Page 40 of The Night Before Christmas
Adam wrinkled his brow. ‘I just had to know you were okay. I told you I missed you.’
‘Aw,’ said Bex. And then, as if she’d only just realised the situation, ‘Maybe I should leave you two alone.’
‘No,’ said Felicity. ‘It’s fine. We’re done. In fact, I might do some shopping while I’m here.’
She found she was standing up without realising how it had happened. She was squashed against the window which meant the edges of the tiny table were cutting into her legs and she had to lean forward in a rather awkward manner so she could shuffle sideways. All in all it wasn’t quite the dramatic statement she had hoped for. But she was standing, nonetheless.
Adam looked up at her.
‘What are you doing?’ he said, grabbing her hand and giving it a squeeze. ‘You can’t go yet.’
He pulled gently at her and she sat down again with a bump. Her stool seemed to be closer to him than before. Their knees and thighs were touching. How had that happened?
‘Sorry, I… you’re right, I’ll just drink some more latte,’ she said, reaching for her cup, and trying to ignore the closeness of him, never mind the uncomfortable feeling in her chest.
‘So,’ said Bex, leaning forward. ‘Have you heard the news?’
She proceeded to tell them at great length a disappointingly scandal-free story about aCarry On-style misunderstanding between Sophie and her father-in-law, which Felicity had already heard from Sophie herself, in actual fact, but she was very grateful to Bex for the distraction. Felicity tried to concentrate on listening and resisted the urge to glance at Adam, although she was suddenly very aware of his presence next to her. His thigh on hers. The simmering static between them. It all felt so natural, like old times. In her (probably rose-tinted) memory they had always been such a great couple. It had justworked. And they’d always been great in public, in front of people. Having Bex here was certainly adding to the sense of nostalgia.
The look in his eyes when she had mentioned stalking, though. That part was new. He wasn’t the stalking type of course, that was ridiculous… but something weird was going on, that was for sure.What was that all about?He’d definitely been about to say something important before they were interrupted, and while some part of her wanted to hear what he had to say, another part was more than relieved that Bex had arrived when she did. Had he been about to tell her he loved her? If he did, Felicity just didn’t know how she would feel.
What was the old saying about two buses declaring their undying love at once or something?
As if to prove the point, on the following Monday morning, James was back.
He sauntered into the office just as Felicity was drinking her morning coffee. The atmosphere in the room became instantlyelectric, like a Van de Graff generator, and Felicity wondered for a split second if her hair was standing on end.
Thank God.
‘Morning,’ he said, giving her a flash of his blue eyes. There was a moment when he clearly thought about leaning in to give her a peck on the cheek but must have thought better of it and did a kind of ducking motion to try and cover it. Felicity stifled a giggle.He does look like a blond titan.
‘Morning yourself,’ she said, smiling over the top of her cup. ‘We missed you.’
‘Shemissed you,’ said Andrea, barging into the room behind him. ‘That’s what she means.Shemissed you. The rest of us all got along just fine without you.’
James laughed. ‘Thanks a lot,’ he said to Andrea, then glanced at Felicity in a way that made her arms prickle with heat. ‘How was your weekend?’
‘It was… weird, actually. I mean, fine. Honestly, it was fine.’
James raised his eyebrows at her. ‘Is that so?’
‘Yeah, it was… quiet, I guess. What about yours?’
James shrugged. ‘Boring, mainly,’ he said. ‘I missed this place. Is that sad?’
‘No, not sad at all. I often miss it on my days off.’
Cue a long lingering look between them.
‘You’ve only got him for one more week, you know, so you’d better not get used to this,’ said Andrea, wagging her finger in Felicity’s face and spoiling the moment somewhat. James raised an eyebrow at her.
‘I’m sure I don’t know what you mean,’ said Felicity curtly, feigning offence, but she knew neither of them was buying it. How strange that as soon as she saw James, as soon as he was anywhere near her, all thoughts of Adam disappeared completely. All she wanted to do was be near him. Well, kiss him, all she wanted to do was kiss him.
The week proceeded in a reasonably orderly fashion. Andrea had assigned them different rooms, Felicity the cat nursery – obviously – and James the puppy room, which was full to bursting. She was quite strict about it too, presumably to maintain some sort of decorum. But every so often their paths would cross, and they would grin at each other like a pair of fools, or one of them would make a joke and the other would giggle or, mostly, James would give her a look that made her feel all wobbly. Felicity was starting to wonder what might be happening if Andrea wasn’t on shift.
On Wednesday morning, Felicity was washing up the bowls at the sink when James came and stood right behind her as if he was going to put his arms around her.
‘What are you doing here?’ she said, under her breath, without turning round. ‘Andrea will murder you if she catches you.’
