‘Have you heard from him?’ she asked, wrapping her arms around his neck and planting a kiss on his cheek.
‘Not yet, I have to send him at least two more chasers before he deigns to reply,’ he replied.
‘Wine?’ she asked, as she wandered into the kitchen.
‘Yes please.’ He could do with a glass of wine after the day he’d had.
Handing him a glass of red, she curled up on the sofa and beckoned him over.
‘Tell me.’ She sipped her wine, her oversized jumper falling off her shoulder.
‘Alex won’t reply to my messages. I’m going to have to go to his boss because it’s getting ridiculous. I thought we were past this when he’d confirmed BAS endorsement, but—’ He sighed.
‘Hmm,’ she said, incredibly diplomatically.
‘I know, I know, it’s work and I’ve got to separate work from friendship, but I…’ he trailed off.
It was more than that. Threatening to shop Alex to his boss for being a dick was one thing. Actually doing it was another.
‘Okay, if he hasn’t replied by tomorrow, midday, I’ll call his boss and request another liaison. Send the paper trail of me trying to get hold of him.’
‘Okay,’ Laurel said, obviously relieved.
It wasn’t just him personally that Alex was affecting, it was his job, his students, his site, and by extension, Little Willow and his relationship with Laurel.
‘Thanks again,’ he said, sliding a hand up her thigh. ‘For helping with the organisation, for sorting the cafe to do the catering, for letting us use the Conference Centre.’
‘Of course, it’s no problem.’
‘Uh,’ he started. ‘You will be there, won’t you? For the funding meeting?’
He wanted her there, he wanted her beside him, not just to show her how much he thought of Little Willow, but because he needed her there for support, for grounding. Because they were a team.
‘Of course I will,’ she said. ‘I wouldn’t miss you in action.’
His heart lifted.
‘Dad will be there, and Jack and Robin, all there to support the farm and, of course, you, Dr Daley.’
Nate had firmly cemented his place as Jack’s friend, as well as Laurel’s boyfriend. Even Robin had accepted him as a new but irrefutable part of Fletcher life.
‘I’m going to go for a drink with Rebecca in a bit. Do you want to come?’ she asked.
God, no. He did not need to be that clingy boyfriend.
‘No, I’m going to work on my speech some more for next week.’ Perhaps it was a hint to go home? To Robin’s house. ‘I can go. It’s no problem,’ he said with a smile, hoping that it didn’t come over as needy or say ‘please don’t make me go back to that house with those horrible students’.
‘Go?’ She looked hurt. ‘Do you want to go?’
‘No, I don’t want to go, I’m just giving you the option,’ he said, his little finger stroking the inside of her thigh, just before the seam of her underwear under her skirt.
‘Well, I don’t want you to go.’ She took a sip of her wine. ‘There are things I want to do to you when I get home, Dr Daley.’
Her eyes skimmed over his lips and he grinned.
‘Alright then. I’ll be here when you get home.’
Possibly naked. Probably naked. Okay, who was he kidding? Definitely naked.
