Olivia #2
‘Thank you, Leah,’ she whispered, turning up the gas and picking up speed. ‘Thank you.’
*
By the time they arrived back at Olivia’s hut, every part of her body was frozen, but she couldn’t wipe the grin from her face.
‘Maybe I need to get me one of these in London.’
‘They’re fun, right? When you finally decide to go over ten miles per hour.’
Olivia gave Jacob’s arm a sharp slap and suddenly noticed how tired he looked.
‘How are you going to get home?’
‘I’m guessing riding the bike is still not an option?’
Olivia took the keys from the ignition and held them tightly in her hand. ‘Nope.’
‘Then I guess I’ll walk.’
‘Are you sure?’
‘What other choice do I have?’
Olivia stared into Jacob’s weary face. There was another option.
‘You can stay with me, if you like.’ The words were out of her mouth before her logical brain had a chance to stop them. ‘Obviously, I can sleep on the floor.’
‘Don’t be silly, you don’t want me to do that.’
Her cheeks blazed. God, if only he knew just how badly she wanted it.
‘I don’t necessarily want
you to, it’s just …’ She started fiddling with the bike keys, shifting her weight back and forth. ‘I don’t think I’ll sleep properly tonight if you’re by yourself. What if something happens again?’
‘Nothing’s going to happen, Olivia, I’m fine.’
‘But what if it does?’ She took a small step towards him. ‘I know it sounds crazy but, after Leah … I don’t know …’
She let her feeble excuse trail off; how foolish and immature she must sound. This was a fully grown man – a capable, independent adult.
‘Will you be that worried if I don’t?’
‘Annoyingly, yes,’ she admitted.
‘In that case’ – he lifted her chin with his finger – ‘I’ll stay. Only if it makes you feel better.’
‘Thank you!’
‘On one condition though.’ He raised an eyebrow.
‘Go on …’
Their eyes locked for a fraction too long. Olivia felt the skin on her face tingle from his touch and her face burn a deep scarlet. How the hell was she going to cope sleeping in the same room as this man?
‘You promise me you don’t snore.’
‘As if I would snore!’ Olivia welcomed the lightness of his joke and began to walk towards her front door. ‘However, I do have earplugs in case you need them.’
‘Now, why does that not surprise me. Oh, and let me guess, a full-blown first-aid kit on hand, in case of emergencies?’
Olivia unlocked the door and stepped inside, knowing exactly what Jacob was about to see when she turned on the light.
‘Aha!’ he cried, pointing at the green plastic box across the room. ‘I knew
it.’
She rolled her eyes and began to tidy away her piles of clothes, deliberately hiding her printed itinerary under a stack of T-shirts. If he thought she was a crazed organization freak from a first-aid kit, seeing that masterpiece would surely seal her fate.
‘So …’ Olivia hovered by the bathroom door, the space suddenly feeling very confined. ‘I’m going to get ready for bed. Do you need the bathroom or anything?’
‘Nope, all good.’ He sat down on the edge of the bed and began to take off his shoes. ‘You do you.’
Does he need pyjamas?
Well, he can’t sleep naked, can he?
Oh God, do not think about him naked.
Olivia shook the unhelpful thoughts from her head and concentrated fully on cleaning her teeth and washing her face.
Throughout her life, she’d never much cared for the way she looked.
Next to Leah she was always ‘the plain one’ and besides, good looks and fancy make-up didn’t make you any more efficient or productive.
But seeing herself in the mirror now, Olivia couldn’t help but admire the reflection.
Her cheeks looked a little scorched from the sun and her freckles
seemed to be multiplying by the second, but there was a spark in her eyes and a glow on her face that she’d never seen before.
‘You don’t happen to have a spare toothbrush, do you?’ Jacob’s voice called out. ‘Miss Prepared For All Eventualities?’
‘Sorry.’ She dried her face on the towel and walked back to her room. ‘Only paracetamol and blister plasters.’
‘Damn it.’ He stood and walked past her to the sink, plucking the toothpaste from the side and squeezing a line on to his finger. ‘I guess I’ll have to use my finger, then, won’t I?’
‘Ew, that’s gross.’
‘It will be more gross if I don’t.’ He aggressively rubbed his finger back and forth along the front of his teeth.
‘Right. While you’re doing that, I’ll sort the bedding out.’
Olivia looked around the room for anything that could aid her in her makeshift bed construction. She rolled up her large rucksack to use as a pillow and found a couple of spare blankets in the wardrobe.
‘You’re not seriously going to sleep on that, are you?’ Jacob stood in the doorway, watching her feeble attempts. ‘Get into bed, you idiot.’
‘No, honestly, I don’t mind.’ She rolled up a couple of T-shirts for extra padding. ‘You need your rest.’
‘And so do you. I won’t sleep knowing you’re down there on the floor like a little dormouse. Come on. Get in.’
She eyed the pathetic heap and then reluctantly clambered into the bed.
‘Fine.’ She wiggled all the way across to the edge. ‘But if it gets too cramped, wake me up and I’ll move.’
‘I think we’ll manage.’
He lifted up the covers and climbed inside. Olivia stiffened her body so that she took up as little room as possible;
even breathing felt like an invasion of his space. Her whole body was rigid and on alert. The perfect conditions for a relaxed night’s sleep.
‘Are you feeling OK?’ she whispered.
‘Yes.’
‘Are you sure?’
‘Olivia.’ He turned on to his side to face her. ‘Stop asking me that. And please’ – he placed a cool hand on her arm – ‘relax, will you?’
‘Sorry.’ She softened a little. ‘I think I go into default carer mode whenever someone is sick.’
‘I’m not sick.’
‘I know, but … you know.’ She turned ever so slowly to face him. She could feel the warmth from his body through her cotton pyjamas.
‘I know,’ he whispered back, his eyes wide and lips so close to hers. Too close.
Olivia went to move her face away when she felt his hand on her cheek.
‘Please don’t.’
‘What?’
‘Don’t do that. Don’t look away.’
Every inch of her skin started to tingle, her whole body lighting up like a switchboard.
‘Olivia?’
‘Yes?’
‘Can I …’ He dropped his gaze momentarily.
Her heart was in her mouth.
‘Yes?’
‘Can I kiss you?’
Before he’d even finished the sentence, Olivia had pulled him to her, wrapped her arms around him tightly and kissed
him. Jacob groaned in response, running his hands through her hair and down along her spine. Her back arched in response, her kisses becoming harder and hungrier.
‘Olivia.’ He spoke her name into her mouth. ‘Oh, Olivia.’
She kept her eyes closed, allowing her other senses to experience him.
The feel of his hands tracing every curve of her body.
The scent of his skin as it grew hotter and flushed; deep, smoky wood and a rich, warming spice.
The cold taste of mint and salt on his lips.
Every part of her wanted to feel every single part of him, until there was nothing left to separate them.
She deepened her kisses, the longing inside her building to an unbearable level.
After all this time, after everything they’d been through, here they were at last.
‘Look at you,’ he whispered, pulling her on top of him.
‘Don’t,’ she begged shyly, trying to cover her face with her hands.
‘Why?’ He reached up to meet her. ‘You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.’
Olivia pushed him back down, unable to take the intensity of his stare.
‘Thank you,’ she whispered, feeling his hand grip her thighs hard.
‘For what?’
‘Surprising me here.’
‘It’s been my pleasure.’
‘But not just that,’ she continued, babbling away as the intensity of the moment started to overwhelm her. ‘Taking me to the beach … getting me to go in the sea.’
Why was she talking? Why had she not stopped talking?
‘Even the bike was kind of fun in the end – apart from, you know …’ Her brain was screaming at her to stop, to immediately close her mouth and focus on the kisses Jacob
was planting delicately along her jaw line. Tiny, soft, incredibly tender kisses. ‘I guess I spend so much time in my head that sometimes I find it hard not to overthink things.’
‘Olivia.’ He stopped what he was doing immediately.
‘Yes?’
She’d ruined it. Her stream of nonsense and nervous chatter had killed the moment.
‘Will you do something for me?’
‘Sure?’ She felt her body close in on itself ever so slightly, preparing itself for rejection. ‘Is everything all right?’
In one fluid motion, he switched their positions, pulling her underneath him. The full weight of his body was now pressing into hers, one hand on her lower back, lifting her up to meet him. Instinctively, she wrapped her legs around him and felt an entirely new world of desire open up inside her.
‘I want you to promise me,’ he whispered into her ear, ‘that whatever you do, you won’t overthink this.’
‘I won’t.’ She sighed, finally surrendering as his mouth trailed down her chest, his hands clawing at her skin. ‘I promise I won’t.
‘Good. Because for the rest of the night, I don’t want you to be thinking at all …’