Page 38 of So That Happened
He dressed in khaki shorts and a light cotton T-shirt, grabbed his sunglasses and went to find Josie.
She was waiting for him in the kitchen, a bag at her feet, drumming her fingers against the table top.Was she playing a tune in her head?he wondered. The movement of her fingers reminded him of a pianist’s.
‘Do you play?’
She spun around, looking flustered. ‘I’m sorry?’
‘The piano? Do you play? You always seem to be tapping out a rhythm. I wondered if you were playing to yourself.’
She smiled. ‘Nothing gets past you, does it?’
‘Nope.’
‘Actually, I do play, but I haven’t for a while. I miss my piano.’
‘Well, maybe we can do something about that.’ He bent down and picked up her bag. ‘Let’s go.’
He clocked her confused expression and smiled to himself. Today was going to be fun.
10
His car was a cherry-red soft-top Triumph Stag. He loved it. He’d missed it whilst he was away and couldn’t wait to take it out for a spin. Pulling back the dustsheet, he uncovered the gleaming bodywork and soft leather interior. It was a piece of art: characterful and stylish, unlike some of the garish sports cars that dominated the roads these days. This car was a gentleman amongst peasants.
He ran a loving hand over it before unlocking the doors and holding Josie’s open for her. She’d noticed the caress and was smiling at him, one eyebrow raised.
‘Nice car.’
‘Thank you.’
She slid into the passenger seat and Connor caught a flash of her bare legs as she swung them in. He swore under his breath. What was he doing? He probably should have taken her straight back to bed instead of going along with this sham friendly trip to the seaside. Just a flash of her shapely calves had sent his responses into overload, and now he had to endure over an hour in close proximity with her without being able to take advantage of the fact.
Too late now.
He took his time clipping down the soft top of the roof to give his body a chance to settle down, before striding round to the driver’s seat and sliding in next to her.
‘You’d better cover your hair for the journey,’ he said, leaning across her to open the glove compartment. He kept his hand as far away from her legs as he could, acutely aware that temptation was a mere five centimetres away.
He pulled a scarf roughly out of the glove compartment and tossed it to her.
‘Nice.’ She looked at the scarf, then at him, a mirthful eyebrow raised. ‘Hermes. Not the sort of item I’d expect to find in your possession. Is there something you want to tell me?’
Her eyes were full of laughter. It was lovely to see her lightening up a bit.
‘Very funny.’ He smiled back. ‘It belonged to an old girlfriend. I forgot to throw it away.’
‘Really? Throw it away? Not give it back? Sounds like it ended messily.’
He bridled, uncomfortable with the turn in conversation. ‘Yeah,’ he said gruffly, ‘it did.’
They both shifted in their seats.
‘Have you been split up for long?’
‘About a year.’ He stared at the steering wheel, unwilling to allow this conversation to develop.
‘Katherine, right?’
He could sense her looking at him intently.
