Chapter 26
Nervous anticipation laced with relief and exhaustion prickled Mattie’s skin as she navigated her car into a tight space in the hotel’s underground car park.
Parking came at a premium in Bath, but this bordered on ridiculous, and she’d had enough of driving now.
What was supposed to be a two-hour journey had turned into three and a half, due to an accident on the motorway south of Birmingham and the sheer weight of weekend get-away traffic.
At least she’d managed to keep Nell updated via text.
She sent Nell another message. On my way up.
The chilly late-night air came as a shock compared with the car’s warmth, and she zipped up her coat.
Her phone buzzed. See you soon. Mattie smiled.
Time to forget about work and focus on two days and nights with Nell, sharing the same space as her, seeing what the city had to offer through Nell’s eyes as well as her own, and being able to reach out and touch her as she’d longed to during their video calls.
And in the unlikely scenario they ran out of things to say, there was always sex. They were very good at that.
“You’re a sight for very sore eyes,” Mattie said when Nell opened the door to their room. She dragged her small suitcase in behind her. “That was a pig of a journey.”
Nell looked adorably shy as she held out her arms. Mattie walked into them and sighed deeply. At last. It’d been far too long since she’d held her. She nuzzled against Nell’s neck and revelled in her wonderfully familiar scent.
Nell kissed her lightly. “You look gorgeous. Weary, but gorgeous.”
“I’m hungry, cranky, and tired.” She groaned. “All I see when I close my eyes are queues of stationary traffic.”
Nell gestured at the two comfy armchairs in the bay window. “Sit down before you fall down.”
“I need to use the bathroom first.” She used the ensuite toilet, washed her hands, and growled. No way was she looking gorgeous. Wan face, heavy-lidded eyes, sallow skin. Why was she always looking her worst whenever around Nell?
The small kettle had boiled by the time Mattie emerged from the ensuite.
“Tea or coffee?” asked Nell.
Mattie flopped into the armchair. “Tea, please.”
“Once I heard the words ‘multiple pile-up on the M5’ on the traffic news, I guessed you’d arrive too late for dinner at the restaurant, so I bought us some sandwiches.
” Nell held out two packages. “There wasn’t a great selection, I’m afraid.
Egg mayo or cheese and pickle. You choose. I’m happy with either.”
“You’re such a sweetheart.” Mattie chose the cheese sandwich and tucked into it. Their conversation was light and surface-level as they ate. “We’ve waited three weeks for this, but now we’re finally together, I can barely keep my eyes open,” she said when they’d both finished eating.
“Don’t worry, we’ve got the whole weekend.” Nell gently pulled Mattie out of the armchair and pointed at the bed. “You prefer the left side, don’t you?”
Mattie’s mouth dropped open.
“In your apartment, you had a stack of books on the cabinet next to the left side of the bed. I’m a police officer; I notice these things.” Nell shrugged like it was nothing. “So I made an educated guess and took the right side for myself.”
“You are a sweetheart.” Mattie brought Nell’s hands to her lips and kissed her knuckles. “I’ve called you that twice since I’ve been here, so clearly, sweetheart is meant to be my name for you.” When Nell blushed and shrugged again, Mattie’s heart expanded against her ribs.
“That’s one comfy bed waiting for us.” Nell’s lips twitched. “I might have tested it out with a nap while I was waiting for you.”
Mattie unpacked while Nell brushed her teeth, and then she took her turn in the bathroom, changing into pyjama shorts and tank top. “I’m beyond tired,” she said.
Nell pulled back the duvet for her. “You’ll feel better after a good night’s sleep.”
She slipped into bed beside her. Nell switched off the bedside light, and they lay next to each other in the darkness.
Mattie squeezed Nell’s hand. “Not the height of romance, is it?”
Nell squeezed back. “It’s real life.”
“Yeah. Still. Sorry.”
“Stop apologising, Mattie.”
“Sorry.”
Nell rolled on to her left side and gently pulled Mattie against her so they were spooning. “Go to sleep.”
Their bodies fitted together like two perfectly sized jigsaw pieces.
Being the little spoon felt unexpectedly comforting, especially when Nell kissed the back of her head and snuggled closer.
Mattie closed her eyes. This wasn’t how she’d envisaged today would end, but it had a precious quality about it all the same.
“You were right about feeling better after a good night’s sleep,” she told Nell the next morning.
“I hadn’t expected the bed to be so comfy we’d sleep through breakfast.” They’d rushed to the dining room in a forlorn hope that the kitchen would take pity on them.
Catering staff had offered warm croissants and hot drinks in the hotel lounge instead.
“More coffee?” She gestured to the cafetiere on the low table in front of them.
“Please.” Nell smiled. “My caffeine level is nowhere near high enough yet. I’m not a morning person, but that isn’t a problem when you live alone.”
Mattie picked a crumb of pastry off her jumper. “So you’re not up for a discussion about the state of the nation at seven a.m. then?”
Nell grunted.
“Noted. Maybe we should go back to bed for a ‘rest’?” Mattie put air quotes around her last word.
“That’d be an excellent idea, except they’ll be clattering around, servicing rooms all morning.” Nell leaned into her. “Not much chance for peace and quiet or, um, privacy.”
Mattie laughed under her breath. She drank more coffee and watched rain splatter against the wide windows, blurring the view of sodden streets.
Nell picked up a handful of tourist leaflets scattered on the table and shared some with her.
The first was the National Trust’s brochure for an eighteenth-century landscaped garden, which highlighted its renowned stately Palladian bridge and looked very idyllic and picturesque in the summer.
In the first week of November, Mattie suspected it would be less so.
“It isn’t exactly the weather for walking around Prior Park. ”
“Somewhere indoors will be better,” said Nell. “We could hit the tourist trail instead?”
Eventually, they bundled up against the inclement weather and walked into the heart of the city.
They visited Bath Abbey, a medieval building with stunning stained-glass windows and a fan-vaulted ceiling dating from the 1500s.
It was an oasis of calm and stillness after the bustle of the city’s sodden streets.
They strolled together, shoulders occasionally brushing, only exchanging comments in whispers so as not to ruin the tranquillity.
Nell pointed out the names inscribed on the flagstones beneath their feet. “I wonder about the people those names belonged to and the lives they led.”
“That language is so archaic,” said Mattie. “A servant of God and so on.”
“Grow up in a Catholic household, and it becomes second nature.” Nell stepped aside to make space for an elderly man in a wheelchair. “I haven’t been to Mass in years, but I can still recite by rote the prayers and responses.”
“There were three churches of different denominations in our town, but we didn’t go to any of them, except for school Christmas carol concerts.” Mattie smiled. “I liked some of the songs.”
“I adore the architecture of cathedrals and old churches. Imagine having the kind of vision to create something like that.” Nell tipped her head back to admire the ceiling. “It’s exquisite.”
As exquisite as you. It was all Mattie could do to stifle her gasp at Nell’s mesmerising pose, so similar to the first time they’d had sex, Nell’s head tossed back, offering her breasts in astonishing abandon.
Mattie leaned into her. “If we weren’t in a place of worship right now, I would bury my lips in this beautiful curve right here.
” She ran the tip of her index finger along Nell’s neck.
“The shape of your throat reminds me of a swan, all grace and elegance.”
Nell shivered, and Mattie hoped it had little to do with the cool air of the abbey.
“You should be scandalised at how very ungodly my thoughts are right now,” Mattie murmured. “I’m imagining kissing every single one of your gorgeous freckles. My tongue is licking each nipple. Feather-light to start with, teasing until they’re nubs, and then I’m sucking them hard into my mouth.”
“Mattie!” Nell glanced around to see if people were watching them.
“I can’t help wanting you,” Mattie whispered. “And we did miss out last night.”
Nell dropped her head forward and closed her eyes. When she opened them again a few beats later, she held Mattie’s gaze. “Behave.”
Mattie’s blood thrummed at her husky tone. “If that was supposed to be an admonishment, it failed.”
Nell grinned. “Oh, I think it hit the mark.”
The words on the tourist leaflet in Mattie’s tremulous hand morphed into a blur of black unreadable shapes.
They left the abbey and dashed to a nearby cafe for a lazy lunch, made longer by their shared desire to stay in the warm and dry.
From there, they darted a short way across town to the Roman Baths.
The tourist trap was unsurprisingly busy, and they chose to listen to audio guides rather than join an in-person tour led by a guide dressed in Roman costume.
They started at the terrace, which overlooked the above-ground part of the site and was lined with Victorian statues of Roman emperors.
From there, they wandered past collections of relics discovered at the site, and down to the Sacred Spring where Romans had thrown coins into the water as offerings to the goddess Sulis Minerva, a deity with healing powers.
“It’s difficult to believe that we’re standing in the middle of a modern city and all of this survived,” said Mattie.