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She will be when I tell her about the sponsorship deal.
Collecting his Ferrari from the station car park, James drove to Foxbrooke, parking at the other end of the high street from the manor, next to Estelle’s Defender. Why hadn’t she parked at her family’s home? Was she avoiding any questions about what she was up to? Shrugging off the insecurity, he glanced at his watch and strode towards the restaurant. Tonight he was going to prove to Estelle he could come through for her and convince her to make their fledgling relationship official.
Outside The Colour Palette, he stopped. Through the window was Estelle, her back to him as she chatted to Leia. Memories of his body on hers, in hers, slammed into him with visceral intensity.
She was wearing a pair of tight jeans that made him want to bite into her peachy arse, a form-fitting top that he wanted to see the front of, and—heels? His cock twitched in his boxers and his heart swelled. Was she doing this for him?
Leia caught his eye and gave a wave.
Dick down, shoulders back, winning smile on. You can do this. He entered the restaurant as Estelle turned. Oh, fuck. She was wearing make-up. It wasn’t a lot, but it accentuated her natural beauty to blinding levels and turned the situation in his trousers critical.
Crossing the room, he greeted Leia then gave every ounce of his attention to Estelle, kissing her cheek.
‘You’re so beautiful,’ he murmured in her ear.
She swallowed, her body coming closer for a second, then pulling away.
‘Shall we sit?’ she asked, her voice breathless.
He nodded and Leia led them to a table in the corner.
James pulled out Estelle’s chair and her eyes widened as if surprised. As she sat, he snagged his finger on her bra strap and gave it a tug.
She jumped.
‘Tonight’s menus are on the placemats,’ Leia said as James took his seat. She indicated pieces of A2 size paper covering the table and also serving as tablecloths. ‘There’s so much incredible local produce at the moment that they change every day.’ She laid a card menu down. ‘But the drinks list remains the same.’
As well as the food menu printed on the paper, there were also swirling line drawings of flowers, birds and butterflies, and a tin pot next to the salt and pepper containing crayons.
‘You can colour them in, or there’s space for you to draw your own pictures,’ Leia said. ‘This week’s artist is Ella Chamberlain.’
‘She’s my brother Leo’s best friend,’ Estelle said. ‘So you can’t say anything bad about them.’
He gazed across at her. ‘I wasn’t going to.’ His voice sounded lower than he’d intended.
‘Right, I’ll leave you to it,’ Leia said. ‘If you have any questions, just give me a wave. There’s an allergen list next to each dish and we can substitute pretty much anything if you need.’ She smiled then went off to greet new customers.
Estelle looked at the menu, but James’s eyes were on her. He wanted her with a hunger that felt as if it could never be satiated. Had the day’s successes shot his testosterone levels higher than normal? Or perhaps sex with her a few days ago had flooded his body with enough hormones to repopulate the world after an asteroid strike. Biting back a groan, he took in the cross wrap top she was wearing. It hugged the curves of her breasts as if it didn’t want to let go. James had never wanted to be an item of women’s clothing as much as he did right now.
Focus! ‘The vodka company signed off on the sponsorship deal today.’
Her head shot up. ‘The full amount?’
He nodded. ‘It means we can pay the staff.’
‘Thank you, god.’
‘My pleasure.’
She fixed him with a look. ‘You’re not god.’
He shrugged. ‘And there was me thinking I showed you heaven the other night.’
Estelle snorted with laughter, then clapped a hand over her mouth. James grinned, his heart lifting at her sparkling face.
Then her light dimmed slightly and her hand lowered to the table. ‘How did your job interview go?’
I nailed it, but that’s probably not what you want to hear. He lifted a shoulder. ‘I think it went okay.’
