“What is it about me that puts your mum off?” I ask, not knowing if I’m going to like the answer.
She tucks her chin, taking a moment to gather her thoughts.
“Mum was let down by a man.” She takes another sip. “My father. He was married, but she didn’t know until she got pregnant and he dropped her like a stone. She’s been careful ever since. And now every man is a threat to our happiness.”
Wow. No wonder her mum doesn’t trust me. And how can Reilly, after what I said to her when I thought she was pregnant?
“Am I a threat to your happiness?” The words come out before I can stop them, but now all I can do is wait for her response.
“Honestly, Elton.” She pauses,fucking pauses. “You’re the biggest threat I’ve come across in a long time?” My heart sinks, not what a man wants to hear.
“Why?” I push forward. I’ve opened this door, the only way through it is forward.
“You could really hurt me. A man like you could take what you want from me and leave me shattered. I would be heartbroken. I’m secure enough in myself to admit it. I like you, and it’s terrifying.”
“I’m terrified as well, Reilly. But we’ll be worth it.” It’s as close to begging as I can get. She sends me a soft smile. She sips her wine as the wind gently blows her curls around her face. I reach out my hand for hers. “Come with me.”
She smiles as she lets me lead her down the steps deeper into the garden. The lawn runs all the way to the edge of the cliffs. One of the reasons I chose this house was the running garden. If you keep walking you’d run right off the end and out into the sea.
If Reilly is going to be here more, I’ll need to set some safety up for Chip. Can’t be losing that little bugger over the side.
I pull her behind me as my steps get faster and her gentle laugh chases me until we come to a stop a stone’s throw away from the edge. The waves crash below, and the night is clear. IfI owned a telescope, we could see all the way to Old Harry Rocks from here.
I pull her in front of me so she’s facing out to sea, wrapping my arms around her waist and leaning my head on her shoulder.
“Sometimes I come here to pretend I’m the only person in the world.”
“That would be lonely,” she says, her voice sad at the idea of being alone.
“Or peaceful.” I shrug. She turns to face me and cocks her head.
I take in a deep breath and hold it, just for a beat. She covers my eyes with her hands, and gets so close her breath touches my lips. “Come get me, lonely boy,” she says softly, before gently shoving me to the side and taking off back towards the house.
I give her a five second head start, it’s only polite. She’s fast but my desire for her outruns her playfulness.
As I come up behind her she looks back, her eyes shining, I fake a left and as she veers right I reach round her waist, hoisting her in the air and settling her over my shoulder in a fireman’s carry.
She playfully smacks my back. “Put me down, you heathen.”
“Never, wench.”
A sharp sting jolts me as I realise she’s pinched me under the arm, hard. I drop her down, bringing my hands up to her face, one gripping the back of her neck. “Playing dirty?”
“Always,” she whispers, pulling me in for a kiss.
Damn, I might be falling for this woman.
TWENTY-THREE
Reilly
Every time I’m with Elton, the rest of the world blurs. He’s taking up more and more space inside my brain and honestly, I am absolutely okay with it. It’s the little things; the small moments and gestures I had been ignoring because I was too blinded by the big sparkly stuff that scared me.
Now I find myself entranced by the way he always takes my coat and bag when he meets me at the front door for baking lessons, his hand taking too long to slowly graze down my arm. I get sucked into how he lingers at the door to his own kitchen, not wanting to intrude but unable to keep away. And if he ever stops greeting me with the same smile he gives Neive, the one that breaks across his face without warning, life will be bleak and meaningless.
We’ve kept things spontaneous: evenings at his house and dog walks and coffee on the beach. Just anything where we can spend time together being us.
When Elton asked if he could take me to stay overnight at his friend’s Manor House restaurant in Studland Bay, I thought nothing of it. I jumped at the chance. Work has been hell and the idea of a full uninterrupted twelve hours with the man was too good to pass up. We’ve been crawling around each other for too long, I needed to push myself all in.
