Page 104 of Last Christmas in London

I sat up even more, aware that at this point I was practically lying across him.

‘You’d do that? After all this time not really speaking to him? You’d introduce me, the girl who made him go viral for all the wrong reasons, and ask for his help?’

He pulled at the bobble on my hat until it fell off and my hair tumbled down my shoulder. ‘I would.’ He smirked as I tried to flatten my wild locks. ‘Not that he’s ever met any of the women I’ve ever… you know,’ he finished lamely.

‘You know what?’ I grinned, teasing him as a pink flush developed across his nose.

‘Women I’ve dated?’ he said, unsure of himself.

‘Women you’ve flirted with for a month. Women you’ve helped out, probably a bit too much. Women you’ve definitely connected with but don’t want to admit it,’ I suggested cheekily.

‘Women I’ve come to really really fancy,’ he continued on my behalf. ‘And don’t know how to admit it until we’re snuggled up in an igloo that I had to beg my friend to borrow.’

‘Oh, you begged?’ I teased.

‘I was on my knees,’ he said, semi-seriously. ‘Dignity be damned.’

‘Dignity be damned,’ I repeated, leaning upwards to kiss him before I even thought about it.

He met me halfway, his hand sliding into my hair, fingers threading through the loose strands as our lips pressed together, warm and certain.

It wasn’t our discovery kiss, that was our first; this was deeper, lingering, as if we were both trying to make up for lost time. I felt him sigh against my mouth, his grip tightening slightly, as if he couldn’t help himself. I kissed him back with just as much certainty, curling my fingers into the fabric of his suit, holding him there for a moment longer than necessary.

We parted, by an inch, when a group of men walking past began to jeer and wolf-whistle. We ignored them but our cheeks flushed as we leaned back to look at each other. Excited embarrassment, anticipation, nerves, and happiness flooded between us, crackling in the air like the fairy lights twinkling around us.

I fell into his chest, pulling my legs up so they were pressed against his. He let out a small, contented sigh before pressing a slow, lasting kiss to my forehead. His whole body relaxed, releasing a tension neither of us had previously noticed.

‘Definitely worth begging,’ he said suddenly.

We laughed.

I leaned upwards, already desperate for another kiss.

‘Thank you!’ I said, placing my hand over his cheek and stroking his warm stubble. ‘I haven’t said that yet. Thank you!’

‘Merry Christmas!’ he whispered.

‘Merry bloody Christmas!’ I folded into him like the ribbon that wraps around a gift.

Though we had to leave by ten so his friend didn’t get into trouble, at that moment I would have been perfectly happy sleeping in his arms in that igloo all night. I had never felt so warm, safe, or loved. Not since before my mum died.

It was a Christmas gift like no other, and one I never expected.

Chapter 31

Iwas still technically employed by Pim until New Year’s Day, but she had texted to say it was no bother if I would rather not work my notice, since I had already scheduled all her dinners and drinks until the New Year, and Alison had taken on the rest of her schedule for her New Mexico trip.

There was nothing more to do but keep her company, and she wasn’t so decrepit as to need that.

At least she said she wasn’t.

I was still happy enough to fulfil my role as assistant, even in a relaxed form.

Megan had returned – with all the gossip she could wring from me – back to Denise and Bob’s for the remainder of Christmas. And Josh, unsurprisingly, had found a tourist on Hinge in need of a sexy tour guide.

Leaving me all the time in the world to spend with Simon. For as long as I could until the New Year, and my new job. A fact I was repressing with more and more ease with every day that passed.

‘Does your phone ever stop ringing?’ Simon had asked one morning, after I had watched his show outside St Paul’s – prompting the crowd to cheer, sing along, and donate as much as I could, without seeming suspicious. He was just packing up his belongings under the columns when my phone lit up and chorused with missed calls and messages.