At her door, Kate stepped inside and Adam hovered in the hallway. “Goodnight,” she said.
“Goodnight, Katherine.”
Kate closed the door, drifted into the en-suite to brush her teeth and then collapsed into the fresh clean bedding, buzzing with adrenaline. She really thought she might stay awake for hours with all that had happened between them that night, but as the adrenaline suddenly dropped away, it took her down with it and before long she was fast asleep.
It was just before ten when Kate awoke. She looked around, disorientated and confused at first, until she remembered where she was. She was at Adam’s. Kate sat up and stretched and listened intently. There was not a sound from the apartment outside.
Rediscovering the bathroom with morning eyes, she was not surprised to see it was spotless too. There was a fresh white suite, with beige walls and a brown floor. A stack of fluffy white towels were standing to attention in the corner of the bathroom, beside an immaculately clean power shower. Kate tidied up the mess of packaging she had unravelled the night before and wondered at the amount of thought that had gone into creating such a glamorous spare room.
~
In the kitchen, Adam heard the shower turning on. He smiled. He had been up for an hour already and was eager to see Kate again. He had folded her clothes neatly and they were sitting on the arm of the settee, with the underwear tucked discreetly inside, waiting for her.
Kate emerged, her hair hanging loose and still damp. She was wrapped in the largest towel imaginable but still seemed very uncomfortable with how much flesh she was exposing. “Do you have a hair dryer?” she asked, fidgeting on the spot.
Adam stood in the doorway to the kitchen, as fresh as a daisy after a peaceful night’s sleep. “Sorry,” he said. “Not much need for one.”
Kate hovered for a minute, obviously wanting to say something more. “My clothes?” she asked.
Adam smiled. “Over there on the couch.”
Kate grabbed the pile and scuttled back into her bedroom.
Once again his mind trailed over the kiss they had shared the night before. He could do this, he told himself. It was nothing he couldn’t handle. He wouldn’t let it go too far too soon. One step at a time. But a few minutes later his control was sorely tested when she emerged from the bedroom in her clean uniform and bare legs. Her hair was loose and her eyes were bright. Her hand rested above the draw where he had stowed Ali’s picture the night before and his gaze lingered a moment as guilt threatened to engulf him, but he forced it back down and distracted himself with breakfast. Nothing serious had happened. Not yet.
~
Kate realised her hair would have to dry naturally, a true test of any man’s mettle in her opinion. Could he handle all that unkempt ginger hair? Having no mascara was a bit of a problem too, but she had remembered this of old and had been very careful not to wash too vigorously around her eyes the night before and it seemed enough was left from the previous day not to look too hideous.
“Good morning,” she said, sheepishly.
“Coffee?” he asked. “Tea?”
“Tea, please,” she told him.
“Can I get you something to eat?”
“No, thank you. I’m not very good at breakfast.”
Adam poured a mug of tea and passed it over. “Your hair,” he said pointing to the wayward strands around her face.
“I’m sorry.” She winced.
“Sorry? Why? It’s wonderful. You should wear it down more often.”
“In A&E?” Kate said. “It’d be caked in vomit in no time.”
“Good point,” he conceded.
They sat down at the dining table so that Adam could eat his toast and Kate sipped at her cup of tea. “Did you sleep well?” he asked.
“Like a log, thank you,” she told him. “I was out for the count as soon as my head hit the pillow. I hope I didn’t snore.”
“I didn’t hear a thing.”
Kate wondered if he was just being polite. It was strange, but now they had had a chance to cool off from the night before, Kate wasn’t completely sure she knew where she stood. It felt very much like they had slipped into friends mode and she was unsure about how to go on. Kate had no car to make her way home, so she was reliant on Adam to take her back at least as far as the hospital. She didn’t really want to leave, although a change of clothes and a hair brush would have been nice, so she said nothing and waited for him to set the tone.
“Do you have any plans for today?” Adam asked her.
Kate shook her head. “Not really. I was planning on doing a bit of cleaning, but that can always wait.”
“I’m afraid I’m hopeless at cleaning. I don’t have the patience for it,” he told her.
“You’re kidding me. This place is immaculate. And I’m obsessional about that sort of thing, so I should know.”
“I have a cleaner,” he confessed and a sheepish smile touched the corners of his lips.
“A cleaner? You cheat! All this time I’ve been so impressed and it wasn’t even you.”
Adam chuckled and got up to clear away his things. Without thinking he loaded them into the dishwasher.
Kate leaned back in her chair and peered into the kitchen after him. “And you’ve got a dishwasher? Why on earth did we do the washing up by hand last night, if you had one of those things?”
Adam walked back over and rested a hand upon her shoulder. “Because I wanted to do something with you,” he said.
Shivers rippled down Kate’s body. “I can think of nicer things to do,” she said and then instantly realised what she was saying and flushed bright pink.
Adam stooped down and leaned close to her ear, the same way he had done that time in the clinic. “So can I,” he said.
Okay, she thought, obviously not in friends mode any more. Phew!
Kate realised she should try and relax. Hadn’t her being there come from learning to step back and let him take control? She put her mug in the dishwasher and walked back to where Adam was perching, on the arm of the settee. He pulled her by the hands until she was standing between his thighs. “I’d really like to spend some time with you, Kate. I’d like to take you out somewhere today. Would that be all right?”
Kate’s pulse rate quickened but then she looked down at her clothes. “Dressed like this?” she asked.
“No, maybe not. I could drop you off at your car and follow you home and then we could go on from there. What do you think?”
“All right,” she said. “Where are you taking me?”
“It’s a surprise.”
“But how will I know what to wear?” she asked.
“Wear something warm,” was all he would say.
Kate looked into his eyes and wondered how she had ever been unable to see what a gorgeous man he really was. His silky dark hair and his blue-grey eyes were so beguiling and as for his firm - only yet tentatively explored – body, hidden beneath the thin burgundy sweater; they were all just a frame for the kind, passionate man he was within.
Kate’s eyes dropped to his supple mouth, moving just a little as he searched for the right words to say. Then she noticed a tiny scar on the right of his top lip. It was so small she had never even noticed it before. She reached out and rested a fingertip on it and Adam’s breathing hitched. “What happened?” she asked.
Adam looked at her so intensely, studying every curve of her face, searching for what, she couldn’t be sure. “I fell off my bike when I was six,” he said.
She looked back into seductive eyes and leaned forward to kiss the tiny mark and Adam let out a soft guttural groan, took her in his arms and claimed her mouth with his. No dim lights or crackling fire could be blamed for setting the mood this time. No music was playing and no wine was being drunk. It was just one body reaching out to another and two hearts yearning to belong.
Chapter 7
In its honesty, their kiss was devastating. Kate’s body gave in to every flicker of Adam’s will. It moulded seamlessly to h
is as their breath mingled effortlessly in the crush. But from somewhere just behind her right shoulder, Kate suddenly felt the burden of living up to such a perfect wife rushing in on her and the weight of it drew the air from her lungs. Adam had spoken of Ali the night before in such whispered tones of worship that Kate felt all at once ill at ease and she froze at his touch.
“What’s wrong?” Adam asked, concern drawing lines on his face.
“Nothing. A sore back, that’s all. It must have been lifting that drunk we had in last night,” she assured him, for what could she say? She could hardly tell him the truth.
Adam turned her around and started rubbing her back, melting her muscles with his touch. A small appreciative groan escaped her lips, betraying her, and he turned her back round and held her face in his hands. Dark passionate eyes met hers and more might have happened had Adam’s mobile not chosen that very moment to go off.
Kate pulled away, allowing her time to gather her senses and Adam cursed under his breath and reached into his back pocket to answer it.
“Hello?”
This was the voice Kate was used to. The stony, authoritative tone of the consultant. It had to be the hospital. Surely he wasn’t on call? Kate straightened her dress and tidied her unruly hair behind her ears, whilst bracing herself for disappointment. As she studied Adam, concentrating on his call, she noticed that he still had hold of one of her hands and did not seem inclined to let go of it, his fingers intertwining with hers, even as he spoke serious words to the caller.
“Okay,” he said at last. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
Adam put down the phone and looked at Kate. “That was work,” he sighed. “I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to pop over there. John has asked for my help on a patient just in.”
Kate couldn’t help but feel somehow that it had been far too good to last anyway and maybe a little of that showed in her face, because a moment later he lifted her chin with a finger so that her gaze was level with his.
“Don’t worry. I shouldn’t be long,” he said. “Can I come and find you when I’m finished?”
Kate nodded and he squeezed her hand for reassurance.
“You’d better write down your address and phone number in case I get lost.”
She smiled, happier now and he kissed her tenderly. “Come on, I’m afraid we’re going to have to get a move on. Grab your things.”
Kate arrived home just after eleven and wandered in trying to act her most nonchalant. Sophie was with Rich and leapt up as she arrived, rushing over to meet her.
“Where have you been till this time, you dirty stop out?” she asked. “We were beginning to think we should send out a search party. You were so evasive on the phone last night. Come on, sit down here and tell me everything.”
Kate couldn’t help it; try as she might her face was betraying her with the most decadent smile. “It was just a friend, I told you. But it was late by the time we finished talking, so we decided I should stay over. And now I really must get out of these clothes.”
She walked quickly upstairs, leaving Sophie and Rich to speculate on what had really gone on. In her bedroom Kate crashed down face first onto her bed and quietly screamed into the pillow. She was happy, if a little insecure. It was astonishing how things had changed in the past twenty-four hours. She wondered where he was taking her and whether they would even still have enough time to go after he was through at the hospital.
Looking through her wardrobe, Kate picked out some jeans, thick socks, a warm blouse and jumper. Not knowing how much time she had, she pulled them on and then dried and brushed out her hair. She thought about Adam and how he had liked her hair loose and so she left out the pins for a change and just tied it back in a long plait.
She looked in the mirror. A little work was needed and removing what was left of yesterday’s make-up, she reapplied afresh. She looked again. Better, she thought.
Emerging back downstairs, she saw Sophie looking up at her with suspicious eyes, her arms folded across her chest. “What’s going on, Katy Heath?” she asked.
Kate tried to give her an innocent look but she was fooling no-one.
“Come on, spill.”
A car pulled up outside and Rich got up and peered out of the window. “Well, there’s a very smart Audi just pulled up outside,” he said.
Sophie looked at Kate and the doorbell rang. Kate rushed over to reach the door before the other two did and Rich and Sophie leaned around the living room door expectantly.
Kate took a deep breath and opened the door and there was Adam, looking magnificent. He smiled and then noticed the two onlookers standing behind her and waved.
Reluctantly Kate asked him in, giving Sophie a very hard stare.
“Mr Elliott,” Sophie stated in surprise.
“Hello, Sophie.”
“And this is Richard, her fiancé,” Kate added when Sophie seemed incapable of further intelligent conversation. “Rich, this is Adam.”
Adam walked inside and shook Richard’s hand and congratulated them both on their engagement. Then an awkward silence settled among them and Kate tried hard to avoid their enquiring gazes.
“Are you ready to go?” Adam asked, ending the drought.
“Yes,” Kate said a little too quickly. “Let’s go.”
Kate sat in the passenger seat as they sped off into the countryside. It was almost half an hour of fields, trees and small talk, with the radio playing quietly in the background before they finally pulled up in a small parking spot a short way off the main road. “Here we are,” he announced.
Kate stepped out of the car and a chill wind whipped across her face. She reached into the back seat and pulled out her coat and knitted hat. Her breath was misting in front of her face.
“Are you warm enough?” Adam asked, shrugging into his big padded jacket and gloves.
Kate looked down at what she was wearing. “I think so.”
“You haven’t got any gloves,” he said.
Kate pulled one out of each pocket and held them up.
“Okay. Come on then. This way.”
He held out his hand and Kate took it gladly. They walked for a while up a gentle slope and then the going started to get a little harder. Adam helped her along the steepening path as Kate began to wonder what on earth could be worth driving all the way out there for. They were in the middle of nowhere, with only a handful of sheep for company. It was dull and barren and cold and she was struggling to discern the appeal.
As they reached the top, all obstacles suddenly fell away and the view opened out before them.
“Well? What do you think?” Adam asked.
Kate stood and looked around, taking in the scene. “It’s wonderful,” she said.
Adam led her over the brow of the hill to a little ledge on the far side, where he laid out a plastic mac and they sat down and looked across at the panorama before them.
“I come out here when I need to get away from everything,” he said.
Kate looked at him.
“That doesn’t include you.”
She raised an eyebrow.
“Okay, maybe a little.”
Kate nudged him playfully and looked back at the view. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it? You can see for miles.”
“You can today,” he said.
He took her hand in his and held on to it. “I would like to keep seeing you, Kate,” he said. “But I wonder if we can keep it just between us for the time being?”
Kate looked at him, not unduly concerned, but curious as to why he would feel that way.
“You know what hospitals are like,” he said. “The grapevine would have a field day.”
Kate was reminded of her comments in Helix back in the summer and how far they’d spread in such a short time and how they’d altered along the way. She nodded solemnly. “You might be right.”
“Just until we’re… well… until we get used to each other. The last thing we need is everyone else's opinions and advic
e coming between us.”
“I can handle that,” she told him.
“Good.” Adam kissed Kate’s gloved hand and then turned back to the view. “Do you see that plume of smoke down there, just to the right of the river?”
“Yes,” she said.
“That’s a place called The Hooded Monk. It’s a little pub that serves great food and has an open log fire, or so I’ve been told. Are you feeling hungry yet?”
“Starving,” Kate said.
“Great. Come on then, I’ll race you down.”
Of course he beat her back to the bottom despite Kate’s almost dangerous levels of cheating and once they got back to level ground, they walked hand in hand as far as the car and then drove off in search of food.
Inside the inn, they found a table next to the fireplace. Kate took off her gloves and coat and pulled off her hat.
“Oh, shame,” Adam teased. “I thought you looked adorable in that hat.”
Kate gave him a stern look.
“Honestly!”
But she was not convinced. Adam’s eyes were still twinkling.
They ordered the steak and ale pie and the hunters chicken and Adam was obviously impressed when Kate finished first.
“Wow, you can eat fast,” he said.
“I grew up with three brothers,” she told him. “It was eat or be eaten in our house.”
He nodded. “I guess so. And there was me thinking you were going to be one of those women who pick at their food, barely eating enough to feed a sparrow.”
“Me? Why?”
“Because I saw you at the ball. You hardly ate a thing that day.”
Kate looked at him then, a little surprised.
“Yes, I noticed.”
“I was nervous,” she admitted a little shyly.
Adam smiled. “Why?”
Kate was squirming in her seat. “It doesn’t matter.” She looked up and saw in Adam’s eyes that he knew very well why and she smiled at him.
“Can I get you another drink?” he asked.
“I’d love an apple juice, please,” she said.
“I’ll be right back.”
Adam walked up to the bar and the old man serving there acknowledged him and walked over. “Yes, sir? What can I get you?”
By My Side Page 12