AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Heidi’s driving us this morning in her rattly car, heading southwest to the tiny town of Ugborough, which I insist on pronouncing Uger-boruger.
She’s wearing her short shorts and a crisp white T-shirt. Her blonde hair is like a slice of sunshine. She’s gorgeous.
As the Devon countryside flashes by, I think about kissing her last night, how her lips felt beneath mine. How they parted for me, and the way the soft moan escaped her as she slid her hand into my hair.
“How’s the Countess today?” I ask mischievously.
She laughs. “She’s okay. I gave her a bit of attention last night, so she’s not as sulky now.”
Okay, so that backfired. I lean an elbow on the sill and massage my brow, and she giggles. “Oh come on,” she scolds. “You can’t say something like that and not expect me to have a comeback. Besides, don’t tell me that Sir Richard didn’t get to go jousting.”
“Jesus.”
“Do you deny it?”
“No. I’m expressing shock at your terrible euphemisms.”
She gives me a longing look. It’s obvious that the thought of me indulging in some DIY is as much of a turn on for her as the other way around.
I raise my eyebrows. Her lips twitch, and she returns her gaze to the road. “Maybe we should stop talking about… you know…”
“You think? You’re extremely bad for my blood pressure.”
“Ah, get some beta blockers like the rest of us, then you can daydream all you like.”
I laugh and change the subject, and she chats away happily until she pulls into the village.
I send myself a warning though as I get out of the car and follow her up the path to the pretty little cottage. I really shouldn’t flirt with her. I’m only making things more difficult for myself. I should shut down the conversation and move on, and she’d soon pick up on it.
But it’s so hard when she turns on that impish smile, and when her eyes dance as she teases me. With some surprise, I realize it makes me happy. She makes me happy.
Well, isn’t that something?
She doesn’t go to the front door, but instead walks around the side of the cottage, past some roses bushes that scatter pink petals like confetti on the lawn as she brushes past them, and through a wooden gate to the back of the house.
“Hey,” she says, and I hear an answering, “Heidi, my love,” as I close the gate behind us and follow her around.
Heidi is hugging her grandmother, a slender, attractive woman in her early sixties, with silver hair that tumbles to her shoulders in waves. She has her arms around her granddaughter, but she’s looking at me as I approach.
“Titus,” she says, releasing Heidi and coming over to me. “How lovely to see you again.”
“Hi, Mrs. Craven.”
“Laura, please.” She kisses me on the cheek, then moves back to look at me, holding me by the upper arms. “Goodness, look at you. You were such a skinny thing the last time I saw you. You’ve filled out nicely.”
“Grandma,” Heidi scolds.
“What? It’s a compliment. And those tattoos. Wow. They’re gorgeous.”
“You should see the one on his back,” Heidi says. “It’s pretty amazing.”
She turns away to greet her grandfather as he comes out, missing the way Laura’s eyebrows shoot up into her hairline.
“I was shaving,” I say wryly.
“Hmm.” She gives me a mischievous look—oh ho, so that’s where Heidi gets it from.
“Titus,” Graham Craven says, coming over to shake my hand. “Good to see you, lad.”
