Page 88 of The Little Board Game Café

‘I wish,’ said Emily. ‘Most of the time, I don’t have a clue.’

Their eyes met across the board. Emily’s legs turned to jelly. They didn’t say a word and she was suddenly aware of every sound: the hum of something electrical in the room, a DVD player perhaps; a car passing by outside; her breathing, so fast that she was half-expecting him to diagnose her with something.

And then he stood up, walked round to her side of the table and pulled her to her feet. He brushed a loose strand of hair from her face, and gently, ever so gently, touched his lips against hers.

‘I have wanted to do that all evening,’ he said.

‘I thought kissing me was a mistake?’

He took a step back. ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that. It was Peter.’

‘Peter?’

‘Well, you hadn’t long split up from him. And I’d seen you getting out of his car and then he was there at the launch. I thought you might still have feelings for each other.’

Peter? So that was the reason? She’d intended to say something, to explain why she’d felt obliged to invite her ex to the launch, but with all the drama at the launch event, it had slipped her mind.

‘There’s nothing romantic between Peter and me. Not anymore. He took me out for the afternoon, to give me some business ideas, but that was all it was. Well, all it was on my part anyway. And then I had to invite him to the launch because he’d been supportive. Well, since we split up, he has. When we were together, the last thing he wanted his fiancée doing was running a café.’

‘So it’s definitely over?’

‘It’s over.’

‘And there’s no chance…?’

‘None whatsoever. I can’t speak for him, but I definitely don’t want to get back together with Peter.’

‘I’ve been hurt in the past, Em. A woman who hadn’t long come out of a long-term relationship. I fell in love. She went back to him.’

‘Oh, Ludek, I’m sorry. But don’t let what’s happened in your past hold you back in your present.’

He took a step forwards, put his arms around her and pulled her into him, pressing his lips against hers, still gently but with more urgency than before. It didn’t take long at all before he was leading her up the stairs.

Was this too soon? she wondered.

But it felt so right. She wanted him so much. So she followed him into his bedroom and was pleasantly surprised to find that it wasn’t full of board games. In fact, she noted as they tumbled onto the bed together, there wasn’t a single game in sight.

Chapter Thirty-One

Afterwards, Ludek wrapped his arms and legs around her, clinging to her body like one of those little koalas you see sometimes in toy shops that grips on the top of a pencil.

She felt safe. Protected. Reassured by his presence. Bathing in the blissful afterglow of sexual hormones. She nestled into him. His skin felt smooth against hers, his body warm.

He was asleep in seconds. Not in a callous ‘man who doesn’t care’ way, but in a contented way.

She lay there for a few minutes. Mulling over the events of the evening.

She expected to drift off to sleep, but she didn’t. She couldn’t. She wanted to roll over – she always slept on her side but didn’t like to move. He looked so peaceful, like a baby almost. It would have been a shame to disturb him.

But she couldn’t sleep on her back. She tried to focus on her breathing, to employ those mindful techniques that she’d heard on meditation apps, but she was aware only of his breathing. The beating of his heart against her ribs. His nakedness pressed against hers.

Eventually she gave in and turned over. He sighed but didn’t wake, obligingly rolling away from her, onto his back.

She lay on her side, facing him. Still, she couldn’t sleep. She stared at him, marvelling at his prominent but rather distinguished nose, the loose curls of his hair splayed on the pillow, those long, dark eyelashes. She found him beautiful, attractive, arousing. She loved his company. He was interesting, funny, entertaining. And she’d now discovered he was pretty good in bed. She should have been elated. Excited. This could, after all, be the start of something. He didn’t strike her as the type to have a one-night stand.

And yet, somewhere deep within her there was a growing sense of unease. She wanted to get up. To leave.

She couldn’t fathom why.