The Little Teashop in Tokyo by Julie Caplin Page 0,92

up, Fi. This was real life, not a rom-com where he’d turn around and declare she was the love of his life. Men like Gabe didn’t do that … well, not with women like her. And she’d known that. No point getting all sad and mopey. This was going to be a treasured memory when she went back to London. As she’d promised herself earlier, she was going to make the most of the next few days.

She lifted herself to her elbows to gaze at Mount Fuji, now with the moon behind it, all mystical and magical. A good picture. She edged carefully out of bed, casting a quick backward glance at Gabe. He didn’t stir.

Grabbing her camera, she slid open the doors to the balcony and slipped out, naked in the cool night air, and the chill pricked at her tender, abraded skin. With a smile she relished the shiver of pleasure and memory. Shades of blue, white, and silver dappled the horizon as the moonlight lit the bright snow encasing the top of the peak. It radiated a bluish ethereal light that seemed to pulse in the stillness of the night. A few stray wisps of clouds drifted into the shot. Hoping she’d capture the sense of spirituality, Fiona took several photographs, so absorbed she almost didn’t hear the slide of the door behind her.

‘A moonlit shot,’ whispered Gabe’s voice suddenly.

She turned and glanced over her shoulder, smiling as he tucked his warm body behind her, kissing her shoulder.

‘It’s so beautiful. I was hoping to get the “definitive” shot.’

‘And?’ he asked putting his arms around her waist, his chin resting on her shoulder, the faint prick of bristles sanding her skin.

With a scrunch of her face, she shook her head. ‘Not quite, but those clouds will move in a minute. I’d like to get a shot without them.’

‘And we’ve got tomorrow … or I think it might be today now.’

She shivered again, aware of her nakedness, realising that he’d had the foresight to pull on his boxers.

‘Want me to get you a robe?’

‘No, I’ll go and get it.’

She moved past him and into the bathroom where she’d seen a complimentary robe hanging on the back of the door earlier. For a moment she stopped as she caught sight of herself in the mirror, her mouth a little swollen, her hair a mussed halo around her face and her eyes glowing with satisfaction. She nodded at herself, pleased with what she saw and slipped on the robe.

Gabe was leaning on the balcony, his outline a dark shadow and over one broad shoulder the mountain rose, ghostly in the radiance of the moonlight.

With her heart in her mouth, she snapped the picture, taking several quickly before Gabe lazily turned around.

‘Better?’ he asked, holding out a hand.

‘Yes,’ she said, her pulse still tripping with excitement, unsure as to whether to share the shot with Gabe. He probably thought she was taking pictures of Mount Fuji over his shoulder, not pictures of him in the foreground and the mountain in the background. She didn’t dare take a peep at it; she’d save that for later.

They stayed a little while watching the moon dance in and out of the clouds before Gabe yawned. ‘Bedtime.’ And then he bent and scooped her up in his arms and carried her back to bed. He stood her up, took off her robe and nudged her down onto the bed, sliding under the covers after her.

‘Mmm,’ she murmured as he lay his arm across her and slipped one leg between hers.

‘Don’t get any ideas,’ he teased, kissing her shoulder. ‘You’ve worn me out.’

She smiled and stroked the silky hairs on the forearm draped over her waist, savouring the smooth cotton of the sheets, the heavy weight of his limbs, and soft warmth of his slow breaths lifting the wisps of hair around her neck. Before long he’d dropped off and she lay smiling into the darkness listening to his steady breathing before she finally fell asleep too.

Chapter 23

She woke to Gabe’s broad smile as sunshine poured in through the window. He was propped up on his pillows, the soft white cotton bedsheets contrasting with his golden skin and dark stubble.

‘Morning, Sleeping Beauty.’

‘Morning.’ Her smile was shy, which was ridiculous given what they’d got up to the previous night, but she wasn’t used to waking up with a man beside her, let alone one of all male perfection. It was a little mind-blowing. His arm snaked out and