and see that I’ve got a text from Aaron, letting me know he’s thinking of me. I text him back and then spot the handwritten note on the bedside table.
Is it from him? a voice whispers in my mind, too full of giddy hopefulness. I bet it is. He’s going to ask if I’m a Sparkplug in more ways than one. He’s going to tell me to meet him in some secret room and then we’re going to give in to this wild feeling I can’t get rid of, that I don’t want to get rid of.
I let out a sigh when I pick up the note, but whether it’s of relief or disappointment even I can’t tell.
Tried waking you, but you were really out of it. I’m running into Marchway to check out the bookstore. I’ll be back by lunchtime. Lots of love and try not to piss Dad off LOL xx
I glance at my phone again, reading the time.
Half-past nine, which means that potentially I’m going to be alone in the house with Saul for the next two plus hours.
I drop onto the edge of the bed, wrapping my arms around myself so that the fluffy material of the bathrobe presses closer to my skin.
This is a big house – that’s an understatement – so it wouldn’t exactly be difficult for me to stay out of Saul’s way until Fiona got home. I could even just stay in my room, ensuring that our paths don’t cross. That way I won’t have to address Sparkplug or last night, or the seemingly real possibility that the whole thing was a figment of my imagination, a twisted dream.
“Jasper.”
His voice, just outside my bedroom door, growly and husky just like it was last night.
“Dammit, boy.”
I leap to my feet and brush down my bathrobe when I see my door cracking open, and then snap open when the powerful dog comes loping into the room, a big pink grin on his face as he bounds over to me, all wagging tail and hanging tongue.
“Hello, Jasper,” I laugh. “This is a nice surprise.”
I reach down to greet him as he sits like a good boy, taking my petting in a dignified way.
And sure, maybe I focus on Jasper so I don’t have to address the hulking form of Saul filling the doorframe, standing there in a silver suit with a confused expression on his face, his lips twisted, his eyes seeming to flit over me before settling elsewhere, anywhere else, anywhere except for me.
Look at me, some part of me screams. Drink me in with your eyes. Possess me with your gaze.
“He never normally does that,” Saul murmurs, stalking slowly into the room. “Just running off like that. He must really like you.”
“He’s the cutest dog in the universe,” I baby-talk to him, framing his face in my hands and leaning down to kiss him on the top of the head.
It’s only as I stand that I realize the movements caused my robe to shift, showing the top of my chest, maybe a little cleavage. I glance up at Saul and see that his lips have become a hard line with a subtle twist that could mean disgust or … or what? Or lust?
I push that thought away, telling myself it’s impossible.
Sparkplug.
Fine, he gave me a nickname, we had some friendly banter. He was probably just surprised to find me down there and thought it best to be friendly to his daughter’s friend. It doesn’t mean anything.
“Fiona’s out,” Saul says.
“I know,” I murmur. “She left me a note.”
A quiet hangs between us. Outside, a bird chirps, the wind rustles. With miles and miles of snowy countryside around us, with the inner warmth so different from the outer cold, it feels as if we’re the only two people left on an abandoned world.
I feel my nipples harden and tingle and I’m glad the fabric of the bathrobe is so thick, that he can’t see my evident, untamable lust.
“Okay then,” Saul says, that light smirk touching his lips, almost like the suggestion of a smile. Making this man crack a true ear-to-ear grin might become one of my goals in life. “I’ll leave you to it. Are you okay with Jasper or do you want me to take him?”
I keep stroking the not-so-little guy, his bright eyes, and his grinning face more than enough to set my heart melting.
“I’m okay,” I tell him.
Saul turns to leave and, crazily, I’m opening my mouth again. I’m talking. I