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‘Are you finished for today?’ He strode into his surgery on Thursday afternoon with as much energy and enthusiasm as he’d had that morning. How did he do that?
‘No, I’m still making changes to the database.’ It was going to be another late night, tonight.
‘Can’t you do that tomorrow? You’ve got the day free, remember, as it’s my day off.’
Sam hesitated. The thought was tempting. Spend an evening with Euan and then fall into bed. She adjusted the thought. Spend an evening with him then go back to the flat and fall into her bed. ‘I’d forgotten about that. I suppose...’
He grinned. ‘You need a break. Put that away and come with me.’ When Sam didn’t move, he walked over and peered over her shoulder at the screen.
‘I’m closing you down in three...’ One finger hovered at the top of the screen, threatening to snap the laptop shut.
‘Wait...wait...’ Sam hit the but
ton to save her work. He seemed ever so close all of a sudden.
‘One...’ She could smell his skin. Soap and something else that was making her tremble. Something she couldn’t place, but it was his alone, and it made her think of sex.
‘Two...’
‘Wait...’ Her bare arm brushed his, and the back of her neck started to tingle. She was sure she could feel his breath on her skin, and all of a sudden she’d forgotten how to close down her own database.
‘And a half.’
‘Don’t rush me.’ The ‘Close’ button came to her rescue, and then three keystrokes for sleep mode. Just as the screen went blank, Euan’s finger made contact, closing her laptop.
‘Three.’ He gripped the arms of the chair she was sitting in, swivelling it around to face him.
‘What would you have done if my machine had crashed?’
‘I guess I’d be nursing a broken nose right now.’ He grinned provocatively. ‘Timing’s everything.’
He was still gripping the arms of her chair, imprisoning her and leaning in impossibly close. She’d bet that his timing was absolutely perfect, and the thought made her shiver.
‘I thought we were going somewhere.’ She tapped the back of his hand with one finger. Even that degree of contact was one degree more than she could bear at the moment.
Euan chuckled, suddenly all movement and searing, heart-aching life. Propelling himself upright, he walked to the door. ‘We are. How’s your head for heights?’
‘Okay. What did you have in mind?’
‘Just a little tour... Call it sightseeing.’
They went back to the flat so Sam could fetch a warm jacket. Apparently this mysterious little tour was going to be chilly. Then they were on the road, driving out of town and into the countryside. Half an hour later they turned off a country lane and bumped across a field.
‘Oh, wow!’ There were parked cars, people and a barbeque. But all Sam could see were the six brightly coloured hot-air balloons at the far end of the field. ‘We’re going to watch?’
Euan chuckled. ‘Watching’s not as much fun as taking a ride.’
‘But don’t we have to book?’
He shrugged. ‘I’ve booked. I know one of the guys who pilots the balloons, and I gave him a call this afternoon and asked if he’d had any late cancellations. It just so happened that he had. I reckoned we both needed a bit of a break.’ He manoeuvred over the uneven ground into the makeshift car park.
Most people just went to the pub or chilled out in front of the television. Why did it not surprise her that Euan would come up with something a bit different? ‘And this is what you do when you want to unwind?’
‘Not usually. But it’s a particular challenge to tempt you away from your work, and I defy anyone to think about database configuration when they’re suspended in a wicker basket one thousand feet above the ground.’
She couldn’t help smiling. And once she’d started, she didn’t seem to be able to stop. ‘Which one’s ours?’
‘That one.’ He pointed to a vividly striped blue and yellow canopy that was spread across the grass, ready to be inflated.
