Chapter 11
Nora
The drive back to mine is awkward as hell. Theo’s being really weird—stiff and polite, which is so out of character for him. I’m not sure what’s got into him. It must have been the kiss, because he seemed happy with how the chat with his dad went.
I shouldn’t have let go like that. I flush in the relative darkness of the car as I recall that I even moaned a little. Mortifying. But I was expecting to feel very awkward during the kiss—like it was choreographed and we were acting it out—and I didn’t.
Not at all.
It obviously helped that the guy is ridiculously good-looking. And knows how to wear a suit. And touch a woman. And it also helped that we’d had a moment of shared success when we steered the conversation with his dad around to Theo’s vision for the SoHo hotel.
But the nerves, and slight horror, I felt as he lowered his face to mine, disappeared pretty much immediately after he touched my lips with his.
Because holy hell. The expensive scent of him, and the unexpected friction from that designer stubble-slash-beard, and the soft fullness of his lips were a pretty heady combination.
So my oh, crap and my fuck you, Jonathan thought processes went out of my head pretty quickly as Theo worked his magic, one hand caressing my waist and hip as the other moved in my hair and his lips sucked on mine, and the kiss that was supposed to be phony, just for show, quickly escalated into something so smoking hot that I let him put his tongue in my mouth.
Oh my God.
But the moan was a low point. Or a high point, depending on which way you look at it. Look, the kiss was nowhere near as feverish and debauched as I remember our kiss at uni being. But it felt like he was hungry for me. And boy, did my body respond.
If he was acting that, then he’s a very clever boy.
I was getting so into it that when he pulled away, I had total brain-loss for a minute. I wasn’t sure which way was up until I jolted myself back to reality, and asking if Jonathan had seen us was kind of a knee-jerk reaction, I suppose. To cover up how flustered I was.
(Yes, flustered is a euphemism for turned on.)
I suppose I should be happy. I stuck it to my ex, helped Theo get his dad’s attention, and got a damn good snog out of it. I’d call that a successful evening. So I’m not quite sure why I feel a bit upended.
Theo swept me out of there pretty soon after that, and I just caught Jonathan put his hand up and say my name, but Theo hissed at me that I should leave him hanging, and I suppose he was right.
I lean my head back against the headrest and exhale. I’m knackered. Drained, more like. Surely cars this expensive should have more comfortable seats? I just want to crawl into bed. I pull my phone out of my bag and glance at the lock screen.
‘Oh, shit.’
Theo turns to look at me. ‘What’s up?’
‘I don’t know. But I have loads of missed calls from Elle and Adela, our housekeeper.’
I hit Elle’s number. She picks up immediately.
‘Nor. Where’ve you been?’
‘Sorry. I was at a work thing with Theo. I’ve just checked my phone. What’s going on?’
She exhales. ‘A fucking pipe has burst at home. In the upstairs bathroom. Apparently, the water’s come through the ceiling to your bedroom and bathroom. There’s water damage, though Adela got hold of me and we got someone out to turn off the water in time.’
I rub my forehead with my hand. Jesus Christ. This is the last thing I need. There’s something particularly cruel about being told your bed, the only thing you want in the world right now, is being withheld.
‘Oh, bugger. Shit, Elle. Ugh, I’m so sorry.’ I attempt to process the problem rationally. ‘Where’s Adela—where’s Olive? Are they okay?’
‘They’re fine. I’ve booked Adela into a hotel. She’s going to wait for you to get there and hand Olive over to you. ’
I go into action mode. ‘Okay. I’ll sleep in the spare room tonight with Olive and then we’ll get some plumbers in to assess the damage. I don’t want you worrying about it while you’re shooting. I’ll get it sorted.’
‘You can’t stay there tonight, Nor. The water mains will have to stay off till they can fix the pipe. I’m going to find a dog-friendly hotel for the two of you. My PA’s on it.’
‘What’s going on?’ Theo asks.
‘A pipe’s burst, all over my bedroom, and they’ve had to turn the mains off.’
‘Put Elle on speaker,’ he orders.
I sigh. ‘Theo. I’m handling it.’
‘Put her on.’
Grr. ‘I’m with Theo,’ I tell Elle. ‘I’m putting you on speaker.’
‘She can stay with me, cous,’ he says as soon as I put the speakerphone on.
No. Bloody. Way.
‘No, thank you. I’ll just brush my teeth with bottled water tonight. I’ll be fine.’
‘That would be amazing.’ Elle’s voice comes out in a gush of relief. ‘Thanks, Theo. It’ll be a few days before we get things sorted, probably.’
A few days?
‘No offence, but I’m not staying with you, Theo. Anyway, I’ve got the dog.’
‘No problem. I have plenty of space for the two of you.’ He glances at me, and he must spot my murderous expression, because he adds, ‘Chill out, Nor. I have three bedrooms. I’m not going to try to get into your PJs in the middle of the night.’
The guy’s a mind-reader. I was, in fact, about to have a total panic that our situation was turning into some ridiculous, only-one-bed farce.
Still. Even sharing a flat with Theo Montague is way more intimacy than I’m ready for. Or will ever be ready for.
Elle sniggers on the phone.
‘Helpful, thanks Elle,’ I tell her.
‘Sorry. Theo, if you can help her out, I’ll feel so much better. Nor, Adela says the stuff in your wardrobe looks okay, but your bedding’s a bit buggered I think.’
‘I’ve got it,’ Theo says. ‘You can relax, Elle. I’ll go in and assess the damage with her, and I’ll help her pack up a bag and whatever the dog needs, and I’ll put them up for as long as you need. Okay? Go get some sleep.’
We say goodbye to Elle and I let the phone fall into my lap. Fuck’s sake. It’s not her fault, and I suppose it’s nice of Theo to step in. More than nice. He’s a bit of a lifesaver, really.
But what a total bloody pain in the arse.