cooking breakfast when he came down. He had to think she had just put the tray in his room and come down here. And then she groaned. Two cups. Two cups of tea on the tray. Well, she’d just say she thought he was probably thirsty in the mornings. She shut her eyes tightly. He would think she was mad but that was better than thinking she was some sort of sex-starved nymphomaniac!
She got busy cracking eggs into a bowl and putting bacon and tomatoes under the grill with a couple of minute steaks she found in the fridge. The toaster doing its job, the coffee pot bubbling and fresh juice on the table, she relaxed for a second. Her hands were shaking.
What had she been doing creeping about up there? That wasn’t her; she wasn’t like that. But that was the trouble, she didn’t know what she was like any more. Since she had met Nick her whole world had been turned upside down and she didn’t know if she was coming or going most of the time. And thinking she could seduce him with a flimsy nightie and a tray of tea! She groaned softly.
‘What’s the matter; are you feeling ill?’
She swung round, knocking a pile of toast on the floor in the process. ‘You made me jump,’ she said breathlessly, trying to see him as he was—clothed in jeans and a shirt—rather than stark naked.
‘Sorry, but you made a sound as though—’
‘I was thinking about a case I’m working on.’ She was lying more and more since she had met him too. She wasn’t even getting any better at it if the look on his face and his raised eyebrows were anything to go by.
‘Right.’ Thankfully he didn’t pursue the matter. ‘Do you want me to do the scrambled eggs because the bacon’s burning,’ he said helpfully.
‘Damn!’ She couldn’t even cook a simple breakfast now.
Between them they salvaged the bacon and cooked the eggs, and once they were sitting down Nick reached across and took her hand. ‘The tea in bed was nice of you,’ he said softly, ‘but I was hoping the other cup had been intended for you.’
Cory forced a brittle smile. ‘Of course it wasn’t.’ She knew her cheeks were fiery and hoped he’d put it down to the mad scramble with the food. ‘I wanted to cook breakfast for you. You did it yesterday, remember.’
‘So I did.’
‘And I thought we wouldn’t want to eat too late if we’re going to your mother’s for half-twelve.’
‘Quite right.’
‘So that’s why I got going on it.’
‘Yes, you don’t have to spell it out. I’ve got the idea.’
She was gabbling. She crammed a piece of bacon into her mouth to stop herself saying anything more. It was hot, burning hot. She spat it out as her tongue caught fire and then said, ‘I’m sorry, that’s awful, but it was hot and—’
‘Cory, have I missed something this morning?’
‘What?’ She stared at him, horrified. ‘What do you mean?’
‘You’re like a cat on a hot tin roof.’
She relaxed slightly. ‘It’s sleeping in a strange bed,’ she improvised hurriedly. ‘I never sleep well in a strange bed and then when I wake up I tend to be a bit…jumpy.’
‘Oh, I see.’ He took a bite of steak and chewed it slowly, swallowing before he said lazily, ‘I thought it was because you saw me in the shower.’
She stared at him, utterly bereft of words.
‘I didn’t mind,’ he added calmly, reaching for a slice of toast and spooning some scrambled egg on it. ‘In fact, I think I rather enjoyed it. Of course I’d have preferred you to stay, but by the time I came into the bedroom, you’d vanished.’
He knew. She prayed for the ground to open up and swallow her, or at least for her to be able to think of something to say rather than sitting staring at him with her mouth open like a stranded fish.
Eventually she managed to croak, ‘It’s not what you think.’
‘I don’t think anything.’ The blue eyes held hers and they were glittering with suppressed laughter. ‘This is an excellent steak, by the way. You’ve cooked it just how I like it.’
Blow the steak. Cory swallowed. ‘I thought I’d give you a cup of tea in bed as you’d brought me one yesterday,’ she said stiffly. ‘As I was leaving, the door was ajar and I just happened…’
‘Ah, I thought that might be the case.’
She stared at him. ‘You didn’t actually see me then?’