia likes my stuff and my boss thinks I can do it, so what makes you a better judge than both of them? Just because you’re in demand and doing fantastically in your own career doesn’t give you the right to shit over everyone else!’
Having to keep our argument in whispered tones was as frustrating as hell because what I actually wanted to do was completely let rip at him.
He stuck a hand out and yanked my chair closer. ‘Unlike some people, I would never do that and I don’t appreciate being accused of it.’
‘If that’s a dig at me, then fine! You think what you want, Hunter. I’m sorry you were hurt, I really am, and yes, it probably would have been better if we’d never had to see each other again, but here we are. You got your chance and your big break. I’m not expecting this to lead to anything like the giddy heights you’ve achieved – something I’m thrilled for you about, by the way, as impossible as I’m sure you find that to believe. But I want to do this and I know I can do a really good job, even if you have zero confidence in the situation. All I’m asking is for you not to keep trying to undermine me at every single opportunity. And when this is done, you can go back to your life, and jet off on the next adrenaline-fuelled, highly regarded assignment, and I’ll go back to doing what I do. It’s pretty unlikely you’ll ever have to have anything to do with me again. If this works out, and I actually get a shot at travel and have to team up with a photographer, you’re always going to be able to veto working with someone you don’t want to – i.e. me – so it’s never going to be an issue.’
I closed my eyes for a moment, swallowed, and then looked up into his face. ‘I know you hate me, Hunter. And I can’t do anything to change that. But if you give me a chance, I might at least be able to change your professional opinion of me.’
His hand was still gripping the chair, the knuckles pale through his tan. I’d always loved his hands. The long, strong fingers that would curl around mine and hold gently but firmly. It had made me feel like he would never let me go. And he hadn’t. I was the one that had let go.
‘Fine,’ he said eventually, relaxing his fingers on the chair. ‘You do your thing, I’ll do mine, and then it’s done.’
I nodded, looking for a hint of warmth in the chill blue of his eyes and finding none. A quiet buzzing began to intrude. Hunter broke the gaze and leant back. Reaching into a side pocket on his trousers, he drew out a smartphone, packed in a similar ruggedised cover to the ugly one I used. Glancing at the screen, his mouth curved and he answered, a softness in his voice that hadn’t been there a moment ago.
‘Hi.’ He pushed himself up from the chair and took the phone call out of my hearing.
I watched him walk away, one hand on the phone, the other shoved in his pocket. He looked relaxed and calm. The tension that had stiffened his shoulders a few moments ago dissipated and, as his gentle laugh travelled over to me, I couldn’t help but wonder who was on the other end of the phone, making him show that easy, incredibly sexy smile. He caught me looking and I quickly tilted my head away, feigning interest in the headline of a discarded paper on the table next to me. From the corner of my eye, I saw him turn his back to me more as he leant on the wall and continued his call.
I really had no doubt that I could do this job. As Hunter’s behaviour showed, when I did something, I did it thoroughly.
***
We settled into our seats and accepted the smiles and hospitality from the cabin crew as we got comfortable. Hunter was garnering a little more hospitality than most of the other passengers from one particular
cabin-crew member – something he seemed to be utterly enjoying. His eyes drifted past her momentarily and I quickly looked away, hoping he hadn’t seen me watching the little tableau play out.
Hunter had always caught women’s attention. It was hard not to when you looked like that. But he’d never seemed entirely comfortable with it before. He’d always been a fairly confident guy. In his business, you had to be. But when it came to being chatted up, there had always been that little hint of awkwardness, just the tiniest amount, but entirely natural. It had been kind of adorable. But it was clear that had gone completely now. Now the confidence had spread and he’d completely embraced everything he had going for him, in all aspects, and was making them pay for him. Which I guess was fair enough. Lorelei had done the same thing and I admired the hell out of her for doing it. So why not Hunter?
He gave a full-wattage smile to the stewardess as she handed him an extra pillow and then proceeded to shove it in the small of his back.
‘All right?’ he asked.
‘Yes, thank you.’
‘First time in business class?’
I gave him a look.
‘Now what?’
‘I may not have won a Pulitzer but if you could at least try not to be quite so condescending, it would be greatly appreciated.’
His mouth set in a grim line. ‘I was just trying to make conversation, Mia. If you want to take it the wrong way, then that’s up to you. You always were pretty good at that. I guess not everything changes.’
‘What’s that supposed to mean?’
‘It means that sometimes people are just asking a question, with no hidden meaning. Or just doing something nice, with no agenda. I’d hoped, for your sake, that you might have come to realise that by now. I guess not.’
‘Hunter. It’s been five years. It’s obvious we’ve both changed. Don’t pretend to know me.’
He gave a laugh that to everyone else might have sounded normal; to me, though, there was something off about it.
‘Believe me. I have no intention of ever again beginning to think I know you. I’m not in the habit of making the same mistake twice. I really was just asking a question, making conversation, trying to be polite for the sake of Liv and Sandy, and for my own sanity over the next two months. Stop reading into everything so much and you might actually enjoy yourself occasionally.’
The Christmas Holiday Page 4