Page 49 of Could It Be Magic?
Thea felt herself drifting off to sleep and realised that she really needed to get home before she crashed out.
‘Nick,’ she whispered, giving him a little nudge. ‘Are you awake?’
Nick gave a muffled groan before he turned over to look at her. ‘Yeah,’ he said. ‘Or I will be in a sec…’
‘I’m sorry,’ Thea smiled. ‘But Gran’ll have a fit if I stay out all night, and the kids’ll worry, too.’
‘Understood.’ Nick kissed her again and then swung his legs out of bed and reached for his boxer shorts. The central heating had gone off while they’d been in bed, and the room felt colder. Bracing herself, she reached for her own underwear and slipped her dress back on. It felt like a bubble was bursting, that this lovely little world she and Nick had created over the past couple of hours was disintegrating as reality took hold again. Glancing at the clock, she was shocked to see that it was nearly one in the morning.
Nick had swiftly buttoned up his dress shirt, but hadn’t bothered tucking it back in. He’d thrown on a red jersey, and, rummaging through his wardrobe, he pulled out a brown knitted jumper, which he handed to Thea. ‘It’s going to be chilly out there,’ he said.
Thea was touched. ‘Thank you.’
They both hesitated at the foot of the bed, and Thea got the impression that Nick was as reluctant to take her home as she was to go.
‘This was amazing,’ Nick said as he ran his hands up her arms, gently moving towards her for another kiss, which she happily received. ‘You are amazing.’
‘Spoken with all the objectivity of a post-orgasmic man!’ Thea laughed, to hide how touched she was. ‘You’re pretty amazing, too.’
Nick groaned into the next kiss. ‘Why didn’t we do this years ago?’
‘Right person, wrong time?’ Thea suggested. ‘And at least we get to do it all now.’
Thea nodded, and then reluctantly disentangled herself from Nick’s warm embrace. ‘Well, then,’ she said. ‘Let’s make sure it happens again soon.’
Nick’s smirk had her swiping his arm in retaliation. ‘That’s, er, not entirely what I meant.’
‘But a nice thing to think about.’ Nick grinned. ‘And something to keep me warm when I get back to this big, lonely bed all by myself later…’
Now it was Thea’s turn to groan. ‘OK, OK… I don’t really want to leave, either, but I have responsibilities.’
‘I know.’ Nick smiled at her, and Thea’s own grin got wider as he playfully kissed the tip of her nose. ‘Would it be too much, too soon if I said that I hope one day you won’t have to rush away somewhere else.’
‘Maybe,’ Thea said hastily. She still needed time to get her head around all that had happened between them. ‘Give me time, Nick. It’s not quite as simple for me as it is for you.’
Nick’s brow furrowed. ‘I get it. And I don’t want to put pressure on you, I promise.’ He drew her closer to him, and she luxuriated in the warmth of his body. ‘Now, let’s get you home before your gran sends out a search party.’
They drove back to Orion Close in companionable silence. For Thea, reality was starting to hit now they’d left Nick’s cottage. She wasn’t good with late nights, and she didn’t look forward to the grogginess that only a few hours’ sleep would leave her feeling. It struck her, as they drove, just how different their circumstances really were. Nick was free of wider responsibilities – he had his share of the family business, and she knew how hard he worked, but he had his own house, and a steady income. He’d lived a charmed single life, from what she could see.
She, on the other hand, had responsibilities coming out of her ears: two children, both nearly teenagers; an ageing grandmother; a rising mortgage rate and only a part-time teaching job to cover it; a not-entirely-cordial relationship (let’s face it, no relationship at all), with the father of her children and a pathological fear that everything was going to get taken from her. Not to mention the most recent, unsettling development between Cora and this son of Ed’s. Could she and Nick really be thinking about a future together, or would her life be too much of a culture shock for Nick to contemplate?
Thea tried to shut down that line of thinking. She was often guilty of running fifteen steps ahead in her desire to keep control of things, and she ended up having to backtrack when things changed. She and Nick had spent one pleasurable evening in bed together; that didn’t mean she was ready to commit to him, or, indeed, he to her.
The trouble was, she could keep telling herself that, but every time she looked at Nick, she couldn’t help wondering what it would be like to be in a relationship with him, to do the simple, everyday things that couples did. They’d fallen into bed, enjoyed each other, but the lead up to that had been full of laughs, shared smiles and a developing affection that she hoped had the potential to last the course.
But hoping something and knowing it for sure were two different things. Sure, Nick had hung out with her and the children a few times, and they’d all got on well, and she knew that her gran liked him too. That, however, didn’t mean Nick would be comfortable just fitting into her rather more complicated life. The trouble was, every time Nick looked at her, she could see the love and affection in his eyes. She had the feeling that if she was falling for him, he was falling for her even harder. What she didn’t know was whether or not he’d really thought through what being in her life meant. Lust and attraction, and deepening friendship, were something, but were they enough?
‘Well, here we are.’ Nick’s voice broke into her thoughts as he pulled onto the driveway of her small house on Orion Close. They got swiftly out of the Land Rover and Nick walked Thea to her front door.
‘I had a great time tonight,’ he said softly.
‘Me too.’ Thea paused, glanced quickly at the window of her front room, realised the curtains were shut and it was in darkness, and then leaned up to kiss Nick goodnight.
‘Can I see you again soon?’ Nick asked as they broke apart.
‘I’d like that.’ Thea smiled up at him. He looked sexily dishevelled in the soft moonlight, and the red jersey contrasted well with his smart dress trousers and the tails of his untucked shirt. ‘I’ll, er, text you?’
‘I’ll be waiting.’ Nick paused. ‘Look, Thea… I don’t want to rush you, but I do want you to know. I like you. A lot. More than like you, if I’m honest. And I know that’s a lot to land on you after one “proper” evening together, but… well, I, er, wanted you to know that.’
