In Sheets Of Rain - Nicola Claire Page 0,58

an angry bull, huffing and puffing,” I said.

He arched a brow at me.

Placing his report down on the table to the side, he turned in his seat and faced me. His elbow came down on the gleaming wooden surface. He cupped his chin in his hand and stared at me.

“You look beautiful,” he said.

I blushed.

He looked at me, and I looked at him. The reports forgotten.

The sound of the clock on the wall ticking set a counterpoint to the beat of my heart. Time stretched. The clock ticked. Michael kept looking at me.

“Stop it,” I said, laughing.

“Stop what?”

“Staring at me.”

“But I can’t help it.”

“A second ago, you were scowling at your papers,” I pointed out.

He shrugged. “I got over it.”

“Just like that?”

“Just like that,” he agreed.

I was bemused to realise I felt angry. How could he get over his jealousy so easily?

He turned in his seat and picked up his reports, lining them up and tapping them into order on the table.

“Dinner?” he asked.

“OK,” I said slowly.

He smiled, stood up, and walked out of the room.

I shook my head and went back to my report; fingering the cross again at my neck out of habit.

A moody Michael was new to me.

But then, all of this was new to me; feeling like it mattered.

Feeling like everything Michael did mattered to me.

I huffed out a breath of air and tried to read the report.

I sucked at it. But I was a champion at thinking of Michael.

We sat down at the table and accepted the menus from the waiter. He poured water from a jug into two tall glasses before us and proceeded to tell us the specials. I liked the sound of the smoked fish pie. Michael chose the sirloin and picked a bottle of wine.

I sipped the water and stared out at Mission Bay. Cars slowly moved by, outpaced by pedestrians. The sea looked blue between the pohutukawa trees. The sand looked white in the early evening sunlight.

My eyes came back to Michael, sitting across from me. As if he’d called me to him and I was unable to resist the pull.

He was watching me, not the scenery. As if I was prettier than a summer’s evening in Auckland City.

“What did you get up to this afternoon?” I asked. He’d been gone from the office since four. It wasn’t like him to leave before close of business. Michael was one of the most dedicated workers I’d ever met. His absence had worried me.

“A bit of this and a bit of that,” he said, noncommittally.

“Oh,” I mumbled and looked out of the window again.

Michael reached over and took hold of my hand. My gaze swung back again, against my better judgement.

“What did you think I got up to?” he asked.

“I wouldn’t know.”

He stared at me. I stared back.

“OK,” he whispered, and I got the feeling he didn’t believe me.

The waiter came and offered a taste of the wine in Michael’s glass. Michael sipped it and nodded his head, but his eyes never left me. The waiter poured the wine without passing comment. Neither of us said a thing while he did it.

As soon as he left, I pulled my hand out of Michael’s and took a large gulp of my drink.

“Do you like it?” he asked.

“It’s nice,” I said.

“South African red.

I smiled.

“I remember that,” I said.

“Did you buy the bottle?” he asked, referring to the merlot he’d recommended in the supermarket back when he was just Suit Guy, and I was just Trolley Girl.

I nodded my head. He didn’t need to know I hadn’t bought it that day. I hadn’t dared to buy the wine that day. But I found it a few days later when Sean had taken an extra shift.

“Did you like it?” he asked.

“I did.” I got drunk on it, while Sean worked in Helensville and I played Crash Bandicoot.

“I’m glad,” he said, taking a sip of his own.

I wasn’t sure why it felt so awkward. It hadn’t felt awkward last night. And then I was remembering the kiss on my doorstep. The feel of his lips on mine. The possessive touch of his arm around my back, pulling me firmly against him.

My heartbeat sped up; my breaths raced them. I took another deep drink of the wine to settle both.

Michael shifted his seat around the side of the table. I forgot to count my breaths.

He cupped my chin. Turned me to face him. Then kissed me softly on the lips.

It was different from last night. It was careful