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“Ah, here you both are.”
Suddenly Aaron’s arm was hunkered around her shoulder and she found herself sandwiched up against his side and swung around. As she sought the person who’d spoken, her neck arched back—almost as far back as when she was looking up at Carts.
Archie Bendt smirked down at them.
Close up hedidlook like Travis Fimmel out ofVikings.
But meanwhile, she had to contend with the way her body was responding to the warm pressure of Aaron’s, the feel of his arm around her and oh, gosh, what was that…? A soft tantalising stroke around the collar of her dress. Her skin goosebumped.
Aaron’s fingers shifted under her hair and kept moving, agonisingly sweet, slow strokes of his fingertips against the sensitive skin at her nape.
Her legs nearly gave way and she found she had to slump against him to stop feeling like her bones were made of rubber.
Archie extended his hand in greeting. She managed weakly to put hers into it and found on top of everything else she now had to contend with her arm being practically shaken from its socket.
“Sorry I didn’t say hello earlier, busy talking shop. Dry as dust so I hope the girls amused you. I understand that you’re Aaron’s biggest fan.”
Aaron demurred. “I never said…”
“You don’t need to. I can tell, just looking at you both together.” Archie let go of Alice’s hand and waggled his brows. “He’ll need your support these next few years. We work our lawyersharddddd.”
The twitch in Aaron reverberated through her. She could tell what he was thinking; it involved a figure of three months and she wondered—not hoped—justwondered, if he’d be requesting an extension on the dating deal.
After a few more pleasantries, none of which Alice remembered a word of due to her energy being expended in ignoring the pulses that had started up in her lady bits, Archie strode off and she extricated herself from Aaron’s embrace.
He kept up with her as she hurried off. “You sure you’re okay? I’ve done the rounds of everyone important and so… you know, if you want to go?”
They’d reached the fringe of perfectly groomed guests and Alice stopped abruptly. A wave of heat whooshed up from her stomach right up into her scalp, followed closely by two heart beats in quick succession. Oh god, not now… She pressed a hand to her chest and gave him a look that probably showed her horror. A full-blown one hadn’t happened in ages, but then, when had she honestly subjected herself to the circumstances that would set off one of her panic attacks?
Ostrich therapy had proven very effective for years.
The trouble was, playing the part of doting girlfriend in front of all these perfect people and then having the disconcerting—and delicious—interlude outside the bathroom had probably overloaded her nervous system, sending it into complete overdrive.
“Oh—I,” she gasped, leaning against the wall. “You stay, and I’ll let myself out.”
“That wouldn’t look good.” He took another hard look at her “Are you having a—?”
She bit her lower lip and nodded while trying not to crumple in half to get her breath.
Aaron’s mouth tightened. “Okay, stay close. I’ll get you out of here.”
Once again his arm was tightly around her waist as he propped her up and she tried to ignore the black dots in front of her eyes. As they walked towards the partners, then the wives, she heard his voice strong and firm, as if from miles away. It was award-winning Aaron.
“My brother is flying in from London tonight. Not the best timing but we promised to meet the plane. Yes, yes, Oliver Blake, the one and only. Yes, he’s amazing. Following in Dad’s footsteps.” A deep, throaty laugh. “Anyway. Thank you so much, this has been truly wonderful… I am so excited to be…”
Alice somehow managed to pull herself together enough to handle the hugs and goodbyes.
Finally outside, Aaron walked her across the street to a seat facing the dark expanse of the ocean.
“Head down. Now, breathe. Hold for two, breathe out one, two, three.”
Alice clung on to his instructions as he crouched in front of her, his expression serious and focused. The sound of the waves pounding rhythmically on the beach below, a lone insomniac seagull circling in the darkness over their heads and the cold night air on her face finally calmed the internal storm.
Aaron was breathing with her. Just as he’d done that first day at uni. No wonder she’d fallen head over heels in love. Wasn’t it true that you were always at your most vulnerable when you were at your lowest ebb? She’d seen a documentary once where baby ducks saw a human before they actually set eyes on their mother, and forever after believed the human was their parent. Followed the human around. Ignored their real duck mummy.
Maybe the same happened with falling in love? You were primed and ready, in a state of emotional rawness, andwham, there you were: hook, line and sinkered… forever more. Alice slumped over her knees and was finally able to take a breath.
It felt like she’d run a marathon. Aaron sat down next to her, knowing that silence was best for a few more minutes.
