Page 62 of A Copenhagen Snowmance
“Good morning,” he says.
“So far,” Anna confirms. She must thank Katrine for her advice at some point. It was excellent advice, expertly dispensed. Last night was… exquisite. Everything she had dreamt of, and round two had been even more. Jamie has not disappointed, it is fair to say. She aches in all the rights places, muscles having been flexed and stretched for the first time in a long time.
She sits up, about to wrap herself in the duvet, to do the coffee run.
“What?” he asks, regarding her creased brow.
“You have a double duvet.”
“So?”
“If I take it, you’ll have nothing. You’ll be cold. Another reason Danish couples favour singles.”
“The other reason being?” Jamie looks baffled. Apparently, Jamie has not been having a lot of sleepovers in the Copenhagen area. Something about that pleases Anna, but she chooses not to examine it too hard. But a celibate Jamie is a loss to the city’s women. She’ll have to have a word with him about that.
“Danes generally stick to singles,” she answers to his question. “Means you aren’t fighting over the share of the duvet in the middle of the night, and you don’t overheat.”
“And that’s what you and Carl had?”
“Yes, of course.”
“For how many years?”
She’s not sure she sees the relevance. “Six.”
“Hmm,” is all he says.
Anna tweaks his nipple, which makes him yelp. “What does that ‘hmm’ mean?”
“Nothing.”
“There was a judgement there. Tell me, MacDonald.” She holds her fingers in pinch-pose above the reddening nipple.
“Well, I’ve always enjoyed being under a duvet with someone I like. The shared warmth, the closeness, the intimacy. You can pull it over you and be cocooned in your own little world, just the two of you. Who wouldn’t want that? I reckon it’s good for couples. If you can’t share a duvet, how can you share a life? That’s what I think. Plus, it halves the chance of getting a cold arse.”
She can’t fault him on the statistics there.
“I think Danes would say not fighting over duvet share has saved many marriages.”
Jamie crosses his arms and shakes his head. “Hard disagree, and this is a hill I’ll die on.”
Luckily, Anna hasn’t minded the double, nor sharing it with him, so she’s not inclined to pick this fight. And besides, as per the deal with herself, she won’t be doing it again. This, this thing between them, they’ve explored itnow. Surely, that should calm the simmering in her torso. That was the actual point of Once-and-Done. Only, why then is she still thrumming?
Unsettled, she stands and heads for the door, taking the duvet with her and leaving him very naked and presumably cooling rapidly on his hill.
* * *
Anna looks out of the kitchen window to the street as she waits for the coffee to pour through the percolator. The street is busy as her neighbours come and go, maybe completing the last of their Christmas shopping or buying food for tomorrow night. It’sLille Jule Aften, Little Christmas Eve, or Christmas Eve Eve as she’s been amused to hear her London neighbours call it.
She’s not going to bother calling the airlines or check online today. This will be one of their busiest days already as people make their final sprints home ahead of Christmas. What would she be doing in London for these next few days anyway? Sitting in her apartment, as everything is closed. Maybe working, but she can do that here, too. And besides, Jamie just gave her a beautiful gift of a nostalgically decorated living room, so it feels rude not to park the exit strategy just for the next few days. If nothing else, it might just be a light relief not to be worrying about it, just for now.
Looking at the Christmas scene at the other end of the room truly does feel like a gift. And it dawns on her that she doesn’t have one for him. When she leaves Copenhagen, she’ll be taking some earth-moving memories with her, and Anna finds she wants to have left a mark with him, too.
But what do you get for a man who you don’t know very well, but well enough to know that in his life of environmental concern, it shouldn’t be something disposable, inconsequential or temporary? No joke-gift for Jamie. It needs an actual purpose or, if not functional, then particular beauty. She doesn’t know him well enough either to buy him something arty and worthy for its form. This is tough. Looking at thenisserand the baubles again, she realises hedidsomething deeply thoughtful for her. He had a guess at something she might like, strike that, she mightlove, and he did it.
The coffee scent is working its way around her face and sparking some ideas. Something he hasn’t got for himself… Anna’s brainstorming brings her attention back into the street and something ignites a big, but perfect, thought. It’ll take research, negotiation and luck. But she has the time and most of those skills– her luck has been a little iffy recently, but even that has brought her an experience in Jamie’s bed, so eh, it’s worth a go.
* * *
