Chapter 38
Chapter Thirty-Eight
A nna’s heart was beating uncomfortably fast as Warren looked at his sister with a puzzled expression.
“What’s going on?” he asked, as Selena paced at the foot of the stairs with her phone pressed against her ear.
“I told you,” Anna hissed at Warren. “They don’t want me here when I was so awful to them.”
“You weren’t awful,” he said, as though he genuinely believed that.
Pressing her phone to her shoulder, Selena lifted her chin to shout loudly as she walked towards the kitchen. “Mum! I think I’ll just drive home. Tamara can wake Joshie and bundle him into the car.”
“The roads are black ice!” Dennis’s voice boomed in response. “You’re not going anywhere.”
“No one is answering the phone,” Selena shouted to no one in particular. “Mum, did you get hold of anyone?”
“Your dad’s trying to get through to someone now,” Jen called from the direction of the kitchen.
“I wanted to have a bath!” Selena huffed, passing them to hurry upstairs.
Anna frowned at Warren as they headed for the kitchen. “What’s going on?”
“Your guess is as good as mine.”
“There you are!” Jen tilted her head and smiled at Anna. “You hardly ate anything at dinner, sweetie. I put a plate in the fridge for you. Help yourself, won’t you?”
Anna stared in disbelief. “Thank you,” she mumbled.
“Told you,” Warren said, disguising his words by clearing his throat.
Jen propped her hands on her hips. “I’m afraid we have a slight problem.”
“Selena’s run out of bubble bath?” Warren suggested dryly.
Jen didn’t acknowledge the joke. “The boiler has stopped working. We’ve got no heating or hot water.”
“I can’t find anyone who will come out and look at it tonight,” Selena grumbled, reappearing but not looking up from her phone. “It doesn’t matter how much money I offer, no one will come out until the morning. I really think I’ll drive home. Or go to a hotel.”
“Just put an extra jumper on,” Dennis said, shaking his head as he swirled whisky in his glass at the table. “I think we can manage one night.”
“I can’t even shower,” Selena complained. “And we’ll probably all freeze to death in our sleep. Poor Joshie. His teeth will be chattering.”
“I gave Tamara an extra blanket to put over him,” Jen said. “There are plenty of extra blankets. No one will freeze to death. Don’t be so dramatic.”
“I spoke to a local company, and the guy said he’ll come over tomorrow to look at it,” Dennis said. “I can’t find anyone who can come any sooner than that, so I’m afraid there’s not a lot we can do.”
“So much for a relaxing break,” Selena muttered, then wandered away with a comment about calling her husband .
“Did you have a good walk?” Dennis asked, looking at Anna.
She nodded dumbly. “Lovely, thank you.”
“Get Anna a hot drink,” Jen said, patting Warren’s arm. “She looks half frozen.”
“There’s food in the fridge, too,” Dennis added.
“We ate at the pub,” Anna told him, then followed Warren to the kitchen.
“Tea?” he asked as he filled the kettle.
“Please.” She leaned against the counter and whispered. “I’m not sure what just happened.”
“I mentioned that my family isn’t like yours. A bit of screaming over the dinner table isn’t unusual here, but when the heating has the audacity to break, it’s the end of the world.”
“It is a bit chilly,” Anna said, wrapping her arms around herself. “Selena was quite dramatic, though.” She paused and pressed her lips together. “I may not say that in the morning when I’m having a cold shower.”
“I reckon we’ll survive a night,” he said. “I’d probably recommend waiting and showering at home if there’s no hot water in the morning.”
“Good plan.”
By the time Anna got changed into her pyjamas, the temperature had noticeably dropped. She rushed from the bathroom and shot under the covers, shivering as she snuggled down.
“It’s cold,” she said, stating the obvious.
Warren shrugged and threw an extra blanket on top of the duvet.
“Aren’t you freezing?” she asked, the sight of him in a short-sleeved T-shirt making her shiver even more.
“Not really,” he said. “You’re just a bit pathetic, I reckon.”
She averted her gaze as he removed his jeans .
“Here,” he said, flinging one of his jumpers at her. “Put that on.”
“Thank you.” She sat up and pulled it on, getting a whiff of his scent as she did.
Feeling much cosier, she settled herself on the pillow and watched Warren get into bed.
“What are you so happy about?” he asked when she grinned at him.
“Your family,” she said, then shook with laughter. “They’re hilarious.”
“You weren’t so amused a few hours ago when you wanted to pack your bags and leave.”
“True,” she said as he switched the light off.
“You also might not find them particularly funny tomorrow when you wake to the sound of my sister squawking about not being able to have a hot shower.”
“Maybe not.” Gradually, her gaze adjusted to the darkness, and she could just make out the angles of Warren’s face. “Do you wish we hadn’t come?” she asked quietly.
He hesitated for long enough that she wasn’t sure he was going to answer. “No. It’s actually been okay.”
“Really? This family trip has been better than others?”
“Yes.” His laughter reverberated around the quiet room. “I realise how ridiculous that must seem.”
She wouldn’t call it ridiculous, just very sad. “Sorry,” she whispered.
He sighed heavily. “Shut up and go to sleep. You’re annoying me.”
“I’d apologise, but it turns out I quite like annoying you.”
“Go to sleep,” he said again, but she could hear the smile in his voice.
Warren woke with Anna fixed to his side like a limpet. Her right arm was draped over his chest, and her legs were entwined with his.
“Sorry,” she said, apparently sensing him waking. “I was cold.”
“You’re wearing a hat in bed,” he remarked, ignoring the way his body responded to hers and focusing on the fluffy bobble on top of her hat, which tickled his neck.
“My ears got cold in the night. I had to go and find it.” She shifted her head on his chest to look up at him. “Sorry for using you as a hot water bottle.”
“It’s okay,” he said, wishing she’d get off him, while also wishing they never had to move.
She was his best friend’s sister, and he’d told Lewis there was nothing more than friendship between the two of them.
“I don’t know if I’m brave enough to venture out of this bed,” she said lightly. “It’s very cold outside of these blankets.”
“Central heating seems like the ultimate luxury at this moment,” he remarked idly. Though if he were honest, the lack of heating in the house felt as though it was currently working in his favour.
She shifted and propped her chin on his chest, her eyes adorably sleepy and her dark hair tumbling out from beneath her bobble hat. “I think I’ll make coffee,” she said, her voice slightly hoarse with sleep.
“I can go.” His hand moved automatically to tame a lock of her hair, which poked out of her hat at a funny angle.
The softness had him twirling it over his finger.
“Sorry,” he muttered, catching himself. But when his eyes met hers, she didn’t seem perturbed by him pawing at her.
Then again, she was the one who’d initiated the physical contact.
She also wasn’t moving away from him, and his heart beat steadily faster as her eyes roamed over his face.
He should move .
If he shifted a little, she’d move off him. Except he didn’t quite have the willpower to put distance between them. The curves of her body fit perfectly against him, and the way she was gazing at him was intoxicating. His hand returned to that lock of her hair.
When he turned it over in his fingers, her eyes met his with an intensity that made his racing heart stop dead.
As she shifted her weight, he braced himself for her to break the contact between them, but she only moved along his body until her face was level with his.
After a momentary hesitation, she leaned closer and brushed her soft lips against his.
He should definitely put a stop to this. He should gently shift her off him and get the heck out of this bed.
He really should.
But he didn’t.
Instead, he trailed his fingers down her neck. When she drew back and looked at him searchingly, he pulled her closer, then breathed in the scent and taste of her while tilting her chin to deepen the kiss.
He should put a stop to it.
Kissing his best friend’s sister was a bad move.
Her nose pressed against his, and her hand caressed his cheek while her mouth devoured his.
With his hand on the tantalising curve of her spine, he closed his eyes and basked in the feeling of bliss that coursed through him.
A moment later, he forced his brain into gear.
He couldn’t kiss his best friend’s sister. His boss’s sister. What was he playing at?
In a move so speedy he wasn’t sure how he managed it, he put an end to their kiss, slid out from under Anna and exited the bed to scoop up his jeans on the way to the bathroom. He only breathed again once the door closed behind him .
In the mirror above the sink, he scowled at his reflection, then shook his head.
He was an idiot.
When he walked out of the bathroom with his jeans on, Anna was sitting up in bed, hugging her knees. He avoided eye contact as he pulled his hoodie over his head, but even from the corner of his eye, he could read her facial expression.
It was very similar to the way she’d looked at dinner the previous evening while announcing that his family were horrible people.
Which was probably fair enough. He felt pretty horrible.
But he’d feel more horrible when he had to face Lewis at work later.
“I’ll get some coffee going,” he said.
If she replied, he didn’t hear her as he strode out of the room, closing the door behind him.