Page 90 of Love, Academically
The last time she had been in his car it had been tight with anticipation, but this time it was so easy. That’s how he should feel about being around people, easy and free. Lila made him not worry about whether he said anything wrong, whether he’d misinterpreted her. He could just ask and she would tell him. And that was a relief.
“So,” she said, after about ten minutes. “Where are you taking me? If it’s out to some dark copse so you can murder me, let me know so I can tell Jasmeet where to go to find my body.”
“It’s a surprise,” he said, a smile tugging at his lips. “But it’s not a murder copse.”
“Damn it, I’ve lost my bet with Jas and Maddy,” she said with a grin. She was teasing him and he liked it.
It was another fifteen minutes before Rhys pulled into a busy car park and opened the door for Lila, leading her through a short alleyway and onto a main road. She put her hand through the crook of his arm and he bent his elbow, pulling her closer so they were walking hip to hip. Well, his hip to her waist. Ish. He slowed his steps so her shorter legs could keep up. Legs that had wrapped around his waist.
“Rhys,” she breathed, coming to an abrupt stop. Someone grumbled and walked around them, but he didn’t care. Lila’s eyes were on the sign up ahead. She turned her face up to his, eyes wide and wondrous. “Have you brought me to see Susie Dent?”
Chapter 14
Fervent(adjective)fer·vent
1a . Having or displaying a passionate intensity
Lila
Who was this magical man who had bought the most beautiful alien flowers and surprised her with tickets to see The Queen?
“Rhys, you shouldn’t have.”
“Have you already seen this tour? I wasn’t sure…” he trailed off.
“No, no, I haven’t,” she said quickly. “Jasmeet didn’t want to go and Maddy didn’t reply. I was going to go by myself, but by the time I got round to getting tickets, they were all sold out.”
“I see,” he said, the muscle in his jaw ticking.
“This is absolutely perfect,” she breathed and she could feel the sheen of wetness over her eyes. Reaching up on her toes, she pressed a quick kiss to his stubbled cheek. “Thank you,” she whispered. “I mean it. I really appreciate it.”
Jasmeet had made it very clear she would never put herself through two hours of Susie Dent and Jasonneverwould have taken her. But here was this stoic Welshman, who sometimes wasn’t sure what to do with his hands, leading her down the road to go and see her hero talk about words on stage. She squeezed his arm.
“When did you get these? They’ve been sold out for ages,” she said. A pink flush crossed his neck.
“I got them before we went to my family thing. I was going to give them to you after as a thank you, but I didn’t get roundto it,” he said, weaving them through the quiet throng of word lovers, all heading to see their leader. “Then I thought it would be nice to go together.”
She looked at him curiously, again. He actively wanted to spend time with her, doing things that she wanted to do, regardless of how boring he’d find it. Lila’s stomach tightened, because thisfeelingwasn’t supposed to happen. This feeling of being wanted, of someone thinking about her and what she would like. It was strange and new, and she loved it.
And it was Rhys who made her feel like that.
Rhys Aubrey, who was watching her like she was the only person in the entire world at that moment, waiting patiently for her to say something.
She didn’t trust her voice because of the hot swell of emotion clogging her throat, so she just nodded with a weak smile. After a frown flickered across his face, he grinned and tugged her along.
“Come on. Let’s soak up all of Susie Dent,” he said.
A giggle came from her throat, followed by a sinking realisation that if Rhys Aubrey kept being thoughtful and kind and looking damn sexy in his clothes, then she was going to be in trouble. The past year and a half had taught her that she didn’t need a man in her life, she didn’t need anyone for a goddamned thing, but perhaps she wanted one. Perhaps a full night of discovering just what was under Rhys’s clothes and how every inch of him tasted was exactly what she needed to get him out of her system.
One night of hot, rampant sex and she’d be done.
Lila was a terrible liar, even to herself.
Susie Dent was EVERYTHING.
But it was the man sat next to her who stole her attention. No matter how many hilarious origins of words Susie posited, Lila had one eye on Rhys. He filled the fold-down velvet chair in the theatre, but kept his elbows and knees in, so as not to hogthe entire space with his maleness. She had never seen anyone soawareof their body and the impact it had on people in his vicinity.
Rhys laughed in the right places (a huff of air and a low rumble from his chest), nodded when he found something interesting, and smiled knowingly when he caught her staring at the crinkle of skin by his eyes when he narrowed them in concentration.
