Dusk had dissolved into darkness and the farmyard’s floodlights flickered on just in time for Nick to see me shivering in my cold, muddy clothes. The thought of getting out of them was what sold it for me. That’s what made me say yes. It had nothing whatsoever to do with a desire to prolong our time together.
‘Well, so long as I’m not messing up your evening plans, then yes please. I accept the offer. Thank you,’ I said, falling into step beside him as we headed towards his Range Rover.
His car certainly wasn’t as pristine as Amelia’s, but I still felt guilty about making it dirty, so I slipped off my jacket and balled it up, inside out. Without it, I immediately shivered; the temperature had dropped dramatically in the last hour.
‘Here,’ Nick said, without hesitation. Before I had a chance to object, he was tugging off his thick cable-knit jumper.
‘Oh no, Nick… that’s alright. You really don’t have to—’ I began, but the jumper was already in my hands and, damn, it felt so wonderfully warm.
‘Lexi, please just put it on,’ he said, pulling his car keys from the pocket of his jeans. Beneath the jumper, Nick was wearing a grey marl T-shirt, the kind that had seen so many washing-machine cycles it was almost gossamer thin. It clung to him so closely that the muscles of his back and shoulders were outlined as clearly as if he were bare chested.
I was horribly aware that I was staring and the easiest way to stop doing that was to pull the thick jumper over my head and block out the view. Although the relief was short-lived, because the smell of him was suddenly all around me as I burrowed into the folds of the borrowed garment. It was a tantalising teaser of what it must be like to be held in his arms, which was an avenue my thoughts definitely shouldn’t be taking, but they were going there anyway.
‘Are you warm enough?’ Nick asked as we drove down the bumpy farm track that led to the road. He’d turned the heater to its highest setting, which meant the car was slowly filling with the aroma of hot dried mud.
‘It’s like a spa day gone terribly wrong,’ I told him, pleased to see how that made him smile.
‘You’re really funny,’ he said, his eyes still on the road. ‘You make me laugh more than anyone’s done in a very long time.’
That was either one of the nicest things he could say to me, or one of the worst. I decided I’d take it as a compliment.
‘I’m here all week,’ I quipped. But the stand-up comics’ catchphrase only served to remind me that my time here in Somerset, with my family, and also with Nick, would soon come to an end.
He surprised me by being on the same wavelength. ‘We don’t have long, do we?’
Such a big question, with really only one answer. I replied on a purely superficial level. ‘No. Not long. The doctors seem confident Amelia will be home next week.’
Nick nodded thoughtfully and fell silent for a while, his attention focused on the winding country roads, or so I thought. He cleared his throat twice before eventually speaking. ‘I have a small confession to make,’ he admitted hesitantly.
I turned in my seat to face him. ‘That sounds ominous. What did you do? Bribe that squirrel to jump out so you could lure me back to your place?’ I was joking and totally unprepared for the look of guilt that flashed across his face.
‘Not exactly,’ Nick said, turning down a driveway and pulling up outside a building surrounded by open countryside. The house was in darkness and there wasn’t a neighbouring property in sight.
I’d watched enough true crime TV shows to know this was the moment I should probably start feeling nervous. Butnothingabout this man scared me, which in itself was a little worrying.
‘I was sort of hoping that our date might extend beyond our ride, so I booked us a table at an Italian restaurant in town.’
I was still searching for an appropriate facial expression when Nick added with a boyish shrug, ‘I know. I should have asked you first.’
You do know I’d have said ‘yes’, don’t you?I practically had to clamp my lips together to stop the admission from escaping.
‘Why didn’t you?’
‘I thought you might say no.’
Either Nick was rubbish at reading body language or I was far better at hiding my feelings than I realised. Either way, I was secretly glad that the man pretending to be my boyfriend didn’t have a clue that I was attracted to him. Because if he did, things could get really weird.
‘Well, I would have accepted, but I don’t see how I can now,’ I said with genuine regret as my gaze dropped to my mud-caked jeans.
Nick nodded and climbed out of the car. I was all fingers and thumbs with the unfamiliar seat belt clasp, and he’d already walked round to the passenger side and opened the door for me by the time I’d freed myself.
‘You’re a very hard woman to buy a pizza for,’ Nick said, subtly steering our conversation back on to a more casual footing. ‘Every time I try, something gets in the way.’
‘We could try ordering a takeaway and see what the universe throws in our path?’ I suggested.
‘I’m up for that challenge if you are,’ Nick said, placing a hand at the small of my back and guiding me towards his front door.
*