Page 24 of The House on Waterfall Hill

She sighed, clearly not impressed with him quoting Tennyson. And he didn’t blame her, if he was in her shoes, he’d want answers too. He wondered if she would be more or less impressed if he quoted Sir Walter Scott. “Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practise to deceive.” Probably less, a lot less.

‘OK,’ she nodded thoughtfully. ‘If this donor believes in this place so much that they want to donate money for its upkeep, then we need to give them somethingimpressive, something wonderful for their money. But will you let them know, that for my part, I will repay them? It might take some time, but I will.’

‘You really don’t need to worry, but if it makes you feel better then you can repay the kitty as and when you can. But there’s no rush. Focus your attention and your profits into making the gift shop a success. Worry about the kitty later.’

She nodded although Luke could see she wasn’t happy about it.

‘Have you spoken to any of the other artists, about whether they are staying or going?’ Flick asked.

‘No, Ethel glared at me this morning when I walked past her studio so I didn’t dare. I’m sure she thinks I’m sleeping with the enemy… erm, in the non-literal sense.’

Flick laughed. ‘Well, us pretending to be together isn’t going to quell those thoughts.’

Luke shrugged. ‘Let them talk. Besides, if you’re the enemy for trying to help them I’d rather be on your side any day. Some people are not worth saving and it’s the studios that matters, not them. If they walk, we’ll find new artists. There’s so many in Lovegrove Bay.’

‘Yeah, you’re right,’ Flick said, sadly. ‘I just hate the thought of kicking anyone out. My grandad would never have done that, but then he had a way of talking that people listened to. I think it was the importance of what he was doing here, people believed in it.’

‘Then we need to get them to believe in it again.’

Luke heard a car door close outside and he lookedout the window to see Natalia walking up the drive towards the front door.

His heart sank. Not again. She was relentless in her pursuit of him and he wasn’t stupid enough to believe this was motivated by anything but money.

‘Natalia’s coming,’ Luke said, wondering if it wasn’t too late to run and hide.

‘Quick, put your arm around me,’ Flick said.

He did as he was told, slinging an arm around her shoulders.

‘Not like that, it’s too brotherly.’

‘I could hold your hand instead,’ he said, slipping his hand into hers and trying not to like it so much.

‘Yes, that works, although we’ve not had a chance to come up with our story yet.’

‘We need a story?’ Luke asked in alarm, looking out the window to see they only had a few seconds left.

‘Yes, where we met, how long we’ve been dating, what’s my favourite colour.’

‘She isn’t going to ask that.’

‘Maybe not but we have to be convincing. Right now, we’re just two people holding hands. Correction, one woman, one rabbit in the headlights.’

‘Well, what should we do?’

She leaned up and kissed him.

He heard himself gasp against her mouth in surprise. They’d talked about this but he hadn’t expected it to happen so quickly and without any warning. But then he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her back and it wasn’t because Natalia was coming in, it wasbecause she tasted so damned good, because when her mouth met his he felt a kick of desire and need slam into his stomach. She slid her hands round the back of his neck, stroking his hair, and he groaned softly against her lips at the sensation of it. He relished the feel of her warm body tight against his. The outside world faded away, he forgot about Natalia or saving the studios, he could only focus on how perfectly she fitted in his arms, how her soft lips felt against his, her incredible scent, and how this might be the best damn kiss of his life.

He moved his hands up her back, touching her bare flesh on her shoulders which made her moan softly.

He pulled back a fraction to look at her and could feel her breath was heavy on his lips. He could see her eyes were dark with… something. He didn’t want to attribute that to lust or passion or desire, just because that was what he was feeling. But they were dark and she was looking at him in complete wonder.

He had no idea if Natalia had come and gone or whether she was still there and he didn’t care. He cupped Flick’s face and kissed her again and felt her melt against him, her fingers tightening in his t-shirt. He had never felt so turned on from a simple kiss before and he suddenly wanted nothing more than to scoop her up, carry her up to his room and make love to her. And with the way she was kissing him so passionately, it seemed she wanted that too. This kiss was everything but he suddenly remembered that actually it was nothing. It was an act, nothing more, and he’d completely lost his mind.

He pulled back and was just about to apologise for taking it too far when he realised they weren’t alone in the room. He looked up expecting to see Natalia but she was nowhere to be seen. Instead Ethel was standing there watching them, her mouth hanging open.

She cleared her throat. ‘Well this is a surprise.’

---