I smile at him and hook my finger in his belt to draw him to me. “I’ll take that,” I say, kissing him and hearing the pleased hum as he kisses me back. It quickly intensifies, and he’s just pushed me against the wall in a satisfactorily bossy manner when the lift pings.
He draws back, kissing me lightly on the nose and chuckling as it makes my eyes cross. “Let’s shelve that,” he says. “I’ve got plans.”
“Ah yes, Valentine’s Day,” I say as the doors open, and I follow him out. “Going to tell me what we’re doing?”
“Nope.”
“Oh, go on,” I coax. “I’m fine with anything unless it’s you breaking your arm like last year. The casualty department wasn’t the most romantic place to spend the evening. Or how about the fight that broke out in the restaurant you booked the year before that? The blood and swearing didn’t do a whole lot for ambience.”
“Fucking Valentine’s Day,” he mutters. “I swear we’re cursed.” He squares his shoulders. “But this year is our year,” he says fervently, as though we’re going into battle.
It makes me want to kiss him again because he’s so adorable. However, I decide to just wind him up. It’s our thing. “Oh, are you asking Ollie again? Because I have to say that he put a bit of a crimp in it three years ago.”
He stops dead and glares at me. “What is our agreement, Dylan?” he demands.
I bite my lip to hide my smile. “We never mention the aborted threesome,” I say dutifully. “It never happened. We never split up. I know nothing.”
“That’s right,” he says, bopping me on the nose.
He heads out of the building and I follow, his coattails flapping as he serenely ignores the two secretaries who flatten themselves into an alcove. I wink at them. Ah, happy memories.
Gabe’s car is waiting for him. Of course it is. Everything in his life seems to be on standby, ready to leap to his aid. I wonder whether the same could be said about me. I snort. Definitely not.
Gabe slides into the car, and I throw my rucksack in, preparing to follow him. There’s a rustle and crackle, and Gabe’s aggrieved voice sounds out. “Fucking hell, Dylan, you’ve crushed your flowers.”
I stick my head into the car and see a huge bouquet of red roses. There are easily three dozen of them, and their rich perfume is heady in the vehicle. However, they’re also now looking somewhat bedraggled.
“Oh my God,” I say, touched to the heart of me. “Did you buy me roses?”
He has a flush of embarrassment on his face. “Yes, and you’ve very neatly decapitated them.”
I throw myself at him, hugging him tightly and kissing him. I pull back. “Thank you so much. I love them.”
“There’s not much left of them,” he says gloomily.
“There are loads left.” I nudge him. “Anyway, flowers are out at the moment. Greenery has made a big comeback.”
“Really?” he says wryly, a smile tugging at his full lips.
“Oh, yes. Petals are so passé these days.” I pick the bouquet up. “The real gems are the— Ouch, motherfucker,” I mutter as one pricks me. “The real gems are the leaves,” I finish.
“Dylan, stop talking,” he advises me.
I smile at him, and after saying hello to the driver, I eye the holdall and two suit bags that are set neatly on the seat. “Can I just—?”
“No,” he says succinctly. “You cannot.”
“You don’t know what I was going to say. I might have been asking if we could stop for some yoghurt.”
He blows a raspberry. “You hate yoghurt. You say it’s like sour milk.”
“I know it’s healthy,” I say earnestly. “But I still can’t get on with it.”
“It’s a dairy product. Not an ageing relative.”
I reach over and pinch him. “I don’t think romance is improved by sarcasm.”
He grins and draws me to his side, kissing my hair. I inhale his scent of spicy oranges and feel myself fully relax. It’s the scent of Gabe and home, safety and love.
“It is in our family,” he says. He kisses my smile and sits back. “Tell me about your day,” he commands.
So I do. As the driver negotiates the traffic, I tell Gabe about the funny things that have happened and that I store up for him, and he listens as raptly as if I were the most interesting person in the world. Then I confide in him a couple of problems I can see on