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Though Caradoc smiled, Finn could sense his impatience. It seemed to burst out of his every movement.
“I won’t be long,” she promised, stepping out of the car with her own natural grace.
To her surprise, Caradoc joined her, stretching his long arms over his head and then falling into step beside her. “Which one’s yours?”
She nodded to the middle building, halfway down the street. As she did so, she tried to see it through his eyes. The east London street wasn’t particularly pretty, but Finn had chosen it for convenience and affordability. It was safe; at least she felt safe.
It took a good shrug of her shoulder to heave the heavy front door inwards, and then she took the steps two at a time, up to the third floor.
“Hey! Anyone home?” She called as she pushed the apartment open. It smelled faintly of caramel and popcorn. “Movie night,” she explained, reaching for the pile of unopened letters on the hallstand. She scanned through them with only half a mind on the job.
“Movie night?” He prompted, casually surveying the lounge area. It was far more homely and dishevelled than he’d expected.
“Yeah. We try to do it once a week. Cliff makes this sticky popcorn. It’s to die for.” She saw the way his eyes were taking in every detail of the lounge and she shrugged her shoulders. “Usually we’re a lot neater than this. Actually, I’m the neat one. So when I’m away on assignment, the cleanliness takes a bit of a dive.” She waved her hand towards the sofas. “Take a seat wherever you can find one. I’ll just be a minute.”
Finn walked into her own bedroom with a weird fluttering of her heart. The last time she’d been in here, she’d had no idea that she was about to meet Caradoc Moore, and that life as she knew it would shift into a strange hyper-reality.
Her hands moved deftly through her wardrobe. Her taste in clothes was excellent. Though her budget was stretched, she had a gift for picking out a piece of couture in the middle of a thrift shop rack. Pride moved her hands to some of her nicest outfits, and she folded them into a small duffel bag. It took her less than five minutes. The rest of her time was spent scouring her bookshelf. Finally, she found what she was looking for.
She cradled the two titles to her chest and hooked the bag over her shoulder.
“Almost ready,” she smiled at Caradoc, her heart racing at the sight of him here, in her apartment. He was too gorgeous, and he seemed to exude light everywhere he stood.
When she emerged, he was staring at a picture on the wall. It was of her and Cliff, taken back when they’d first started living together. In f
act, it was their housewarming party, if her memory was correct.
Finn had been wearing an enormous pair of over-sized pink glasses, and her cherry hair had been teased into a rather enviable tribute to the best of the eighties. Cliff had worn a glittering vest and gelled his hair into a Mohawk.
Finn lifted a pen from the counter. Connie, can you please post these? She transcribed the address for Bagleyhurst onto the same page and then tore off another piece of notepaper.
Dear Maddie, As promised, the set of books I told you about. I hope you love them as much as I always have… email and tell me. She tapped the pen against the tabletop in a manner that drew Caradoc’s attention. She was bent over, her hair forming a curtain around her beautiful face. And it was beautiful. So was she. Even in the midst of this perfectly ordinary apartment, she shone. He ached to touch her, to feel her skin beneath his fingers.
The only thing that eclipsed the impulse was the overriding need to take her with him. He wanted to see her in his apartment, surrounded by his life. He wanted to overwhelm her with him. The essence of who he was.
Why? He couldn’t have said.
“What are those?” He asked, coming to stand across from her. His eyes were rich with the same flicker of attraction that always set her pulse racing.
“Oh,” she smiled brightly. “A couple of things I told Maddie I’d send.”
“My half-sister? You really don’t have to bother.”
Finn folded the paper and slipped it into the front cover of The Chronicles of Narnia.
“I want to bother,” she insisted with that quiet firmness she had. “I used to read these cover to cover as a child. How I loved them.” She smiled across at him. “Maddie will too.”
Caradoc studied her with an intensity that made her heart pause almost to a standstill. “I still don’t understand why you’re taking the effort.”
Now it was Finn’s turn to stare into his soul and try to understand. “Your sister is grieving. She and I became friends, of sorts. And then I deserted her. I at least want to do what I said I would, and send her this book.”
“You didn’t desert her!” He retorted with a shake of his head.
“It’s a small act of kindness that costs me nothing,” Finn was concise.
Caradoc didn’t say anything else on the matter, but her insistence had surprised him. No, perhaps it wasn’t her insistence so much as her sweetness in the first place.
“You’ve lived here for a few years, I think you said,” he prompted, reaching over to unhook Finn’s weekender bag from her shoulder.
