Page 46 of Could It Be Magic?
‘I don’t remember getting much sleep that night,’ Nick said. ‘I think I stayed awake with Tristan for most of it, setting the world to rights, as only arrogant eighteen-year-olds with no actual real worries could.’
‘I don’t remember you ever being arrogant,’ Thea countered gently. ‘Quite the reverse, in fact.’ Nick watched as she shuffled closer to him on the red velvet, button-backed sofa where they’d both settled. ‘You never seemed sure about anything.’
‘Thanks,’ Nick said dryly. ‘That’s a real boost to my ego.’
‘You really don’t see what I see, do you?’ Thea’s voice cut into his thoughts, jolting him back to the moment.
‘What’s that, then?’ Nick gave a nervous laugh. He watched, spellbound as Thea carefully put her coffee cup down on the table beside them. Then, he felt a shiver of anticipation as she removed the cup from his hands, too. That shiver intensified as she placed a gentle hand on his thigh.
‘I see a warm, sexy, funny, gorgeous man whom I wish I’d got to know better a long, long time ago.’
Nick’s heart sped up as the blood rushed somewhere lower in response to Thea’s warm fingertips. He ached to close the gap between them again, to feel her lips against his, but the annoying voice in the back of his mind was refusing to go away. She’d been visibly upset not half an hour ago, and he needed to know that she wasn’t just riding a wave of adrenaline or trying to chase away the darkness that had made her want to escape from the function room.
‘Thea…’ he murmured, when she tilted her face towards his. ‘Are you sure this is what you really want?’
He saw her pause, pull back, a look of confusion on her face. ‘Of course,’ she said quickly. ‘Don’t you?’
Nick sighed. ‘You know I do. But you were so upset earlier. I don’t want to end up being a sticking plaster one night stand that you’ll regret in the morning.’
The speed that Thea withdrew her hand from his thigh made his body scream in protest. Nick tried to ignore it.
‘Is that why you think I’m here?’ Thea’s voice was laced with frustration. ‘That I’d really just hook up with you and then walk away?’ She’d stood up now and was looking down at him with a look of hurt on her face. ‘Do you really think that little of me?’
‘Of course not!’ Nick jumped off the sofa and quickly reached out a hand. He had the feeling she was going to bolt again, and he desperately didn’t want her to leave, not now, not this way. ‘I’m sorry. I just don’t want you to rush into something you might regret.’
‘Oh, Nick.’ Thea’s eyes were shining with tears again. ‘Is that your way of letting me down gently?’
Nick shook his head in frustration. ‘No. Christ, no.’ He took a tentative step closer to her, breathing in the remnants of the floral perfume she was wearing, and his senses were once again on high alert. ‘I really don’t want you to go, believe me, but I want you to really not want to go, too.’ He knew he was stumbling over his words again, and he cursed his inability to get to the point. Thea was still, and her eyes were wide as she looked at him, and he got the feeling that she was weighing up what he’d said, trying to work out what she should be doing.
‘I want to stay,’ she said softly, bringing the hand he wasn’t holding up to his face. He shivered at her touch, and that electricity that had been crackling between them since they’d been spending time together felt almost tangible. Letting out a shaky breath, he brought her hand around to his mouth and kissed her fingertips.
‘Then stay,’ he said, a husky note in his voice. As he said it, the doubts that had been nagging at his brain quietened down, and before he could second guess himself, he moved towards Thea and kissed her. ‘Stay with me. For a little while, at least.’
He felt Thea smiling into the next kiss they shared. ‘All right,’ she murmured against his lips. ‘But I will have to go home tonight. Gran’s staying in my spare room, but she’s bound to notice if I don’t turn up until breakfast time!’
‘Understood.’ Nick smiled back at her before deepening the kiss. He had the strangest sensation of feeling both relaxed and as if all his senses were at their height. Now that they were both on the same page, his body was aching to touch and be touched, and he couldn’t think of anything else but taking Thea straight up the narrow staircase of the cottage and making love to her, for as long as time allowed.
‘Come on,’ he said softly. ‘I think it’s about time we made good on all of those kisses, don’t you?’
Thea nodded, and he felt himself harden further as she licked her lips. He’d kissed off all of her lipstick, and she looked dishevelled and incredibly gorgeous. He wanted nothing more, now, than to spend the night with this woman, and he felt very confident, as she followed him upstairs, that she felt exactly the same way.
40
For the first time in years, Thea didn’t feel any doubt about the decision she was making as she followed Nick up the steep stairs of the cottage and into his bedroom. This had been on the horizon since the first kiss they’d shared in the car park of Saints’ Farm. The sensation of Nick’s body pressed against hers had awakened a desire in her that had lain dormant for a very long time.
But this wasn’t just lust, Thea realised. This was something deeper, something more intense, that was happening because they knew each other so well, and also, despite it. Their long familiarity meant that as Nick lifted the latch on the wooden door that led to his bedroom, Thea felt only the briefest sense of apprehension. This was Nick Saint, her friend, and about to be her lover. This was Nick Saint, a boy she’d known at school but also a man she felt a burning, passionate attraction to. This was Nick Saint; someone she knew she could fall in love with.
‘Everything all right?’ Nick asked as he let go of her hand and hurriedly drew the curtains in the bedroom.
Thea nodded, and then realised he couldn’t see her in the almost pitch-black darkness of his room. ‘Yes,’ she murmured. ‘Everything’s perfect.’
The room gently lit up as Nick flipped the switch on a small, plug-in night light on the wall between where they stood and the ensuite bathroom door.
‘Mum and Dad insisted I put in a motion sensor if I was going to be living here alone.’ Nick grinned apologetically. ‘But I figure it’s got more ambience than the bedside light!’
Thea laughed. ‘You’re such a nerd.’ Then, to soften the words, she kissed him again. ‘I’m glad it’s there. I, er, haven’t let anyone see me naked in years, so soft light is fine by me!’
Nick’s jaw dropped before Thea saw him collect his thoughts swiftly. ‘So, you’re OK with all this, then?’
