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‘Yeah. Rather a nice rainbow effect, I thought.’ He grinned at her and she chose a glass of green juice. ‘That’s one of Ava’s.’
She sniffed at it delicately. ‘Smells interesting.’
‘You’re quite sure?’ Clearly Thea was braver than he was.
She took a sip and nodded. ‘Yeah. Not bad. Tastes as if it’s probably quite good for you.’
‘I’ll give it a miss, then.’ Lucas reached for a yellowish concoction that he knew to be mainly orange juice. ‘Here.’ He produced a red and white striped drinking straw from the cupboard, along with a yellow cocktail umbrella, and arranged them in her glass. If that combination of colours didn’t put her off, nothing would.
‘Thank you. Got any cherries?’
‘No. Good grief, you’re worse than Ava.’
She grinned at him. ‘You say the nicest things.’
Turning, she walked into the sitting room. Lucas followed her. Three minutes in to the thirty and he was already entranced.
‘So.’ She sat down on the sofa next to him, putting the package down on the coffee table. ‘Are you going to open it now or do you want to guess what’s inside?’
‘Hmm. Round and flat.’ Lucas tried to think of something that was that approximate shape. ‘Can I pick it up?’
‘No.’
Lucas stared at the package. ‘Could you pick it up and shake it? Just so I can hear whether it rattles or not.’
‘No.’
‘It’s…’ He shrugged. ‘A collapsible top hat.’
She laughed, and he felt a little thrill of pleasure. ‘No. It might have been if I’d thought of that, though.’
‘A…’ Lucas gave up the unequal struggle and leaned back in his chair. ‘Okay, you’ve got me. I don’t know what it is.’
She gave a little nod, as if to accept his surrender. ‘In that case, you can open it.’
She sat watching him, grinning when he got to the circular gift box, which contained another, square package. Smiling with delight when he smiled. ‘That’s… Thea, that’s fantastic.’
She hadn’t spent a lot of money, but it must have taken her a great deal of time and effort to find this. A beautifully tooled Victorian volume, the name of the former owner inscribed carefully inside the front cover and Thea’s own inscription below that, as if it were part of an ongoing record of the book’s travels. It was one of his favourite authors, and the book itself was in beautiful condition.
‘I’m glad you like it.’
Lucas chuckled. ‘You knew I’d love it.’
She laughed happily. ‘It’s good to keep an element of doubt. It makes giving presents more fun.’
‘Thank you.’ He leaned towards her, kissing her cheek. Just a brush of the lips, but he heard her catch her breath. Felt his own senses lurch into overdrive, revelling in her scent and the soft touch of her skin.
‘You’re welcome.’ A slight flush rose in her cheeks.
‘I suppose we should go over for lunch now.’ He didn’t want to. But twenty more minutes might be more of a temptation than he could bear.
‘Yeah. Suppose we should.’
Neither of them moved. The warmth of the shared silence was intoxicating. Even if he couldn’t touch her, he and Thea had always done silence well. Sitting, sharing random thoughts and observations. Watching the world go by i
n the undemanding security of each other’s company.
* * *
