‘Drinking, lads’ mags, smoking the occasional spliff? I’ve got brothers,’ she reminded him when his eyebrows rose. ‘You can’t know how much I wished I was a boy.’
‘Can I say, just for the record, that I’m glad you’re not?’
‘Oh, me too,’ she assured him. ‘Men wear such boring shoes.’
He looked down at the purple ballet pumps she was wearing. ‘Pretty.’
For a moment she had a vision of him bending down, taking one off, kissing her instep... She cleared her throat. ‘What did you do up here?’
‘When I was younger I used it the way any kid would. Hideout, den, a place to keep secret stash. We used to sit up here watching badgers at dusk.’
‘Brilliant.’
‘It was... Of course, Gary never put that much effort into anything without an ulterior motive. When I was away at school, he brought girls here.’ He shrugged. ‘I did too, when I was older.’
‘The young master seducing the village maidens?’ she teased.
‘Rather the opposite,’ he said and his sudden grin sent a lump to her throat for a magical youth that had been somehow blighted. ‘I’ll check it out, clean it up for your nephews and nieces.’
‘Does that mean you’re staying?’
‘I’ve put off the foundry until Monday but they can’t start without me. Is there room?’ he said, sliding his arms around her waist, drawing her close, and the down on her cheeks stood up as if she were a magnet and he was the North Pole.
‘No problem. I’ll share. Your room is pretty much as you left it, give or take a few things. I borrowed some of the chocolate-box pictures for the blog. I’ve had a lot of interest,’ she rushed on, to cover just how important his answer was. ‘There’s a greeting card manufacturer...’
‘That’s the take,’ he said, ignoring the throwaway distraction. ‘What’s the give?’
‘Me,’ she said. ‘If there’s still a vacancy for a muse?’
‘So when you said share...?’
‘I could bunk in with Patsy, but I barely know her, while we’re—’
He groaned, pulling her into his arms, kissing her with a hot, sweet, haunting tenderness that could rip the heart out of you. It was the perfect kiss you saw in the movies, the kiss a girl dreamed about before life gave you a reality check, the kiss you’d remember when every other memory had slipped away into the dark. When he finally drew back, rested his forehead against the top of her head, he was trembling.
‘Darius...’ She cradled his face in her hands, wanting to reassure him, to tell him... ‘You kept the beard,’ she said shakily.
She felt him smile against her palms. ‘You said you liked it.’
‘As I was saying, we’re compatible in practically every way.’
‘I doubt your parents would be impressed with our, um, compatibility,’ he said, climbing down the tree, lifting her after him. ‘And then there are those three over-protective brothers of yours. I’m seriously outnumbered.’
‘That’s ridiculous, Darius. It’s your house.’