Page 65 of Beg, Borrow or Steal
‘Well, it can’t be helped I guess,’ Libby said, shrugging and backing out of the office.
‘But … but you have to revise. I don’t under – ’
‘Dr Morrison,’ Libby cut in, deliberately reverting to their previous formality. Millie’s face went from concern back to the blank mask Libby was used to, and she felt a twinge of regret for shutting her down. ‘Ihaveto work, and that I’m afraid is that.’
*****
Millie watched Libby and Rosie walk away down the corridor and wrung her hands together. Before she knew what she was doing, her fingers had travelled up her sleeve and were twisting the skin of her inner arm. She would have bruises later, but that was nothing new. Confrontation was not easy for her. She should have known not to overstep the mark with Libby.
The woman was not her friend. Luckily for Millie, it was convenient for Libby to let her look after Rosie. She was sure that if there were any other option Libby would have taken it. Who wanted an oddball like Millie in charge of their offspring?
Her quick mind flicked through the facts: Libby was a single mother who evidently supported herself; she only ever wore one pair of shoes; she used elastic bands to tie her hair back; she was incredibly proud and stubborn.
Millie glanced down at her own Louboutins, frowned, and then forced her hands apart. Reaching into her desk drawer she pulled out the arnicare cream to rub on her forearm; her years of practice made it possible for her to barely look as she applied it. She stared at her computer screen and cocked her head to the side, before hacking into the Dean and the Bursar’s email accounts.
Problem-solving was one of her particular skills.
Chapter 29
Tell her we live here, with you
Libby’s heart sank when she arrived home – wait,nothome; Jamie’s house was not supposed to be her home. She saw him as soon as she pushed through the front door. He was leaning over, both hands braced against the kitchen island, his head bent low between his arms and a deep frown marring his forehead. As soon as he was alerted to their arrival by an over-enthusiastic Beauty nearly bowling him over to get to Rosie, he cleared his expression and smiled. But Libby could see the strain around his eyes. Strain thatshehad put there. Strain he wouldn’t be under if it weren’t for their ‘inappropriate relationship’.
‘What happened?’ Libby asked, moving toward him and away from the pile of little girl and dog beside her. ‘Why was Dr Maitland teaching us today?’
‘Oh, we’ve been meaning to involve Terry more, to be honest,’ Jamie said, shrugging and trying to distract her by reaching down, putting both his large hands over her hips and lifting her up onto the kitchen island in front of him.
‘Hey, Mr Big Bum,’ Rosie shouted as she ran past him, slapping him on the arse, closely pursued by Beauty in one of the rare bursts of energy that she seemed to reserve only for four-year-old girls.
‘Hey, Squirt,’ Jamie called after her as she continued out into the garden to throw sticks for a dog who had never retrieved anything in its life and was not going to start now, even for her favourite human. Exhausted after her uncharacteristic activity, Beauty collapsed onto her side on Rosie’s feet and presented her large belly to be tickled.
‘I know you were supposed to be giving the lecture,’ Libby said, determined not to be put off. ‘It’s right up there on your terrifyingly anal colour-coded calendar.’
Jamie shrugged again. ‘I must have got it wrong.’
‘You never get anything wrong on that bloody thing. Please tell me what happened.’
Jamie sighed. ‘Libby – ’
‘They told you not to teach today, didn’t they?’
‘Don’t blow this out of proportion. It’s not a big deal. So I take a little break? Maybe it’s time I took a step back anyway.’ His gaze fell to her lips and he leaned in slowly.
‘Don’t you dare try to – ’ He cut her off by pressing his lips to hers mid-sentence, the height of the counter putting her mouth exactly in line with his, ‘– distract me,’ she finished as he broke away to kiss down her neck. The breathy quality of her voice made her objection sound fairly weak, and her hands developed minds of their own, moving up from his wide shoulders into his thick hair and she felt a low rumble from deep in his chest vibrate against her body. But before she could lose herself completely, the image of a dejected Jamie leaning against the kitchen counter flew into her mind and she stiffened in his arms.
*****
Jamie felt Libby’s body go solid and he almost groaned in frustration. She wassostubborn. All he wanted to do was kiss her, have dinner with his favourite two females in the world, put the younger female to bed, and cuddle / fool around with the other one on the sofa. The last thing he needed was a post mortem of the day from hell, and the last thingsheneeded was another excuse to hold herself back from him. Her small hands fell from his hair to his chest and gave him a firm shove, which she’d obviously put a fair amount of effort behind. He didn’t move an inch. She glared up at him, raising one of her eyebrows, and he sighed.
He gave her angry mouth another brief kiss before he moved back. Once she had enough room she jumped down from the counter, swearing as her glorious hair worked itself loose to come tumbling around her shoulders.
‘Uh! I wish I could just cut the whole lot off,’ she grumbled as she scowled down at the now broken elastic band in her hand, threw it onto the counter and started tying some sort of knot at the top of her head. No sooner had she taken her hands away than it all came tumbling down again. She growled and blew out a puff of air to push up the strands covering her eyes.
‘Why don’t you?’ Jamie asked, keeping his expression as innocent as possible.
She narrowed her eyes at him. ‘You know why, Jamie. Stop trying to – ’
‘No, actually I have no idea why you won’t,’ he said, crossing his arms over his chest. ‘It gets in your way, it pulls on your scalp and gives you headaches, you have to wrestle with it on a daily basis and it pisses you off. So no, I can’t imagine why you still keep it long.’
