Twelve Days The Beginning - By Jade Reyner Page 0,107

some rest.

She had woken some time during the night aware that Vaughn was moving restlessly beside her. He appeared to be in the grips of a nightmare again although this time it was nothing like the previous one she had witnessed. He fidgeted and mumbled a lot but then eventually quietened down and went back to sleep.

Elise had lain awake for a good while after that, realising that she had given so much of herself to this man about whom she knew very little. She knew that most relationships started with a physical attraction and there was no doubt that they were very physically compatible, but if his nightmares were any indication then it would seem that he had some stuff going on too. She wasn’t sure whether or not they would be strong enough together to deal with both of their issues. They needed to talk things through, to work out where they were going to go from here but their time alone was limited, and once she broke the news to Dale, who knew where she would end up?

She had dropped back into a troubled sleep eventually, almost relieved when the alarm call came through as it meant that she could get up and focus on work, instead of endlessly trying to sort through the mess that was the rest of her life. She had returned to her room to shower and change, putting on the trouser suit and flat shoes that she had packed for the day of the conference and had opened her door to Vaughn’s knock a short while later. Immediately he had grabbed her and manoeuvred her back inside the room, pushing her not altogether gently against the wall where he had proceeded to kiss her thoroughly before releasing her and gently tracing his fingers down the side of her face.

She smiled as she remembered his words. He had told her that last night had been just the beginning for them and that there was no way it could ever be a one-off. He desired her, he wanted her and he needed her and he was willing to do whatever it took to keep whatever this was, alive. He had held her tenderly for a while and then they had headed downstairs to breakfast together hand-in-hand until they had reached the dining room and Vaughn had been forced to release her.

“Hey, Elise. You made any contacts yet?” It was Celeste speaking from directly behind her and Elise jumped, so deep in her thoughts that she hadn’t heard her friend approach.

Hastily she composed herself and turned round to Celeste, a ready smile on her face. In the near distance she could see Roger, Tilly and Sam by the exhibition stand, stopping conference goers on their way in and out and handing out leaflets. The plan was to get as many leaflets out as possible in the first wave in the hope that some of them would have a look at them during the first session. That way, if anyone was interested, they could approach the Andrews & Andrews staff during the coffee or lunch interval and further advice could be given as required. Roger was the least senior member of staff so he was going to be pretty much sticking to leaflets and promotional material all day but all of the others were well qualified to conduct interviews and take further details. Elise herself had spoken to a couple of people first thing who she was fairly certain would come back later so she had been busily updating her client records – and daydreaming – when Celeste had approached.

“Yeah, a couple of promising ones.” Elise replied to her friend’s question. “How about you?”

“Nah, nothing much yet – although one bloke did talk to my breasts for ages. You should have seen Roger’s face. I thought he was going to blow a gasket!” She laughed.

“So, where did you and boss-man get to last night then? One minute you were at the table all loved up and the next you’d both disappeared. Please tell me you did the really indecent thing and spent the night in his room.” Celeste pleaded.

“Sssshhhhhhh.......” Elise hissed, terrified of being overheard again. Celeste just grinned and held her hands up in a ‘what?’ type innocent gesture.

“Yes, we spent the evening together and it was – nice.” Elise allowed, reluctant to expand any further and certainly not wanting to admit to it being a hell of a lot more than just the evening.