‘So, you’re not still in love with her?’ Kate asked, feeling as if the sun was rising after the longest, darkest night.
‘No.’ Will shook his head, gazing at her intently. ‘I never said all those things Tina claims I did. She made it all up. I’d have thought you’d know that.’
‘Me?’
‘You.’ He looked at her for a long time. ‘I love you,’ he said eventually. ‘I came here to tell you that.’
Kate could hardly breathe, her heart was pounding so wildly. ‘You do?’
‘Yes, I do. I thought I’d made that pretty obvious. Am I too late?’ he asked.
‘Too late? What do you mean?’
‘Freddie said you’d gone to see Brian yesterday.’
‘Yes, I did – to break up with him.’
‘But you didn’t come home last night,’ Will said, his eyes dropping to the duvet. ‘What happened? Did he talk you out of it?’
When he looked up again his expression was impassive, but the tightening of the muscles along his jaw betrayed his anxiety.
Kate realised that he actually felt unsure of her. ‘No, he didn’t talk me out of it.’
‘So you did break up with him?’
‘Oh yes. Very publicly and spectacularly.’
‘Good.’ Will seemed more sure of himself. ‘Why?’
‘Oh, lots of reasons. I caught him cheating on me, for one thing, but mainly because I’m head over heels in love with someone else.’
‘Anyone I know?’
‘You,’ she said, not wanting to tease any more. ‘I love you.’ It was such bliss to be able to say it out loud and to know he felt the same way.
‘Well, thank God for that.’ Relief lit his face. ‘I’d hate to have sat throughFist of Gloryfor nothing.’
‘Oh God, did Freddie make you watch gay porn?’ Kate giggled. ‘Sorry! And I’m sorry Lorcan hit you,’ she said, touching the bruise under his eye. ‘Does it hurt?’
‘A bit.’
She touched her lips lightly to the bruise. ‘There! All better.’
‘Now I wish he’d beaten me up more. Come here.’ He put a hand on the back of her neck, pulling her face to his, and then his mouth was opening against hers, his stubble rough on herskin. ‘I love you,’ he breathed into her mouth, his hands tangling in her hair as they kissed on and on.
Kate clung to his broad shoulders, feeling the warmth of his skin beneath her fingers. She was aware that he was probably naked under the duvet. She wanted to rip off her own clothes and feel his bare skin against hers.
Seemingly he was aware of it too. ‘I feel at a bit of a disadvantage here.’ He slid a warm hand inside the back of her T-shirt, while his tongue darted in and out of her mouth.
The kissing was fantastic, and his hands were driving her crazy, but Kate was very aware that she was still wearing yesterday’s clothes, and she suspected that there were bits of twig and leaf from the sweat lodge in her crevices. When Will popped open the top button of her jeans and the warm hand on her stomach strayed downwards, she leaped away.
Will looked wounded.
‘Sorry,’ she smiled regretfully, ‘it’s just that I stink. I didn’t have any clean clothes, and these have been through a sweat-lodge ceremony.’
‘If it’s just your clothes that stink, we could always take them off.’ Will reached for her again.
‘I’m too knackered to take advantage of you, anyway,’ Kate said, flopping onto the pillow beside him and burrowing into his neck. ‘I didn’t get a wink of sleep last night.’ She noticed the rather peeved expression that flitted across Will’s face. ‘Not because I was bonking Brian.’ She grinned. ‘I didn’t sleep with him last night, if that’s what you’re thinking.’
