When they’d finished eating, Stef tapped on her glass with a spoon and smiled as everyone stopped talking.
Please don’t be pregnant, Flick pleaded and wondered if that was the thought burning in the minds of Nancy and Donald.
“I’m really glad you’ve had the chance to meet Flick. I wish you had the chance to get to know how great she is. After our Mum and Dad died, it was Flick who held everything together. She’s gone without things so that I could have them. Whenever I asked for money, she always gave it me. She’s done brain-numbing jobs just so that I could avoid having a student loan. She’s looked after my hamster even though she’s scared to death of her and I don’t think I’ve often said thanks.”
Actually Stef hadn’t said any of that.
“We wanted to tell all of you our news at the same time,” Stef began. “Drew’s asked me to marry him and I said yes.”
Thank you, God.
260
Digging Deeper
There was a lot of kissing and hugging.
“Congratulations,” Flick told her sister.
“Is that it? No lecture on finishing my degree, getting a job?”
“So long as you take the hamster, whatever you do is fine,” Flick said.
“We’re going to live in America.”
“Lovely. I’ll get a passport.”
When Flick went into the kitchen to make coffee, Stef pounced. “I thought you and he weren’t together?”
“Did you?”
“By the way, you owe me an Armani sweater. I found the one you’d shrunk. It was my favorite.”
Of course it was. “Did you bring any of my clothes back?” Flick asked.
“No.”
“Then we’re more than even, Stef.”
Flick breathed a sigh of relief when they left. She relaxed against Beck as they waved goodbye. Stef would join Drew’s family for the rest of their whistle-stop tour of England. They still had to do London and Wales. They’d given themselves four days. Flick doubted she’d see Stef before the end of September. Beck closed the door.
“At last.” He groaned and pulled Flick into his arms. “I thought they’d never go. I can’t believe how much I want you.”
“Want me where?”
“Anywhere. Everywhere. The stairs look pretty good right now.”
“You’re incorrigible.”
“And you’re beautiful.”
She looked at him.
He took a deep breath. “I should have told you that before. I should have told you the first time I saw you, when you were dancing with that sheep. I should have pulled you into my arms and made you dance with me.”
He moved his hands up her legs under her dress and suddenly stopped. “You’re not wearing underwear,” he said in a hoarse voice.
“Couldn’t find any clean pants,” she whispered.
“Thank God I didn’t know that before.”
“You don’t have to know everything about me.”
Beck unfastened her dress. It dropped away to leave her naked except for her shoes.
“Yes, I do,” he said. “And I should warn you that in my line of work, processing and analyzing what I find, takes longer than the initial discovery.”
261
Barbara Elsborg
By the time they reached Flick’s bed, Beck was naked too. Between the pair of them they spent several hours discovering, processing and analyzing. Only exhaustion caused them to stop. It was quite a while before they talked in complete sentences.
“I could live here with you. Share the mortgage and commute,” he said.
“No.”
“Am I moving too quickly?”
“It’s not that. You’d have to use the A59. Go past where my parents died. I’d worry every time you drove on it.”
“So do you want to come and live with me?” Beck offered.
“Do you have a mansion with a swimming pool and a helicopter pad?”
“No, a little house but I’ll buy a paddling pool, particularly if you like skinny dipping. The yard isn’t overlooked.”
“I still need persuading.” Flick smiled and Beck began to kiss her neck.
“The whole place needs repainting and I think you’re the woman to do it.”
“Do you share your house with any pets?”
“My Doberman, Satan, and my two boa constrictors, Squeeze and Throttle.”
Flick laughed and Beck caught her smile with his mouth. She felt herself dissolving in his arms. He dropped his head to her breast and she groaned.
“So what do you say?” Beck asked. “Only I don’t think I can live without you.”
“You’re a dangerous man.” Flick sighed. “I’m not sure I’d be safe with you. Your students have told me about this book you’re writing. You appear to have a rather warped mind, Professor Beckett.”
“In what way?”
“Full of murder, torture and grisly secrets. Is there room for me?”
“Since you frequently make me mad enough to commit murder and I’d actually like to tie you up right now and do grisly things to your body, I think the answer is yes. There’s plenty of room for you.”
“I might be up for a bit of bondage.”
“How tight can I tie you?” Beck growled.
“No, I meant I’m going to tie you.”
He laughed and then the smile died. “Flick, I…I love you,” he whispered. She started to speak and he put his finger on her lips.
“Let me talk. I didn’t recognize what I felt. I didn’t think it could happen so quickly. I can’t believe I’ve found you. I’ve spent all my life digging holes, looking through broken and discarded things, hoping to come across something exceptional, a special treasure and all that time what I was really looking for, was you. I could never find anything more special.”
262
Digging Deeper
“I love you,” she said. “I loved you from the moment you saved me from that manic sheep and if you promise to send Satan to the pound and the snakes to the zoo, I’d love to live with you, love to love you.”
Beck ran his fingers over her lips. “I was kidding about the pets.”
“Good.”
“You are exactly what I’ve been looking for all these years.”
“Someone whose name begins with X?”
He groaned. “That was Giles. I don’t care what your name is. I only care about you. I want you in my life.”
Flick smiled.
“I’ll never find anything more precious or more important,” he said in a quiet voice. Flick basked in the comment for a moment.
“I take it that will be true unless you discover the skull of the missing link,” she pointed out.
“Goes without saying.” Beck ducked as Flick threw the pillow. She didn’t miss.
263
About the Author
Barbara Elsborg lives in West Yorkshire in the north of England. She always wanted to be a spy, but having confessed to everyone without them even resorting to torture, she decided it was not for her. Vulcanology scorched her feet. A morbid fear of sharks put paid to marine biology. So instead, she spent several years successfully selling cyanide.
After dragging up two rotten, ungrateful children and frustrating her sexy, devoted, wonderful husband (who can now stop twisting her arm), she finally has time to conduct an affair with an electrifying plugged-in male—her laptop. Her books feature quirky heroines and bad boys, and she hopes they are as much fun to read as they are to write.
Barbara welcomes comments from readers. You can find her website and email
address on her author bio page at www.cerridwenpress.com.
Tell Us What You Think
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Also by Barbara Elsborg
If you’re in the mood for something spicier (and are over 18), check out Barbara’s
erotic romances at Ellora’s Cave Publishing
(www.ellorascave.com ):
Anna in the Middle
Doing the Right Thing
Finding the Right One
Lucy in the Sky
Perfect Timing
Power of Love
Something About Polly
Strangers
Susie’s Choice
The Bad Widow
Cerridwen, the Celtic goddess of wisdom, was the muse who brought inspiration to storytellers and those in the creative arts. Cerridwen Press encompasses the best and most innovative stories in all genres of today’s fiction. Visit our site and discover the newest titles by talented authors who still get inspired—much like the ancient storytellers did, once upon a time.
www.cerridwenpress.com
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