Chapter 39
The atmosphere between them seemed to crackle as Nick drove the short distance from Cherry Tree Court back to his small cottage on the far side of the boundary of Saints Farm.
Nick had lived there ever since he’d got back from agricultural college.
It was a former farm worker’s cottage and had lain empty for many years before Nick decided to take it on and renovate it.
His mother and father had agreed to give it to him, so long as he footed the bill for the repairs, and it had been a labour of love for Nick, over the years.
Thea sat quietly in the passenger seat, and Nick glanced across at her from time to time, trying to gauge how she was feeling.
It had come to him, as they sat and talked, that despite the fact they’d lived in the same place for a long time, and grown up together, there was still so much they didn’t know about each other.
The revelations she’d made about what had happened with Ed had shocked him, but it had also ignited a fierce protectiveness within him towards her and her children.
He was concerned about what she’d told him about Ed’s other son making contact with Cora, and he wanted to be there for Thea and the kids, to support them during what might prove to be a difficult time.
Whatever he’d felt about Thea before, it seemed to have intensified now that she’d trusted him enough to confide in him.
That, combined with the fierce physical attraction that had built through the earlier part of the evening, and he was more certain than ever that he’d done the right thing in spending more time with her.
‘Well, here we are,’ he said, cutting the engine and turning to Thea. ‘Are you ready for that coffee?’
Thea’s smile assuaged some of the nerves he was feeling. She’d been a whole lot calmer when they’d walked out to the Land Rover, and seemed to have recovered her equilibrium. ‘Sounds good,’ she said as she swiftly opened the door.
A silence fell between them as he led Thea through to the small kitchen at the back of the cottage. He brewed some coffee in the cafetière and then they walked back to his tiny sitting room at the front of the cottage.
‘I don’t think I’ve ever been to your house before!’ Thea gave a nervous laugh. ‘I mean, not since you’ve actually lived here…’ She seemed relieved to be away from Cherry Tree Court and able to talk about lighter things.
Nick grinned as a shared memory surfaced from the back of his mind. ‘Oh yeah! I remember when we were eighteen, we all came here for a party after our last exams. God, the place was a mess, wasn’t it? But after about five pints of cider, I don’t think we really cared.’
‘Just as well,’ Thea replied, taking a sip of her coffee. ‘I think if we hadn’t been so drunk, the stone floors would have been really uncomfortable.’
‘I don’t remember getting much sleep that night,’ Nick said. ‘I think I stayed awake with Tristan for most of it, setting the world to rights, as only arrogant eighteen-year-olds with no actual real worries could.’
‘I don’t remember you ever being arrogant,’ Thea countered gently. ‘Quite the reverse, in fact.’ Nick watched as she shuffled closer to him on the red velvet, button-backed sofa where they’d both settled. ‘You never seemed sure about anything.’
‘Thanks,’ Nick said dryly. ‘That’s a real boost to my ego.’
‘You really don’t see what I see, do you?’ Thea’s voice cut into his thoughts, jolting him back to the moment.
‘What’s that, then?’ Nick gave a nervous laugh. He watched, spellbound as Thea carefully put her coffee cup down on the table beside them. Then, he felt a shiver of anticipation as she removed the cup from his hands, too. That shiver intensified as she placed a gentle hand on his thigh.
‘I see a warm, sexy, funny, gorgeous man whom I wish I’d got to know better a long, long time ago.’
Nick’s heart sped up as the blood rushed somewhere lower in response to Thea’s warm fingertips.
He ached to close the gap between them again, to feel her lips against his, but the annoying voice in the back of his mind was refusing to go away.
She’d been visibly upset not half an hour ago, and he needed to know that she wasn’t just riding a wave of adrenaline or trying to chase away the darkness that had made her want to escape from the function room.
‘Thea…’ he murmured, when she tilted her face towards his. ‘Are you sure this is what you really want?’
He saw her pause, pull back, a look of confusion on her face. ‘Of course,’ she said quickly. ‘Don’t you?’
Nick sighed. ‘You know I do. But you were so upset earlier. I don’t want to end up being a sticking plaster one night stand that you’ll regret in the morning.’
The speed that Thea withdrew her hand from his thigh made his body scream in protest. Nick tried to ignore it.
‘Is that why you think I’m here?’ Thea’s voice was laced with frustration. ‘That I’d really just hook up with you and then walk away?’ She’d stood up now and was looking down at him with a look of hurt on her face. ‘Do you really think that little of me?’
‘Of course not!’ Nick jumped off the sofa and quickly reached out a hand. He had the feeling she was going to bolt again, and he desperately didn’t want her to leave, not now, not this way. ‘I’m sorry. I just don’t want you to rush into something you might regret.’
‘Oh, Nick.’ Thea’s eyes were shining with tears again. ‘Is that your way of letting me down gently?’
Nick shook his head in frustration. ‘No. Christ, no.’ He took a tentative step closer to her, breathing in the remnants of the floral perfume she was wearing, and his senses were once again on high alert.
‘I really don’t want you to go, believe me, but I want you to really not want to go, too.
’ He knew he was stumbling over his words again, and he cursed his inability to get to the point.
Thea was still, and her eyes were wide as she looked at him, and he got the feeling that she was weighing up what he’d said, trying to work out what she should be doing.
‘I want to stay,’ she said softly, bringing the hand he wasn’t holding up to his face.
He shivered at her touch, and that electricity that had been crackling between them since they’d been spending time together felt almost tangible.
Letting out a shaky breath, he brought her hand around to his mouth and kissed her fingertips.
‘Then stay,’ he said, a husky note in his voice. As he said it, the doubts that had been nagging at his brain quietened down, and before he could second guess himself, he moved towards Thea and kissed her. ‘Stay with me. For a little while, at least.’
He felt Thea smiling into the next kiss they shared. ‘All right,’ she murmured against his lips. ‘But I will have to go home tonight. Gran’s staying in my spare room, but she’s bound to notice if I don’t turn up until breakfast time!’
‘Understood.’ Nick smiled back at her before deepening the kiss.
He had the strangest sensation of feeling both relaxed and as if all his senses were at their height.
Now that they were both on the same page, his body was aching to touch and be touched, and he couldn’t think of anything else but taking Thea straight up the narrow staircase of the cottage and making love to her, for as long as time allowed.
‘Come on,’ he said softly. ‘I think it’s about time we made good on all of those kisses, don’t you?’
Thea nodded, and he felt himself harden further as she licked her lips.
He’d kissed off all of her lipstick, and she looked dishevelled and incredibly gorgeous.
He wanted nothing more, now, than to spend the night with this woman, and he felt very confident, as she followed him upstairs, that she felt exactly the same way.