to see her. ‘That makes me so jealous. I spent four days in Iceland last January and it was cloudy every single night but I still went out, just in case. My reward was a bad nosebleed and frozen eyeballs.’
Just the memory of those evenings sent a shiver down her back and she quivered and rubbed her arms.
‘Feeling cold?’ he asked.
‘Very’ she replied. ‘Time for me to head back inside. Lots to do tomorrow. Oh. Make that later today.’
She heard a low grunt as Scott shuffled closer along the bench. Before she had a chance to speak, he pressed his body against the length of her side and slid his arm around her waist. A delicious glow of warmth spread across her hips and she instinctively leant sideways to enjoy the heat from his body, wrapped in his warm fleece around the front of her gown.
The whole sensation was absolutely wonderful. Solid, protective and exactly what she needed. This had been one hell of a day and she was already missing Amy so much.
‘Another five minutes. We stargazers have to stick together,’ Scott murmured.
He raised one arm and pointed to the bright star on the horizon below the new moon. ‘On a night like this Venus and the pole star are my navigation. They get me back to base.’
‘My sister is travelling in South America,’ Toni replied in a low voice, thinking of Amy. ‘She arrived this evening and somehow it makes me feel better to think that she is seeing the same stars as I am right now.’
‘Ask me to show you a star map tomorrow.’
Toni lowered her head and watched the steam from her breath in front of her face.
‘The only stars I’ve ever seen have been through the London haze.’
‘Well, that is a shame,’ Scott replied and rubbed her arms with his unbandaged hand. ‘Maybe one day.’
He turned and smiled at her, and the expression on his face was so overwhelmingly full of understanding and emotion that the invisible bond that drew her to him tightened so much that it was impossible for her to resist.
Then he kissed her on the tip of her nose. And the touch of his lips was as gentle as a butterfly landing and she closed her eyes to revel in that brief moment when her skin was in contact with his.
Scott closed the tiny gap between their bodies. It seemed only natural for him to tip her chin towards him, slant his head and press his lips against hers. Softly at first, then firmer, harder, wider.
And Toni kissed him back, filling her lips and mouth with such luscious sweet warmth that any lingering resistance melted away and she moved deeper into the kiss. Eyes closed, she revelled in the sensation of falling into his mouth, their tongues touching, heads pressed together for a moment longer than she should have, before she felt Scott pull back.
His breath felt hot and fast on her neck, and Toni pressed the palms of both hands flat against the front of his fleece so that she could feel the pace of his heart beat faster to match hers as he gently lifted a strand of her hair behind one ear.
‘I do have one more suggestion,’ he whispered.
‘Um?’ Toni murmured as his fingertips slid down from her forehead to her chin in one smooth motion, as though he was unwilling to lose contact with her skin.
His fingers stilled on her chin, but she knew that his gaze was firmly locked on to her face so that when he spoke every word resonated deep into her skull. ‘Why don’t you stay with me tonight? I can guarantee a lot more body heat, Miss Baldoni.’
What? Her poor heart performed a crazy acrobatic dance inside her chest. The very idea was so ridiculous that it made her head spin. It was a terrible suggestion. Wasn’t it? Her fingers clutched tighter to the warm, soft fleece jacket and in a moment of weakness she wondered what it would be like to skip upstairs and find out just how hot this man’s body truly was.
She glared at Scott and even in the faint light she could see that he was grinning at her. As though he knew perfectly well what a temptation he was offering and was teasing her at the same time.
And he was a temptation. A serious one. She was already missing the touch of his mouth on hers and the heavy breath on her skin from the man who had the power to make her feel desirable for the first time in over a year.
Since Peter. Peter.
She instantly pushed Scott away with both hands flat against his chest and slid unsteadily to her feet out of the warmth of his jacket and into the cold air.
‘Oh, I bet that you can. Sorry, but that is such my cue to get back to bed. My own bed. In the guest room, Mr Elstrom!’
Then, before she could change her mind, Toni stretched out and grabbed hold of the edges of his jacket and kissed him on the mouth. Hard and fast and bruising. Taking control. Calling the shots. Then she pulled away, leaving her panting for breath and maybe a lot more.
A cool breeze flitted across Toni’s feet and she slipped in the flimsy mules as Scott laughed. ‘Good night, Antonia.’
She half turned. ‘Actually, my friends call me Toni. See you later.’
The narrow terraced house was in darkness when Toni walked up the path and turned the key in the front door. The light drizzle had turned into sleet and she was immensely grateful to step inside.
This part of Hampstead was only a few minutes away from the busy roads and the hustle and bustle of the main streets of London, but this tree-lined street seemed a world away from all of the noise and pollution.
She had waited for the bus that never came. So she had gritted her teeth and walked for thirty minutes in her smart boots, dragging her pull-along suitcase behind her rather than just stand there and wait or pay for a cab.
Waiting was for losers. Scott would never have waited—and neither would she.
She had waited for her parents to stop telling her that she was ridiculous to throw away her heritage to take up photography instead of fine art. Then waited in vain for her father to acknowledge her talent as she worked with him on his paintings, day after day, week after week until she was doing most of the work.
Slipping off her damp coat, she strolled slowly down the hallway to the kitchen, her feet dragging and her boots feeling like lead weights. Each step made the old floorboards creak and the sound echoed down the tall empty hallway, but she had become used to each familiar sound in this tiny house. Her faithful friends were the chiming of the grandfather clock in the hall and the faint whistling of the wind in the eaves.
Toni looked through the stained glass panel from the kitchen into the artist’s studio where her father used to invite sitters. In summer the house was filled with coloured light and seemed a magical place, bright and positive and bursting with life.
But at that moment it was dark, wet and windy and the sleet lashed against the roof and the only light was from the streetlight outside streaming in from the glass panel over the front door.
And as she stood there in the kitchen, suddenly exhausted, Toni slid sideways on to a hard wooden chair at the kitchen table with her back against the wall as though the events of the day were too heavy to carry any longer.
What a day!
For a start, she didn’t usually go around kissing men she had just met. In fact this was a first. And the fact that she had enjoyed it enormously didn’t change the fact that she might just have made a huge mistake.
Scott had already left for work when she got up that morning and had been out most of the day visiting banks and suppliers bright and early on a Monday morning. In fact she had only seen him once when he’d let her into the building and passed her a set of keys and he had been all cool politeness and calm.
It was as if they had never kissed or snuggled.