us having some time away. I don’t want to,’ he went on, ‘but I can’t get out of it.’
She felt sick. ‘You’re going on holiday?’
‘Not a holiday. Just a weekend in Norfolk.’
‘In a hotel?’
‘Staying with friends. They’ve got kids too, so I’ll be taking earplugs.’ Niall pulled a face. ‘It’s going to be a nightmare. But what could I do?’
Roo gazed at him. Half of her felt sorry for him, the other half felt jealous.
Niall had promised her that he and Yasmin no longer slept together, but she had to ask. ‘If it’s her birthday, will she want you to have sex with her?’
‘What, change the habit of a lifetime?’ He burst out laughing. ‘Not a chance. And if she did, I’d just pretend to fall asleep. But she won’t, I can promise you that. Look, you have a good time this weekend. I’m going to get through it the best I can, and I’ll call you on Monday. I could come over in the evening. How about that?’
It was only Wednesday. When you were desperate to be with someone every minute of every day, being forced to wait five whole days before seeing them again was purgatory.
But what choice did she have? He was the love of her life and compared with never seeing him again, it was bearable.
And she would be super-cool about it, to make up for the earlier display of neediness. Looking vague, Roo murmured, ‘Monday, Monday… I may have something on…’
‘OK then, it’ll have to be next Thursday.’
For crying out loud, that was a whole week away. Roo crumpled in an instant and curled her arms around his neck. ‘Make it Monday.’ Between kisses she said, ‘I’ll cancel whatever it is.’
Niall smiled. ‘Good.’
Chapter 21
There had been something different about this evening. The realization had crept up on Ellie gradually; at first she’d thought she was imagining it. But she wasn’t.
Well, that was pretty obvious now.
Furthermore, she appeared to be having an out-of-body experience. Todd Howard was kissing her and she was mentally standing back, noting her reaction to the experience with the detachment of an exam steward.
It probably ranked as a medium-strength kiss. Not too wet, not too dry. Not too hard or too soft. It felt completely bizarre, yet you couldn’t call it unpleasant. She didn’t want to wrench herself free and go spleeurghhhh, spluttering in horror and wiping her mouth like a six-year-old caught by a whiskery maiden great aunt.
Actually, that was long enough now. Breaking contact, she drew back and opened her eyes. Todd was already watching her, waiting to gauge her reaction. Had he spent the last few hours gearing himself up for this?
‘Sorry.’ He was breathing quite heavily. ‘Are you OK?’
‘Yes.’ She still felt like an observer. Easy in each other’s company, they’d fallen into the habit of spending time together at the weekends. Today had been no different; shopping on Portobello Road, a couple of drinks in the afternoon, then a walk in Regent’s Park followed by a trip to a comedy club in Camden, and a stop-off at a pizza takeaway on the way home. Once back at the flat, they had relaxed on the sofa, washed the slices of quattro stagioni down with white wine, and started watching Ocean’s Eleven on DVD.
Then halfway through the film, Todd had turned to look at her and said, ‘Ell? I want to kiss you.’
And she’d been so astounded she’d said, ‘Seriously?’
‘Yes.’
‘Oh.’ And more out of politeness than anything else, she had heard herself say bemusedly, ‘OK.’
The next moment, Todd’s mouth had descended on hers. And they were kissing. This was when the split-screen effect had really kicked in. Half of Ellie had been evaluating the pressure, the wetness, the taste of the kiss, the smell of his skin, and the sensation of stubble gently grazing her cheek. The other half had felt like a mannequin in a shop window.
But it was bound to feel weird. It was eighteen months since Jamie had died, eighteen months since her last experience of mouth-to-mouth contact. And this was an unfamiliar mouth.
It was also saying something. Whoops, she’d been so busy assessing how it felt she hadn’t been listening. Ellie shook her head. ‘Sorry, I missed that.’
‘I just asked if you’re sure you’re all right.’
‘I’m all right.’ Poor Todd, he was looking so worried. She smiled slightly to reassure him. ‘I’m fine.’
‘You had no idea I was wanting to do that? You weren’t expecting it?’