Page 92 of Wild About You

‘Thanks,’ I said. It felt like an ending. I wondered if we would ever be alone again. Here, like this. And there was only one thing I wanted to do. I walked quickly across the room, wrapped my arms around him, and buried my face in his chest. Just to feel him, just to smell him.

He froze for a minute, then his arms closed around me. I felt his breath in my hair.

‘How long before you go?’ he said, his voice rough.

‘Ten days.’ My voice was muffled against his shoulder.

‘Anna.’ His fingers were running through my hair. ‘You’ve got no idea how much I want you to stay. How much I…’ He buried his face in my hair and swore under his breath. ‘This is wrong. I’m not being – honourable.’

The moment snapped. The atmosphere changed. We’d passed some kind of midnight – our carriage had turned into a pumpkin. We couldn’t stand here for ever; and there were too many obstacles for us to go forwards.

‘I have to go,’ he said, gently disentangling himself from me.

‘She doesn’t love you,’ I said. I was tired and sad and I couldn’t hide it any more. But the words felt wrong as they left my mouth. It wasn’t my place to tell him this.

His gaze had flicked back to my face. I suppose he saw the guilt there, the hesitation.

‘She doesn’t need to,’ he said. ‘Wasn’t it you who said to me us aristocrats aren’t like other people? And with my ice-cold heart, I’m lucky I’ve found someone to put up with me.’

My heart twisted. ‘You deserve more than that,’ I said, and caught the barely perceptible shake of his head.

‘Goodnight, Anna,’ he said.

Sleep should have been impossible, but I slept like the dead. When I woke up, the morning was in full swing and I realised I’d forgotten to set my alarm, reaching over and turning the clock towards me.

9.45.

I swore under my breath, swung out of bed and padded across the boards to find my phone. The room looked as though I’d got undressed whilst drunk – clothes everywhere and my phone on the dressing table, where I never normally left it.

Six missed calls from Tobias.

Three messages from Tobias.

TOBIASWhere are you? Major drama here:

BANANA

What point is there in having a code word if you don’t reply?

As I stared blankly at the screen, a new message popped up. It was from Roshni.

ROSHNI Did you know?

I hit Tobias’s number. He answered in three rings, his voice crackling as my wifi sluggishly connected us.

‘Hi stranger,’ I heard Tobias say breathlessly. ‘You will not believe this.’

‘Edited highlights please. I can get details later. Everyone’s alive, aren’t they?’

‘Just about. But Lucinda’s gotburned.’

I sat down on the bed. ‘What happened?’

‘From what I can gather, when Jamie got back to the house last night, Lucinda was in the flat.’

I frowned. ‘And?’

‘And she wasn’t alone.’

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