Page 57 of Elijah
I sounded breathless and it wasn’t from the running, it was all down to Amy and how she affected me. The long lashes of her brandy coloured eyes, the soft curl of her hair that almost reached the small of her back, her high, rounded breasts, her full lips that were a perfect natural pink and her smell – fuck, her smell, it was fresh and light, it was home.
“It was okay,” she replied, lowering her gaze to search through her purse. “It was a little cold up there, but nice people.”
She flashed a small smile at me, before turning back to the counter and handing over some cash for her coffee.
“I’d buy that for you,” I said, sounding stupid and hesitant, “but I don’t have enough money on me.”
“No, it’s fine.” She shook her head, stowing her purse back into the bag she had across her body. “I was just, um, going for a walk so I decided to stop for a drink. What about you?”
She looked at me and then started to laugh.
“Sorry, pretty obvious you’re out running.” She shook her head, covering her eyes with her hand.
I grinned, taking the opportunity to drink her in a little more. She was wearing tight jeans that stopped at the ankle, a white long-sleeved t-shirt, and navy and white Converse, and she looked beautiful. Her face was devoid of make-up, with the simple flush of fresh air on her cheeks.
“It’s fine,” I said, uncapping my water. “I can see how my legs would distract you.”
She dropped her hand to her throat as her mouth quirked up at the corner. “Still modest, I see.”
I shrugged and took a swig of my drink, swallowing hard as I kept my gaze on Amy. “You fancy some company while you drink your coffee?” I asked, nodding toward a table by the window.
“I…um, yeah, okay.”
We waited for another couple of minutes for the coffee and then I followed her over to the table, desperately trying not to let my eyes linger on her arse which I’d always loved so much.
“I believe the gardens ended up being gorgeous,” Amy said as we each took a seat. “I spoke to Sophie yesterday, you know just to check everything was still okay, no issues.”
I nodded. “Yeah, I’m really pleased with them, and Tino and Sophie seemed happy.”
“Well, she was really complimentary. Said the kids barely leave the garden and the Llamas love it too.”
“So I believe.” Tino had called me, full of excitement that the Llamas were apparently ‘frolicking’ in their part of the garden. “Anyway, tell me about Scotland.”
Amy’s cheeks pinked as she took a sip of her hot coffee, wincing slightly.
“Like I said, it went well. Nice people who appreciated what I did.”
She gave me a tight smile and then looked out of the window.
“Marty saw Claudia and she said you’re in Manchester now,” I lifted the bottle to my lips, pausing and waiting for her answer. She nodded.
“Yeah, another hotel. This one is part of a chain though and getting a total refurb, so all I’m doing is the design. They’ll get their own contractors in and I’ll be there in a consultation capacity.”
I laughed and almost choked on my water.
“What’s so funny?” Amy asked, a small smirk on her lips – she knew perfectly well what I found amusing.
“You giving up control and only having a consultancy role. It’ll kill you.”
She narrowed her eyes, trying to look affronted, but her gorgeous smile broke through.
“Okay, so I may have to bite my tongue, but there isn’t much I can do about it.”
“How come you’re not doing the lot; bringing in your own contractors like you normally do?”
Amy took another sip of her coffee, wrapping both hands around the large, pale-blue mug. “They like to have a different designer for each hotel, and each one is given a different theme to work with – mine was bohemian.”
“I guess that means every hotel is individual, but surely it’s more corporate savvy to have them all looking the same?” I asked, leaning back in my chair.
