Page 56 of One Bed

‘Fabulous,’ Bea muttered, rubbing the back of her neck, and still trying to get her breath back. ‘So, what did she tell her? That she’s going to retire? That one day, a long time in the future, when God and the devil are done arguing over her, that she’s going to die?’

Cass shook her head. ‘We’re all going to die, sweetie. We need help on how tolive.’

* * *

Bea swayed in Gib’s arms, her cheek on his chest. His hand was curled around hers, his other arm around her waist. A piece of paper wouldn’t fit between them and that was the way she liked it.

God, he smelt amazing … clean, and crisp, of green apples and limes, of the sea. ‘What cologne do you wear?’ she asked, feeling lazy and lovely and turned on.

He pulled back to look down at her. ‘Sorry?’

‘You smell so good. I want to buy a bottle so that I can sniff it and remember this moment in the future.’ She smiled, riding that delicious high from just enough champagne and an overdose of lust and need. ‘Does that sound creepy?’

He dropped her hand to show her the inch of space between his thumb and index finger. ‘A little.’

She swatted his shoulder with the back of her hand, and he recaptured her hand and kissed the tips of her fingers, sending sexy shivers down her hand and up her arm. ‘Is this moment that good,Bea-darling?’

She liked the way her godma’s pet name for her rolled off his tongue. His stubble was thicker tonight, his hair a little messy. He wore the same stone-coloured suit trousers from earlier that week, but tonight he’d left the jacket behind and wore a collared, powder-blue dress shirt he’d left unbuttoned at the neck. The shirt beneath her fingers was crisp cotton, the body beneath as fine.

‘It is. It’s a stunning night. Golly is, so far, behaving herself, and I pigged out at supper.’

Nadia had served her variations of Golly’s favourite dishes –seafood platters, paella and lamb stew, aubergine and parmesan bake for the vegetarians and vegans –and everybody had tucked in with enthusiasm. Drinks flowed, and the jazz quartet played Golly’s favourite songs. Laughter rolled and people flirted, and whenever he could, Gib put his big hand on Bea’s bare thigh.

He topped off her wine glass and sneaked spoonfuls of luscious tiramisu cheesecake off her plate when he thought she wasn’t looking. He’d engaged in a few conversations with the people who shared their table, acquaintances to her, strangers to him, quietly charming, effortlessly engaging. But she soon noticed that if she wasn’t a part of a conversation, he’d adroitly end his, and focus his attention on her. It was as if his only reason for being there was to give her the majority of his attention. For that alone, she utterly adored him.

‘Do you like parties?’ she asked, playing with the hair skimming his collar.

‘They aren’t my favourite way to spend time. They are necessary sometimes, though, so I make an effort. But I far prefer smaller dinners, with people I get on with and enjoy. Nothing beats a barbecue with beer and old, good friends.’

Wow. Information!

‘Who do you invite to your barbecues?’ She really wanted to ask who he’d invite as his date, but even she wasn’t that gauche. Besides, she knew he wouldn’t answer.

‘Ah, Navy, I guess. He’s not only my cousin, he’s my best friend. I also have a few good friends from college, and one or two I’ve met through work. Plus their wives and kids.’

‘And would you cook? Or would you hire someone to grill your meat for you?’

He looked horrified at her suggestion. ‘Of course I’d cook!’

Whoops. She swallowed her giggle. ‘And where would all this happen? On the balcony of your Upper West Side flat?’ she teased.

He pinched her lightly. ‘I have a house in Nashville. That’s where Caddell is headquartered.’

Bea frowned. They were an international company with offices all over the world and she expected their head offices to be somewhere more cosmopolitan. ‘Why aren’t you based in LA or New York? Even London?’

He’d answered five, or six, questions in a row and she was on a roll. She hoped he wouldn’t clam up now.

‘That would be because my father and his brother, my Uncle Hugh, grew up in Nashville. We have offices in those cities, of course, and in Hong Kong and Sydney, but Hugh and Navy live in Nashville. I tend to travel a lot, but Nashville is home.’

Huh.Tennessee. It didn’t fit him … or did it? He had that rangy, loose-limbed southern gentlemen-stroke-surfer vibe.

‘So, I heard Golly hired a psychic. You going to get a reading from her?’ That was the worst attempt at changing the subject she’d ever heard.

She narrowed her eyes at him. ‘Closing me down, Gib?’

He fed her a soft, lovely kiss and pulled back before it gathered any heat. Her stomach rolled over and her toes curled up. Good to know they were still alive as she’d thought her heels shut down the blood to them hours ago.

She wanted to kiss him, but she was content to keep talking to him as well. The man was fascinating. The band segued into another song with a faster beat, but neither of them reacted.

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