Page 21 of The Felicity Theory (The Laws of Love 4)

Then he strolled to the door, opened it, leaned nonchalantly against the frame and crossed his arms in the hope of looking only mildly interested.

Across the hall in the guest room, Andrea was fiddling with the electric blind controller. Another head leaned close to hers, a flash of flame in the late afternoon summer sun that shafted through the windows.

“Oh dear, I’m terrible with technology. Got it. This brings the second set of UV blinds down but you can still see out. Totally magic on days like today! Now I’ll show you how the bed works.” Felicity’s mouth was stuck in a round O of amazement. Today she resembled a candy cane, in a pink and white striped sundress with a shiny lime green belt, a little short-sleeved cardigan in bright yellow and her glowing hair braided into two pigtails with a ribbon that matched her cardi. Instead of elves, now he couldn’t help thinking of Dorothy fromThe Wizard of Oz.

She did something to the visual cortex of his brain, scrambled it in a way that was not at all unpleasant. Personally, Oliver preferred black and white and occasionally branched out into pastels—the palest of pink chambray cotton shirts today. His tastes were muted, rather like a fine dry wine on the palate.

Felicity reminded him of quaffing sweet cider as a teenager. You’d never admit to anyone how good it tasted.

“And this one is the bed controller,” Andrea continued. “It reclines, up, down, and this button puts it into zero gravity, which is so relaxing. There’s a massage button too if you feel like a—”

“Hi, there,” he said when it was clear they hadn’t noticed him.

The two women’s heads shot up in unison.

“Oh, Oliver, did we disturb you?”

“Not at all, I was about to call it a day.” If you could call a day on nothing.

“Hello again,” said Felicity. Her mouth curved into a smile that somehow loosened the tension in his chest. Tension he hadn’t realised he was holding until this moment. “I hope you don’t mind me invading your space.”

“Not a problem.” Oliver made a magnanimous arc with his hand. “As you can see, there’s plenty of it.”

For what seemed like another long moment they simply smiled at each other and he had to admit, smiling at Felicity feltgood.

“Let me show you the en-suite through here.” Andrea swung open the door of the bathroom and Felicity remarked gleefully that it was the size of a small kingdom.

Andrea tapped her lip. “I’m pretty sure I’ve shown you everything. Come down when you’re ready, I’ve got a lovely strawberry shortcake.” Oliver was sure Andrea winked as she passed. Andrea never winked. Maybe he’d imagined it. That, or she was a bit over excited with planning the wedding menu.

A moment’s silence ensued. He pushed off from the door frame, fully meaning to leave Felicity to unpack, only to find himself transfixed as she lifted an arm, pushed a pigtail over her shoulder and her dress tugged tight across her breasts.

He snapped his gaze back to her face, opened his mouth, but she got in first. “Wow, this is amazing. You could fit my whole flat onto this floor. Maybe twice.” She marvelled as she circled around. “I have to say, it’s much more comfortable than squeezing into the lean-to with Rowena’s books.”

Another dimpled smile and instead of leaving, he found his feet moving in a leisurely fashion towards her. “What have you been doing since you arrived?”

She counted on her fingers. “Well, yesterday I tried on my bridesmaid’s dress. Then I met the other bridesmaids and there was a power struggle over shoes.”

“Don’t tell me. Polly.”

“Yep. She won.”

“Why am I not surprised?”

“And then we went to the Shamrock and met everyone, though I haven’t met Polly’s partner Solo yet, but Carts and—and Dan. We’re twins apparently.”

“Sorry?”

She tapped her head. “Both rangas.”

“He called you that? To your face?”

“Yep.”

Oliver gave a disbelieving head shake. “That guy has the tact of an orangutan.”

“I’ve been called worse. My hair was brighter than this at school and my freckles were so much worse.”

She started to lift her case onto the bed. Involuntarily he stepped forward. “Here, let me help you with that.”

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