‘Yes! That night in the hotel room…’ he shook his head. ‘You don’t how much self-control it took for me to hold back. I wanted you more than anything, you have no idea, but I just couldn’t go through with it. I felt really bad. About the whole situation. I didn’t want to cheat on Sasha and I didn’t want you finding out about her and thinking badly of me.’
‘I see.’ This very attractive man had just admitted he wanted my body and my body reacted like a teenage girl’s at a One Direction concert. Excitement fizzed around my whole being and a warm surge of desire rushed through my veins. Was I hearing him correctly?
Max stood up and walked across the room. His overwhelming masculine presence filled the air with its intensity. He leant his hands on the kitchen table, lifting his head to the ceiling. My eyes were drawn to his tanned forearms, rock solid on the table. ‘I didn’t want to do anything on the spur of the moment. I wanted to do things properly, if that makes sense?’
Not a lot was making sense. I was beginning to regret those beers and the hot chocolate. I fanned my cheeks with my hand. It was so hot in here. My head was woozy and my body on fire. Looking down at my Bavarian serving wench’s costume, I noticed my bosom trying to escape the criss-cross ties that had been holding everything valiantly in place the whole night. It now looked as though the whole elaborate contraption might snap and burst open at the seams at any moment. As soon as Max glanced away, I did a quick bit of careful readjustment squashing my spillage into place. Not that it made the slightest difference.
‘Part of me thought that if I got home, saw Sasha again, everything would slot back into place, but it didn’t. We struggled on for a few weeks, but we both came to realize it wasn’t working. I couldn’t get you out of my head, Ellie. I was with Sasha, but I was thinking about you. I realized I couldn’t do it anymore. I had to go away for a few days on business. Sasha stayed at the house with the dogs and while I was away, from you, from Sasha, from the house and the village, it gave me the distance and the perspective I needed. I knew that I had to go home and tell Sasha that it was over.’
‘Oh no! But what about Sasha? That’s awful.’ I dropped my head into my hands thinking about Sasha, knowing how I would feel in her shoes. ‘I feel kind of responsible now,’ I told Max.
‘There’s no need. I know it might seem that way, but really this wasn’t your fault. Honestly. Both Sasha and I knew this was going to happen at some time. It was just a question of when.’
This was Max’s version of events. He made it sound so simple and straightforward, but relationships never were, especially break-ups. Where was Sasha in all this? Was she sobbing into her pillow right now? I needed to know.
‘How did she take it?’
He shrugged, a rueful smile spreading across his lips. ‘Funny thing was, I’d geared myself up to tell her, had it straight in my mind what I was going to say, but she beat me to it. When I got home she was waiting for me. All her stuff was packed up and she was ready to go. We spoke about a lot of things, cleared the air and then she mentioned that you’d been round with Amber. What happened. She said how lovely you were.’
‘I thought she was lovely too,’ I said, feeling a pang of sympathy for Sasha. Thinking how, under different circumstances, we would probably have made good friends.
‘Sasha’s always been very perceptive. Has always been able to pick up on my moods and my feelings. I have an inkling she may have realized I’d developed feelings for you.’
Developed feelings for me. The words spun in my head. ‘Oh…’
‘I was pleased though that I could be honest with her. That we could end our relationship still on good terms and with our friendship and respect still intact.’
I smiled inwardly, guessing he hadn’t mentioned the kiss we shared, our almost something more moment. Not that anything really happened. Something of nothing as my old nan would have said. And Max had shown much more self-control than I would ever possess. He had to be admired for that.
‘Well thanks for telling me,’ I said, hugging my arms to my chest.
Max came and sat down on the sofa next to me, much closer now than before and took hold of my hand. It felt strange and natural at the same time. ‘Look Ellie, I don’t want you getting the wrong idea. I haven’t come here to declare my undying love for you.’
Oh! My heart plummeted at the frankness of his words.
‘Well, that might be a bit weird,’ I said, hiding my disappointment.
‘No, nothing like that. I just wanted to explain. After Sasha left I wanted to rush round here and tell you, but it was too soon. I needed to take some time out, wait for the dust to settle. There was unfinished business between us – I wanted you to know what had been going on, that’s all.’
‘Thank you. I did wonder. One minute everything was going swimmingly, the next… Well, it all makes sense now.’
‘Look. Not trying to put any pressure on you at all, but why don’t we go out for dinner soon? Tomorrow? That’s if you still don’t think I’m a complete and utter knobhead.’
Hmmm, he was obviously a bit of a mind-reader too.
‘What do you say?’ he prompted.
What did I say? I wasn’t sure I could find the words. ‘Yippee!’ ‘Oh my god, I’d love to!’ ‘This is the moment I’ve been waiting for!’ ‘What took you so long?’
If my head was struggling to find something sensible to say, my body had no such difficulties, a warm glow of approval trickling through my veins.
‘Lovely,’ I said, trying to keep a lid on my excitement.
Think cool, think calm, think collected. A dinner date, that was all. And it wasn’t as if I hadn’t already been out to dinner with Max. Only this time it would be different. Better. With more of the kissing and smooching stuff. Anticipation bubbled beneath my skin. I sat on my other hand to stop me from flapping it around madly in front of my face. But only for the briefest moment.
However much Max had thought about that night, that kiss, it couldn’t have been any more times than I’d re-lived that scene over and over in my head. Imagined what it might have been like had he not brought an untimely halt to proceedings. Now, with him a hair breadth’s away, his delicious musky scent teasing my senses, I wasn’t about to let him do his disappearing act again. It had been far too long already. Why put off until tomorrow what’s within kissing distance today?
I reached across and held my hand to his face, feeling the swathe of stubble across his jawline. That sexy, knowing smile lit up his features. His head came forward to meet mine, our noses gently brushing, his eyes, dark and sensual, promising a thousand hidden delights. I’d seen that look before but only now could I fully appreciate the meaning behind the intensity of that gaze.
‘Well, Miss Browne, this is a delightful and unexpected development.’ His hand stroked the edge of my face, his touch feather light, his fingers reaching into my hair gently massaging my skin. His voice was rich with amusement and desire. ‘I promise you, I didn’t come here for this, but, if you insist, well I’d hate to disappoint.’
His words sent a warm surge of desire spiralling through my body.
‘Well, as you quite rightly said, there’s unfinished business between us.’
I kissed him lightly, my lips sweeping his, feeling the warmth of his skin against mine, breathing in his intoxicating scent. My body reacted immediately, all my weariness washing away, every nerve ending now awake with desire. My eyes closed involuntarily as our mouths opened together, Max’s tongue sweeping around my lips, teasing and taunting me. His expert kisses were much better, more encompassing than anything I’d ever imagined. We pulled apart, our gazes exploring each other greedily, expectation lighting up our faces as if neither of us could believe this was actually happening.
‘You are gorgeous, Ellie Browne, do you know that? Good enough to eat even. Nom, nom, nom, nom, nom.’
He pulled me towards him, his mouth searching out my neck, causing me to squeal with delight as ripples of anticipation ran a
long my body. We laughed as our bodies tumbled across the sofa, our limbs flailing as we giggled our way into a more comfortable position, trying to avoid falling onto the floor with a bump. Supporting himself on one elbow above me, his other hand stroked my hair away behind my ears, his face up against mine, so beautiful and inviting. Soon we were kissing again, more urgently this time, our breathing fast and abandoned. The months since we’d last been together fell away. Max rolled to one side, pulling me even closer to him, his strong firm hands caressing my curves. His body was hard and sensual against mine and when his hand found the bare skin of my stomach my insides melted. Our legs intertwined and we were lost to the moment until…
Hang on – what was that exactly? I lifted my head for air. That noise? An insistent scrabbling coming from outside. Oh god! Burglars? A wild animal perhaps?
‘Coo-ee! It’s only me!’
Startled, I rolled off the sofa and landed on the floor with a thump with Max following shortly behind. From my position on all-fours, I strained my neck to look up. Not a wild animal at all.
‘Hello Mum.’
Twenty-One
‘Hello darling!’
Oh holy crap, it really was my mother. Standing in the hallway as large as life. Dropping her bags to the floor, she lifted her arms to greet me.
‘Mum! What are you doing here?’ I prised myself up off the floor, leaving Max to his own devices, and threw my arms around her neck, not really believing she was here.
‘I thought I’d surprise you!’
‘Well you’ve certainly done that.’ Although I suspected she might be the one on the end of the surprise, finding me half-undressed, the ties to my blouse having finally given up under the strain, and with a strange man in her house. ‘Where’s Dad?’
‘He couldn’t come. He’s away on some business jaunt for a couple of weeks, so I thought I’d take the opportunity to come home and check up on my favourite daughter.’
‘Well that’s amazing. Oh my god it’s so lovely to see you.’ Seven months since they’d left for their placement abroad and I’d missed them hugely, of course I had, but it was only now seeing Mum with my own eyes, her distinctive and familiar scent of ‘Rive Gauche’ wafting in the air, transporting me back to my childhood, that the lump in my throat brought home to me just how much I’d missed her. My heart swelled. After what seemed an awful long time of hugging and kissing and squealing and hair patting, Mum extracted herself from my embrace to peer over my shoulder to look at Max.
‘I hope I haven’t interrupted anything here.’ The mischievous grin on her face suggested she knew full well that she had but that she wasn’t in the slightest part sorry.
‘Mrs Browne. Max Golding. Lovely to meet you?’ Max held out his hand managing to look obscenely dishevelled and gorgeous at the same time and I felt a pang of regret for what might have been. What had been so rudely interrupted yet again. Still, it didn’t matter – I knew there would be another time for me and Max. Absolutely certain of that fact, even though I was slightly bemused by the whole turn of events.
‘And you. And please call me Veronica,’ she said, her eyelashes actually fluttering. What the…? But then I could hardly blame her. Max had exactly the same effect upon me.
‘Look I’m going to make tracks now and leave you two to catch up,’ Max said, ‘but I’ll see you tomorrow, yeah?’
‘Oh, Mum’s home now and…’
‘Of course, she will,’ said Mum gleefully. ‘Lovely meeting you Max.’
*
‘Good job I came home when I did,’ said Mum, after I’d made us a pot of tea and we’d settled at the kitchen table, ‘or else I might never have known you had a new boyfriend.’
It was the early hours of the morning and we were both exhausted. Mum from her long air journey and me from my long day at the pub and the dreamy eventful happenings afterwards, but there was no way either of us would be going to sleep yet, not until we’d caught up on at least some of the news.
‘Oh Mum, he isn’t my boyfriend.’
Her eyebrows raised in disbelief, as she tilted her head, clearly not believing a word I was saying.
‘Really! I know how it must look but tonight was the first night we really got together. Max walked me home from the pub and one thing led to another.’
Mum was smiling, mischievousness lighting up her features. ‘And then I waltzed in and spoilt all your fun!’
‘Oh that doesn’t matter. I was just so thrilled to see you and have you home again. Besides, I’m seeing him again tomorrow night.’
‘He seems lovely.’
‘He is. And you’ll never guess where he lives. Braithwaite Manor. He’s a property developer and has two beautiful dogs, oh and a beautiful ex-girlfriend too but we won’t mention her. And you’ll never guess who he’s related to. Noel Golding. He’s his grandson.’ I could hear the words gushing from my mouth, excitement spilling around my body.
Mum smiled indulgently. ‘Well, it’s great to see you so happy. That was one of the reasons I came home – to make sure you were doing okay. You’ve gone through a lot of big changes recently and with us being so far away… well we worry about you.’
‘Oh Mum, I’ve told you. There’s absolutely no need to worry.’ I grabbed her hand, checking that she was really here sitting at the table. I still couldn’t quite believe it. ‘I’m really happy being back home for the time being. The dog-walking is keeping me fit – you wouldn’t believe how many new clients I have – and there’s plenty of shifts at the pub to keep me busy. Well, for the moment, at least.’
Mum’s brow furrowed. I’d kept her up to date on what might be happening at the pub but she was obviously worried what it meant for Eric. Since Miriam had died, mum had always kept an eye out for him and provided friendship and support when he needed it.
‘That’s the other thing. I want to see how Eric’s doing. Thought he could probably do with a friendly ear. Is there any news on the pub yet?’
‘Yeah, there’s a new owner, but we don’t know who yet or what plans they have for the place. I think Eric’s resigned to moving on now.’
‘He’ll hate that. I don’t know what he’ll do with himself if he retires. I’ll pop down to see him over the weekend. I want to see Josie too and that lovely granddaughter of his. They grow so quickly at this stage.’
‘Oh right, so you didn’t actually want to see me then,’ I quipped. ‘It was Stella and Eric you really wanted to visit. Anyway, tell me about Dubai. Are you loving it? The photos always look so amazing!’
‘Well it’s as amazing as it looks. The sun always shines. We get to live in a luxury villa complex with everything on site – a gym, tennis courts, swimming pool – and the beach is only down the road. There’s a lot of socializing and swanky events. It’s everything you imagine an expat lifestyle to be.’
‘I feel a but coming on.’
‘But… it isn’t home.’ Mum’s gaze flittered around her kitchen, pride and warmth flickering in her eyes as she observed the cream Aga, the old oak dresser that housed all her blue and white crockery collected over many years, the rustic pictures of hens and sheep dotting the walls. ‘I miss all this if I’m being honest, our life here, our friends and you especially. I miss our chats. Like this. Around the kitchen table with a glass of wine or a cup of tea. Skyping just isn’t the same.’
‘Oh Mum! I miss you too. But it’s not for long is it? I can’t believe how quickly it’s gone by already.’ Admittedly, the last few months had been a whirlwind what with everything else that had been going on. ‘You’ll be back before you know it, moaning about the weather and wishing you could have some of that lovely sunshine again.’
‘Well, that’s the thing.’ Mum looked down as she twisted her wedding and engagement ring on her finger, before looking up at me with tired eyes. ‘I wasn’t going to tell you tonight, but you might as well know. They’ve offered your dad a further two-year contract.’
‘Oh… really? Well that’s good isn’t it?’ I
rubbed at my eyes, allowing the news to wash over me. Two years. It had a more permanent and serious ring to it than nine months. ‘And how does Dad feel about that?’
‘He thinks he should take it. It’s crazy money, tax-free, of course. It would take him years to earn that sort of money here. His thinking is that we’d be silly to turn it down. Two years and then we’d be able to come home and your dad could take early retirement. Then we could do all those things we’ve always wanted to do. Like buying an original camper van and touring the country.’
I grinned, my parents had been talking about their road trip for as long as I could remember. Part of me wished I could go with them. I might still.
‘I suppose it makes sense, but what about you, you don’t sound so keen?’
‘Oh I don’t know. I had it in my mind that it was for nine months only, which seemed long enough, but now, another two years? It’s such a long time.’
Her gaze scanned my face, observing me thoughtfully, watching for my reaction.
‘Mum! I do hope this isn’t about me.’ She shrugged, looking decidedly sheepish. ‘It’s not, is it?’
‘Well I wanted to see how you would feel about it. Obviously I wouldn’t want to do anything that you weren’t happy with.’
‘Mum, is this why you’ve come home?’ She gave an innocent shrug. ‘How many times do I need to tell you. You don’t have to worry about me. If you want to stay in Dubai then go for it. It sounds like an opportunity too good to miss. And another two years will fly by, especially when you’re enjoying yourself in the sun.’ A part of me felt sad that we’d be apart for such a long time, but I would never want to stand in my parents’ way. This was a wonderful chance for them.
‘That’s exactly what your dad says. And we can come back for holidays. It’s not that long a flight. And you must promise to come out and stay with us some time.’
Christmas at the Dog & Duck Page 17