His Horizon - Con Riley Page 0,16

ear as he whispered. “That’s how I would have said goodbye last time if you’d let me.”

His final kiss was barely there, the slightest of touches, gone before Jude could respond.

The kitchen door swung closed behind Rob, leaving Jude half-hard and winded.

6

Jude returned to the table, his sister finishing the last of her sandwich as he placed his second on the table. Taking a bite was a challenge while Rob sat opposite, eyes following his every movement until Jude lifted it to his mouth. Rob glanced away then, hand rising to rub at his lips, a little redder now than earlier. His hair was more dishevelled too after Jude had run his hands through it. Jude’s scrutiny lingered long enough for Rob to notice and smooth stray strands from his forehead.

Louise noticed. “Did you two just fight, or something?”

Or something is right. Jude nodded at the same time that Rob shook his head.

Louise’s eyes narrowed over the rim of her mug. “I thought you liked each other.”

Jude had. Did. But it was pointless to revisit feelings that Rob had just drawn a stark line under. He took a huge mouthful of his sandwich rather than verbalise any of that, especially to Louise. Instead, he did what he’d practised since realising that men held his interest; Jude locked down, silent.

His sister set her mug on the table. “You have to know that I only contacted Rob in the first place because it seemed like you two became friends during the contest.”

Jude snorted.

“It did,” Louise insisted. “You must have been good friends. Rob dedicated winning the contest to you.”

Jude stopped chewing at the same time Rob stood so swiftly that the table rocked a little. Tea slopped onto its scarred surface, wood dented by years of tourists, their presence a small sign that parts of the Anchor’s history remained untouched, at least. By the time Louise wiped up the spill, Rob was behind the bar, setting a glass out on the counter. He opened a bottle of cognac and said, “It’s too early for this conversation,” as he poured, grimacing at his first sip. “Jesus, this really is shit. It’s worse than the coffee.”

Jude finally managed to swallow. “You dedicated winning to me?”

Rob took another small sip and nodded. The repeat of his grimace would have been comical if Jude’s heart wasn’t constricting. “Why?”

Rob grabbed the bottle and glass, returning to where they sat by the window, sunlight leaving nothing hidden. “Why did I dedicate the win to you?” He lifted his glass again, second thoughts striking, setting it down instead to push it away. The dents and scratches in the tabletop must have been compelling. He traced them very carefully rather than look up at Jude. “Because without you to compete against, I wouldn’t ever have needed to try so hard to stay in the competition.” His voice dropped along with his gaze. “I only entered to piss off Dad. Why would I need the prize money to set up my own restaurant? But you made me want to get to the final.” He lifted his gaze, unguarded in a way that stole Jude’s breath. “You did,” Rob insisted. “For the first time, I was desperate to cook my heart out.” He resumed tracing scars in the wood, fingertip edging closer and closer to Jude’s hand.

He should move it away, Jude decided; move his hand well out of Rob’s reach, before Louise saw how close they were to touching. Instead his fingers unfurled like the fronds of an anemone might at high tide, helpless not to while something deep inside him was desperate, so desperate, for the slightest scrap of contact, far more than it feared being noticed. This was asking for trouble, surely, but still Jude couldn’t help leaning slightly closer until his knee pressed against Rob’s under the table, the sensation of him pressing back welcome yet terrifying.

“It was in the papers,” Louise said, oblivious to Jude being close to a full-blown crisis. “I read an interview Rob gave. The reporter went into a lot of detail about Rob’s family background. About how his mum’s family ran the country hotel where his dad first worked.”

Huh. Jude hadn’t known that.

“And about how Rob’s dad and mum renovated their own hotel from the ground up. They stayed there until….” She cast a glance sideways, continuing at Rob’s small nod. “…until his mum was very poorly.” Louise did what Jude had struggled to hold back from; she took Rob’s hand easily, so