“Really?”
Verity nodded, “Yes, just do what you want to do and I’ll be there for you no matter what. Now get up here, you big, sexy lump.”
Adrian smiled and jumped from his knees to his feet.
“That was very clever,” Verity said, “Know any other tricks?”
Adrian did a handstand, then took one hand off the floor so he was doing a one handed handstand then moved down to a one handed push up. He made it a two handed push up and then turned it into a handstand did a backflip and landed on his feet. “Nope, none.”
Verity laughed and hugged him. “You’re amazing, Adrian. She’s so lucky.”
“You mean the woman I haven’t met yet?”
Verity nodded, “Yes, that one. The one that you’re going to be making lots of babies with, and living in the ‘burbs with, and having barbecues and pool parties and being very happy with.”
“You’ve got my life all figured out, haven’t you?”
“Somebody has to,” Verity shrugged.
“So you didn’t miss me?” Adrian asked, pulling her hips towards his.
“Maybe,” Verity said, running her hands down his toned biceps.
“So you didn’t run into a random Officer today and ask him to say ‘hi’ to me?”
Verity laughed and put her head on Adrian’s chest, “Maybe.”
“Just hi, nothing scary or complicated,” Adrian said. He tilted Verity’s chin up and kissed her on the lips. Verity bit his bottom lip slightly and pulled it between her lips. Adrian brushed his nose against hers one side and then the other and kissed her on the lips. She did the same to him. “This is like nose tennis.”
Verity laughed and rubbed his head, “You’re adorable.”
Adrian raised Verity’s dress and put his hands on her bare bottom. He squeezed it and smacked it. “You weren’t really going to leave without your underwear on, were you?”
Verity shrugged and smiled.
Adrian let her dress go, “I guess I should stop following you around. I wanted to stop but I couldn’t. I wanted to make sure you were okay.”
“Because I’m your friend and you care about me. There’s nothing wrong with that, Dray. I have missed you. I’ve missed you a lot.”
“Thank you for my birthday present. It meant a lot to me and helped me realise something I already knew. And, well, I don’t want you to make a big deal out of this or anything, and I know it’s once again something that I have never, ever done, and you might interpret that as me breaking my routine for you, which means I …”
Verity searched Adrian’s smiling face. He was really hesitating. She wondered if he was changing his mind about saying it. After another ten seconds she opened her eyes wide and looked left and right.
Adrian took her into the lounge room by the hand. “If you can’t say it, use a song,” he said, “That’s what I always say. So many great songs that know exactly what we want to say.”
Verity smiled and watched Adrian at the stereo. He turned and put his hand out to her. The song started and he sang along as he danced with her, “And I should’ve known better … to lie to one as beautiful as you … should’ve known better to take a chance on ever losing you… but I thought you’d understand … Can you forgive me? …”
“That was loud and clear,” Verity said, as the song ended, “I know how hard this is for you.”
“Good, then spend the night in my bed and wake up in my arms. Break my routine. Love me like you want to love me.”
Verity looked at her watch, “Are you on shift again at eight?” Adrian nodded. Verity walked by him and went into his bedroom. She turned around and looked at him when he arrived. “Do the covers actually come down or are they just for display?”
Adrian laughed and pulled the doona, blanket and sheet back. “You can sleep naked if you want, or I can lend you pants or a shirt, whatever you’re comfortable with.”
“I’m comfortable with you,” Verity said, kissing him on the lips, “I’ll just brush my teeth and go to the bathroom.”
“There’s a spare tooth –”
“I have one in my bag,” Verity said, with a wink.
Verity turned out the bathroom light and the bedroom was dark. “You don’t need to go the bathroom?”
“I went, I have two,” Adrian replied.
“Are you naked?”
“Yes.”
Verity nodded and took her dress off over her head. She climbed onto the bed and over Adrian, purposely kneeling on him a little which made him laugh. She moved under the covers and pulled them up. “I know this is your bed, and you can do what you want, but are you flatulent in your sleep?” Verity asked.
Adrian laughed, “Most people are, I think. So, probably, I have no idea.”
“Okay, sorry, just asking. So, if I do, and I don’t know if I do or not, but if I do, you won’t kick me out of your bed?”
“No, Butterfly, not a chance,” Adrian laughed, “I know that a lot of men use that line, but I don’t think it’s ever given a second thought.”
“We haven’t spent a night together since Rick and Adelaide’s wedding.”
“That was a great night. I’ve never had a woman sleep over in my bed before now.”
Verity smiled, “Would you like to spoon with me, Dray?”
Without answering, Adrian moved into the middle of the bed and slid his arm under Verity’s neck. He moved his head higher and wrapped his arms around her. “I missed hearing you call me ‘Dray’. Even though it doesn’t make sense as a nickname,” he whispered, “It’s special to me because that’s what you and only you call me. I missed hearing it. At least Butterfly Knickers makes sense.”
“Dray makes sense to me. A dray is a cart with no sides that carries beer and other heavy stuff, like you, you’re strong but I can’t tell what’s holding you up sometimes, and you live dangerously because you could lose your load any minute. Ergo, Dray.”
Adrian laughed softly in her ear, “I’ll try not to take that as sexual innuendo, even though I think it was.” He squeezed her a little tighter and took a deep breath.
Verity moved her hands onto his and said goodnight. She smiled. It was dark, she was naked, and she was fine. She was wrapped in the arms of a man who cared about her. She closed her eyes and thought about the last time she had slept like this. It was back in her university days, when they would sleep together on weekend mornings. She would sneak him into her room early in the morning, and they’d hold each close and talk about everything and nothing in her bed. They were fully clothed, never naked, but she was never comfortable with being naked before. He didn’t push, because he didn’t mind either way. He was always easy-going and kind to a fault. He always told her if she had food on her face or teeth, not because he was superficial but because he cared about her and didn’t want her to feel embarrassed. He was a genuinely nice person, and, from what Verity could tell, genuinely nice people were pretty rare. He was out there somewhere. She hoped that he was happy and being loved like she was right now. She had spared a thought for him every day they weren’t together and could picture his face like it was right in front of her. But right now, she had the arms of another wonderful man who’d been a good friend to her, a man that she loved, and she knew she was going to sleep better than she had in a long time.
Verity smiled as she woke up. Adrian’s arms were still protectively around her and she felt warm and safe. He pulled her closer and kissed his shoulder. “This is nice.”
“It’s very nice, Adrian, but you deserve more.”
“Let’s just see other each while we can, when we can, until it’s over, and I’ll do my best not to love you any more than I already do.”
Verity squeezed his arm, “You do love me.”
“Yes, unfortunately for me,” Adrian said, “I have for a long time. I left because I realised you loved me too and when Mr Perfect came back you’d be with him instead of me and that would be hard for you. I’m going to love you no matter what. I tried not
loving you and I can’t.”
“That’s how I feel, Dray.”
“That’s hard for me to admit, but I should. I don’t want to regret not telling you how I feel. You never made me feel like you owned me, Butterfly, but you always made me feel like I belonged to you. I miss it. I miss you. I already know it will end it tears. I know that but I don’t want to miss out on spending time with you before the end happens.” He moved Verity’s hip and ran his hand down between her thighs. He lifted her leg over his and pushed his hips towards hers. Verity let out a soft long “oh” as she exhaled. He moved her legs back together and put his left hand on her hip. His right arm was still under her neck and his hand was on her breast. He moved against her, slowly making love to her from behind and stroking her skin where his hands could reach. Verity had never experienced real early morning sex before and she was delighting in it. She moaned his name softly.
“It’s just you and me again,” Adrian whispered, “I can tell.” He moved his face to her neck and her ear, sensuously kissing her skin as he moved.
“No, don’t pull out,” she whispered, holding him firm against her by his arms.
“Verity, oh, I love you. Feels so good to finally say that, and I’m coming, oh god, that was bad, that was a bad thing to say while I was coming, sorry, I love you.”
Verity laughed, “I love you, Adrian.”
“And we can’t be together forever. That sucks.”
“And blows.”
Adrian relaxed and held her close, “He’d better be worth it.”
“He is. We’ll be married one day, and I want you to be there.”
Adrian moved back and Verity rolled over to face him. He kissed her on the lips, “What else do you want from me?”
“Nothing. I just want you to be yourself, and be happy. I can love you wherever you are and whoever you’re doing.”
Adrian smiled, “What about what we just did? I’ve never done that before in my life. Aren’t you concerned that something could happen from that?”
“Not concerned, no,” Verity replied kissing his lips, “I want to take you as you come. Any way you want me, I’m yours. Give what you want to give, without sacrificing yourself.”
“I feel really good right now. I feel like I can get on with my life knowing you’re a part of it again.”
“Even if he comes back, and we’re together, I’m going to love you forever, Adrian, you know I will. When I love, it’s forever, I don’t throw love away. I didn’t expect to feel like this, and I won’t stop. So even when you’re married, and you’re pushing your pram and holding her hand, you’ll know that someone else out there loves you forever. Someone you can call any time, day or night, to be there for you. We’ll be friends forever because that’s what we are now. Love is love, and that’s what we have.”
“Okay, love, well, you’re going to make me late for work,” he said, kissing her on the cheek, “Get out.”
Verity laughed and moved off the bed, “I’m so naked.”
“Yes, you are,” Adrian laughed.
Verity moved her hands from front to back comically to cover her privates as she located her clothes. Adrian laughed and shook his head. “Listen to Roy Orbison’s ‘You Got It’ today and think of me,” Adrian said.
“I will. I love you, gorgeous,” Verity said, and blew him a kiss.
“Not as much as I love you.”
“I’ll take that bet,” Verity replied with a smile.
“You got it.”
Chapter 36
Verity was very happy. For six months, she and Adrian had been regularly calling and texting and making love and making each other smile every day. The phone calls might only be a few seconds long, with Verity making sure he’d eaten or Adrian making sure she had her underwear on right. It always made their day, just like it did when they were friends before. Verity felt like she never thought she could again. She was happy with her work at the Baker Street office of Atom Trust too. It was the same organisation but the people here were different somehow. She had her own office, with a sensible desk, and her current assignment was training new staff in data entry. It was something very easy for her and she could operate the keypad like she touch-typed, without even looking at her hand.
The system used in her division had been uniquely made for them, so it was something that people wouldn’t just know automatically. Verity had worked with the system intimately for eighteen months since it was introduced so she knew exactly how it worked. It was important to show new staff how to navigate between screens and where to add the information. So far in the last six weeks, Verity had trained six new people, and this week she had three more. They were the final three to bring the Baker Street office up to full capacity of staff. Their names were Kamal, Shannon and Marian; Two males and one female, all in their twenties, who had experience in computer use and data entry. They were friendly, keen to learn and had no issue with asking questions, which was making Verity’s job easy.
At lunch times, Verity liked to sit in the café and read. It was a big café with light brown wooden furniture and an open plan. It was light and airy and had a back courtyard area for smokers. It was unusual in the city to have a space among the buildings like that. It was close to the library too, and their coffee and cakes were very good. She put down her book as Marian greeted her. Marian was talking about movies, and it was something that Verity knew a lot about. She had watched a movie a night for years, and her knowledge base about movies was growing all the time. Marian seemed nice and Verity knew how hard it was to start in a new job. She’d had a number of jobs since she left university and cringed at the thought. She knew how increasingly bad that was looking on her CV, but at least she’d never been fired.
“Oh, my boyfriend is here,” Marian said, looking towards the street windows and waving, “We’re having lunch together, but we might not eat here. He wants to make sure I’m okay in my job.”
“That’s really sweet,” Verity said.
“I don’t know if I should pee now or pee later. I don’t know where we’re going, maybe I should pee now.”
That made Verity laugh and she told her to enjoy her lunch. She opened her book again and watched Marian walk away. She looked at her book and glanced up to see Marian hugging a man. That was nice too. Verity liked to see public displays of affection. Going hammer and tong was a bit off putting, but a hug or a kiss or holding hands was nice. She looked down at her book then glanced up as Marian was heading back in her direction, obviously to go to the bathroom.
Verity smiled and looked at her book for a third time, running her finger on the page trying to find where she was up to again. It was somewhere around the middle of the page. They seemed to think they knew who the killer was and they were going to out them.
“Kate?”
Verity’s pulse rate increased. She knew that voice. She almost didn’t want to look up, in case she was wrong again and it wasn’t him. She looked up hesitantly. It was really him this time. She was frozen, mouth slightly agape, words stuck in her throat.
“Did you change your name to Kate?”
Verity felt weak. Even the sound of his voice brought back the sound of rain and laughter. This was ridiculous. What a stupid way to start a conversation after all this time. She looked down at her book again. “I’m on the system as ‘Kate’. HR made a mistake with my profile details so I’m on the system as ‘Kate’,” she mumbled.
“You’re nervous, I don’t blame you. I am too. You’re doing that thing where you close and open with the same sentence, and don’t fully open your mouth. I didn’t know I’d have that effect on you.”
“You have no effect on me,” she replied, and turned over the page in her book, “You just look like someone I used to know.”
“I want to look like someone you currently know. Can I buy you a coffee?”
“I already had a coffee and I’m trying to read,” Verity replied. She didn’t know why she had said that. She desperately wanted him to stay an
d explain a lot of things to her, but it was too overwhelming. She was staring at the page but couldn’t read. He was still standing there and she didn’t want to look at his face again. She’d seen it once. That was enough. If she saw it again then her thoughts would go beyond laughter and rain to tear-inducing shenanigans and gentle sex. If she looked up again she might take him in her arms and kiss him until they couldn’t breathe.
“You look really good,” he said, and tapped the table with his finger.
Verity’s eyes darted side to side. One more look couldn’t hurt. She looked up and he was walking away. She thumped the table in a fit of pique and he turned around. She glanced at him and looked around to make it look like it wasn’t her who thumped the table. He would know it was her. She’d always been a table thumper. That sultry smile she’d seen in his glance was cruel. She looked down at her book again. She wondered if he was still in the café and where he’d been and whether he’d been watching her. Verity wished she’d said something else. She wished she hadn’t been overwhelmed. She wished she could have just stood up to kiss him and hug him like she desperately wanted to do.
No. She couldn’t accept that after all this time she was about to lose sight of him again. She didn’t know how her hair looked or what her facial expression was when she looked up at him. He said she looked good. So did he. Tears began forming in her eyes. She looked up again in time to see him glance in her direction as he put his arm around Marian’s shoulder. Without another thought, and in one blink, the tears were on her cheeks. She wiped her cheeks and threw her book into her handbag. She hurried to the bathroom and only made it as far as the sinks before she felt to her knees in a bawling heap. Years of pent up frustration made her body heave as she cried hard. He was alive and she was relieved. Emotions flooded over her as though she was caught up in pounding waves in the ocean. She felt broken and battered.
Running Rings Page 28