‘Give it back.’ Oh Gawd, it would be so embarrassing if he could decipher it.
‘In a minute.’ He was grinning, his eyes lit up with amusement, which probably meant he had made out the odd word.
‘I’m not used to writing, I normally type. Can I have it, please?’ As in now. ‘Hugo!’
He held it up higher, just out of reach, looking at the book, not her. Reading. ‘What does this say? Oh. Hmm.’ He’d got his head down and glanced up through his eyelashes at her, then put a hand on his chin. ‘This aristocratic twit in here is totally fictional?’
‘Totally. It’s fiction. But he’s not a twit. And there are elements of truth in all stories.’
‘And this bit where he’s cooking pheasant and only wearing an apron?’
‘I’ve got a vivid imagination.’
A wicked grin lit up his features, and for a moment she thought he was going to totally embarrass her by starting to read out loud. But instead he lowered the pad. ‘It’s actually really good.’
‘It’s only a rough draft, of just a bit…’
‘But it is good.’
‘Please.’ She was used to writing articles for people to read, but this was different, this was fiction. But this had a piece of her, her feelings, emotions, her heart, embedded in each sentence. ‘Can I have it?’
‘Why?’ His tone had softened and he was giving her that toe-curling, intense look of his. ‘I was thinking it might be quite good to act out this scene where she—’
‘Stop it. It’s personal, it’s, well it’s just draft, not finished, I—’ It was words that had poured out of her in response to the way she’d felt, fragments of a story that wasn’t yet clear in her mind.
His features softened, as did his voice, back to that level where her legs went wobbly. ‘It’s beautiful. Really.’ He closed the notebook and gently handed it over. ‘Sorry, I shouldn’t tease. Don’t ever let anybody tell you not to write, Flo.’ Then he kissed her on the forehead and walked out, pausing in the doorway but not even turning round. ‘Oh I’ve rung somebody to come and board up the cracked kitchen window. He’ll be round in the next half an hour, so supper at seven.’
***
Supper was fish and chips, which he’d driven out to pick up from the village chip shop. Served with a nice chilled Chablis.
‘You’re crazy.’
‘I think you’ll find ‘resourceful’ is the word. One doesn’t have unexpected guests every day of the week, in fact one very rarely has them at all, which is what I like about living so far from a main road. Now budge up on the sofa so I can join you. Vinegar?’
Flo took the plate he had held out and budged up. They sat in companionable silence. She gazed at the flickering flames in the fireplace as she munched her way through an enormous pile of chips. She’d always loved watching the fire when she was little; the way it constantly changed, shifting into new patterns and shapes, throwing a shimmering shadow on to the walls. She used to challenge herself to sit close to the fire as long as she could, until her face and feet glowed and she couldn’t stand it any longer.
‘You like playing with fire, don’t you?’ His voice was mild and when she glanced his way he was steadily eating, one eyebrow quirked into an amused arch.
‘I like watching.’
‘Fanning the flames.’ He put his plate down. ‘You fan my flames, gorgeous Flo.’
‘Stop it, I’m trying to eat chips.’ Her appetite seemed to have died a sudden death though, even if his flames hadn’t.
He leaned back on the sofa, stretching his long, long legs in front of him so that she couldn’t avoid looking at his lean, muscled thighs. Well she could have gone back to flame- watching. But his body had a magnetic attraction of its own. Rippling muscles were more fascinating than flickering flames any day.
‘Thanks for rescuing me today.’ Again. ‘Even if it was your fault.’
‘My fault? So what weird logic is behind the reasoning that your breakfast got cremated?’
‘You distracted me.’
He laughed. Did she detect a trace of bitterness there? ‘I don’t think that was me.’
‘Well it was actually.’ Flo sighed. ‘Oli had gone when I decided to have a fry-up.’
‘So he has actually gone?’
‘I told him there was no chance of me going back, Hugo.’ He relaxed a notch. ‘He said he’d wait, but I told him not to bother.’
‘So why did he come in the first place?’
‘Because I didn’t reply to his emails, and,’ deep breath, ‘he realised I was a better bet than shaggable Sarah.’
‘And the bubbly?’
‘He forgot it, but I’m sure he’ll be back. He doesn’t like squandering his money.’
‘Ahh.’
‘That’s why he’d rather I write for the magazine than waste time scribbling stories as he puts it.’
‘I meant what I said before, you shouldn’t give up.’ He grinned. ‘You never know, one day your kids might benefit from a bestseller.’
‘I won’t. Thanks.’
‘Flo.’ He was suddenly serious. Which was also sexy – very. ‘You need to change your flight.’
‘Sorry?’ She was totally confused now. What was it about him that was so good at knocking her off balance? ‘What do you mean I need to change my flight?’
‘For a wordsmith you really do have trouble with simple words sometimes, don’t you?’
‘You know what I mean. Stop trying to be clever.’ Okay, she was going to have to admit defeat with the chips. She put the plate to one side, hoping Mabel didn’t polish off what was left. She was pretty sure she’d read something that said potatoes and canine stomachs didn’t mix.
‘You can’t possibly fly home tomorrow. Nobody flies on Christmas Eve, you’ll miss out on the fun.’
‘But I’ve got to go.’ Flo looked down at her feet. ‘I need to go back, sort out my life, and work out how to pay the rent.’
‘You don’t have to do that until the New Year, and you need to get some more of your book done. Come on, give me one good reason why you can’t delay a bit.’
There wasn’t really one. Nothing waiting for her at home quite as tempting as gorgeous Hugo. ‘Daisy is coming back, that was the agreement. She’ll want her slightly singed cottage back, and there’s not really room …’
He twirled a strand of her hair lazily around his finger, her scalp tingled. Expectant. ‘You can stay here. I’ve plenty of room – and an e-nor-mous bed.’
Okay, she was blushing. She knew all about his enormous bed. She leaned in a little bit closer to the heat of his body and tried to speak normally, and not squeak. ‘I won’t get a refund on my flight, it’s too late.’ His fingers had reached her tingling scalp, and he’d bent over so that his warm breath was feathering her hair.
‘I’ll pay for it, and I can give you a better reason to stay.’ The low and husky version of his voice should have a health warning. He rested his chin on the top of her head, so that each time he took a breath it reverberated through her. Building up the tension. Making her want him that little bit more.
He stopped playing with her hair and moved slightly away. She looked at him. The spell broken.
‘Me. If you don’t stay with me, then Christmas will be just like any other day – you’ll be depriving me of something more entertaining.’ His eyes were hooded, the self-protective drawl back in place, just in case he needed a rapid retreat.
‘Oh, you’re good.’ She grinned and shook her head. ‘You could go to your parents?’
‘Too late to kiss-and-make-up, my little Miss Nightingale.’
‘It’s never too late and,’ she paused, whatever he said about his father it was obvious that he missed his mother and she suspected the feeling would be mutual, ‘Christmas is a family time, can’t you just try? For me?’ She added the last bit hopefully and he laughed.
‘My parents don’t feature in my Christmas fantasies at all, you do.’ His eyes glinted and Flo couldn’t help sm
iling. She wasn’t going to let him off the hook, if there was one thing she was going to do for Hugo before she went home it was to at least get him to promise to try and make up with his parents. ‘The Christmas Eve party won’t be the same without you, I’ll be lonely.’
‘What Christmas Eve party?’
‘The one here with you and me.’
‘You really are funny.’ And adorable.
He reached out then and dragged her onto his lap, and she stilled as he wrapped his strong arms round her and looked straight into her eyes.
There was the slightest of lifts to the corner of his beautiful mouth, but his gaze was serious. Piercing. Strands of his blond hair flopped forward over his brow, and her fingers twitched to brush them back. His dimples were deep, but not with laughter. ‘Please?’
He traced the tip of his finger over her own lips, brushed back the hair from her face, and she held her breath. It was turning her on more than ripping off clothes ever had. The emptiness inside her stomach was spreading and she wanted, more than anything, to reach out, but she daren’t move. She didn’t want to spoil the moment, stop him.
‘I’d just like you to stay as long as you can. This is as close as I get to begging, Flo. Please?’
Oh shit. How could she say no? No way.
She looked straight into those dark grey eyes that were studying her so intently and there was a new flutter of anticipation inside her that was nothing to do with sex.
Hugo James wanted her to stay. He was offering her more than a roll between the sheets; it was a glimpse of a different future. If she stayed he could probably take her heart and turn it to mush before he moved on, but she was daring to hope that he wouldn’t.
The thought scared her, but it was also far more exciting than anything she’d ever been asked to do before. With a man who had the type of hidden depths she really wanted to explore at least a little bit more.
She swallowed down the feelings that were bubbling up inside her, but couldn’t stop the grin escaping. Flo put her hand up, tangled her fingers in his hair, then pulled his face down. ‘Show me how much you want me to.’
Chapter 24 – Flo. Christmas Eve
Flo lay back on the bed and looked at the message from Daisy, confirming her flight back and asking what she should do with the keys to the apartment.
Okay, so the best solution was to keep this simple. ‘Bring them with you.’
‘With me?’
Awkward, but this way she sidled in and got it over with. ‘I’ll still be here. Decided to stay over for Christmas Day.’
There was a pause. A long delay. She was just wondering if she needed to add something when a reply came. ‘Great! It might be a bit cramped in the cottage though, but I can borrow a camp bed. Mum and Dad will be really pleased to see you.’
Mum and Dad? Oh. ‘I’m not inviting myself to dinner at your parents!’ this was going to raise a few questions. Oh well, in for a penny. ‘it’s okay about the bed, I’ve found somewhere else to stay…’
Her phone rang within seconds of her sending the message. Daisy. A slightly suspicious Daisy.
‘Flo, what do you mean? Where are you going?’ Then Daisy started to laugh, ‘Oh my God,’ there was a spluttering sound, ‘I get it, it’s bloody Hugo isn’t it? Oh Flo,’ she was obviously cracking up at the other end of the phone.
‘It isn’t that funny!’
‘Oh God, does Anna know? Oh this is absolutely amazing, Flo.’ More giggles. ‘I always said he needed somebody to put him in his place – and you’re just the girl. Oh Flo, how on earth did that hap… No, don’t tell me. Just don’t tell me.’
‘I wasn’t going to, don’t worry. So, I’ll see you later tonight, will I?’
‘You will,’ there was another giggle, ‘as long as you’re not too busy.’ There was a pause. ‘I might be a bit late, I decided I’d go and call in at Jimmy’s on the way. I need to talk to him and get it out of the way, I don’t just want to bump into him.’
‘Oh Daisy, I’m sorry.’ She’d almost forgotten the reason Daisy had wanted a break, just as the reason she’d needed to get away had kind of faded into the background. And been replaced with something that made her much happier.
‘It’s fine. I knew all along it wasn’t right, he’s not answering his phone or my messages, but I want to see him face to face anyway.’
‘He’s not been here, and, to be honest, I’ve not been into the village much anyway so I haven’t had chance to bump into him, but you know you’re doing the right thing. He’ll be fine, Daisy.’
‘I know, it’s just a bit weird coming back and having to talk about it. It seems ages ago when he asked, like a different lifetime.’
Oh she knew that feeling well. Much as it had hurt at the time, the Paris experience had faded at the edges now, was a fuzzy memory that would probably never go away completely. But it didn’t matter.
‘I’d better go, I want one last look round Barcelona before I have to go to the airport.’
‘Okay, take care and have a good flight. I’ll feed the animals and probably take Mabel with me to Hugo’s.’
‘Won’t he mind?’ Daisy sounded shocked.
‘Mind? Er, no, his dog is in love with her.’
‘Just how much time have you been spending round there?’
‘I’m not going to answer that. See you tomorrow, Dais, and don’t worry about Jimmy, will you? Catch you later, bye.’
The first night after the fire, she’d just ended up staying there because the extent to which he’d demonstrated how much he wanted her to stay had meant there wasn’t much night left. And then he’d cooked her breakfast, like you do, because the kitchen was still a bit smelly, and the pan well past the rescue stage. So she’d helped him with the horses, just because it seemed the right thing to do – to show how grateful she was.
And he’d cleared the desk in the study, because he wanted her to have somewhere nice to write (although she spent more time looking through his books, and staring at the many photographs of horses, and him on horses, and him standing next to horses clutching trophies, and the occasional shot of a much younger him with a stern-looking man who just had to be his father, and a very beautiful and aristocratic lady, who just had to be his mother).
So she’d attempted to tidy up his house a bit, which was strewn with horse-related stuff and magazines.
And now, before she knew it, it was Christmas Eve and she needed to clear her stuff out of Daisy’s, which was why she was back in her side of the house. Answering awkward questions.
Flo started to pack her few belongings into her suitcase, and Mabel watched her with a worried frown, her chin on her paws and her dark eyes following Flo’s every move.
‘Don’t look at me like that, I’m only going next door, and Daisy will be back later.’ She waggled her eyebrows, as though she understood. ‘But you can come to Hugo’s for our party, you’re guest of honour. He said you could, and Rags will be very happy to see you.’ The dog wagged her tail slowly and sat back on her haunches. ‘Although it might be a bit X-rated, best knickers on just in case.’ She waved them in the air, a bit of a mistake when Mabel made a lunge for the scrap of lace. ‘Don’t you dare!’ She hastily stuffed them into her suitcase, out of harms’ way, and did a quick check of the drawers and wardrobe, and a glance round the bathroom.
She dragged her suitcase down the narrow staircase, which was a damned sight easier than dragging it up had been when she’d arrived. Although now she just had to be so much fitter, after spending so much time out in the fields and stables, it was hard to believe that so much had happened in such a short time. When she’d first arrived it had been like a little step back in time, back to her childhood. It had been a way to avoid her present, avoid Oli and the job she wasn’t sure she liked any more. But it had soon become something far different. More like a glimpse of a better future, a new life that took the best bits of the present and the past and made something shiny and new. Except she wasn’t quite sure how it w
as all going to look when she got back to Barcelona. One thing she did know was she’d be broke.
‘Less tapas and wine for one thing, Mabel – that has to be a healthy bonus, doesn’t it?’
Leaving a note pinned up by the door, telling Daisy that she had Mabel with her, she pulled the front door shut. ‘Come on then, Mabel. Christmas starts here.’
***
‘You’ll make quite a good groom once I’ve got you trained up.’
‘I’m going to have to teach you how to keep it simple and just say thank you.’ Flo laughed and flicked a fork full of straw at Hugo, and before she had chance to retaliate he’d dived forward, hooked her feet from under her, and she’d landed in the bedding. With him looming over her.
‘You do realise this was my first proper view of you? From underneath after Mabel had flattened me. If you hadn’t been suitably impressive I would have been off by now, you know.’ She grinned.
‘You’re a cheeky mare, asking for a good spanking.’
‘Such a stud.’ She propped herself up on one elbow. ‘All mouth and no trousers?’
‘I think you know exactly what I am, dear Florence.’ He straddled her, a knee either side, and pinned her arms back in the straw. ‘And I know exactly what you are right now, far too big a distraction.’ He leaned down, intent on his face, then Flo got the weirdest sensation of a vibration right through her pelvis. Even Hugo wasn’t capable of doing that to her.
He froze, and peered down. ‘Saved by the bell.’ And prodded her hip, where her mobile phone was lodged into her pocket, sandwiched between them. ‘Which is probably a good thing, seeing as we’ve got to bring all the horses in and feed them.’
Flo leaned back and fished the phone from her pocket, which had stopped ringing. ‘It was Javier. I wonder what’s up with him?’
‘I don’t know. Come on, ring him after we’ve finished up.’
‘Bossy man.’ She followed him up to the fields, Mabel loping along at her side. They’d somehow slipped into a routine since the fire – they worked together, side by side, enjoying each other’s company – and she loved to watch him handling the horses, a time when it was guaranteed that he’d be himself. Show her the true Hugo: no artifice, no barriers – he couldn’t hide when he was with his animals. That was when the mockery was replaced by gentle teasing, and a cheeky humour she loved, when the drawl was replaced by a coaxing but firm tone that made something inside her go all gooey.
The Holiday Swap Page 27