Laurel ordered ham and mushroom pizza to be delivered from the pizza place around the corner and waited for Rebecca.
Nate
He checked his hair in the mirror. Again. Like it had changed in the thirty seconds since he’d checked it last. Those speckles of grey weren’t going anywhere, no matter how he styled it, and he refused to dye it. Just For Men was just not for him. He was embracing aging gracefully. Well, mostly gracefully.
The hire car had arrived this morning to the farm. Robin had whistled and insisted on sitting in it, while Jack had eyed it appreciatively. If he didn’t have his own Mercedes C Class convertible here, then he could at least hire one for the weekend.
His overnight bag was in the boot and he was sitting around the corner from Laurel’s flat, because of course he was ten minutes early. It would take about an hour and a half to get to Jess and Owen’s house.
Top down or top up? Is top down too pretentious? Or did top up on a sunny day mean that he was one ofthosepeople who had their tops up on a sunny day? He hadn’t sweated through his shirt, had he? And yes, he knew he had three extra shirts in his bag, just in case.
‘Hello?’ Laurel’s voice cracked through the intercom after he pressed it.
‘Hey, it’s Nate.’
‘I’ll be down in a sec, just putting my shoes on.’
Nate took a couple of steps away from the door and assessed the lazy main road of Lower Houghton. He smiled. The greengrocer’s wares outside on crates, the newspapers in the holder by the door of the newsagents, the smell of the bakery. He could definitely get used to it here.
The door opened and closed behind him, and he turned to face Laurel.
‘Hey.’ He smiled at her. ‘You look nice.’
She was wearing a floral dress and some kind of casual high wedge sandal things. It was perfect. She’d fit right in.
‘Thanks,’ she said.
Nate frowned. ‘Where’s your bag?’
She looked at him like he was crazy and pointed at her handbag over one shoulder.
‘No, no, your overnight bag.’
Laurel’s face flattened in shock and surprise.
‘Overnight?’ she squeaked. ‘You didn’t tell me it was an overnight thing.’
Nate’s stomach dropped. ‘I’m sure I did. I mean, I did, didn’t I? We all have a few drinks and crash at Jess and Owen’s.’
‘No, you didn’t frigging tell me! Otherwise, I would have packed an overnight bag!’ Laurel swivelled on those heels and unlocked her door. ‘You’ll have to help me,’ she called over her shoulder.
Help her do what? Why would she need help packing? It was only one night. He followed her into the hallway.
‘Stay here,’ she urged and she charged up the stairs, reappearing a moment later with a bundle of clothes.
‘This dress, or this one?’ Laurel asked, holding up first a blue dress and then a yellow one with white flowers. ‘Or shorts? These?’ She waved a pair of forest green shorts in his face. ‘With a white top?’
‘Um,’ he hesitated. He was crap at stuff like this.
She huffed.
‘Look, it took me and Rebecca about two hours to decide that this was the dress I should wear today. I thought we’d be home by eight or so, but now, I’ve got perhaps an evening to change for, and clothes for tomorrow as well.’ She actually looked rather concerned. ‘It’s hard, Nate. I don’t want to look stupid.’
‘You would never look stupid,’ he said, raising an eyebrow. ‘You’re beautiful, Laurel.’
She stilled and jerked her eyes up to his. He held her gaze easily, because he wanted her to see it was the truth. Beautiful, accomplished and more than capable, Laurel probably wasn’t told often enough that she was, and he wanted her to know. He was a great believer in upfront honesty.
The air between them was loaded with something tangibly warm. Her mouth opened and closed, but no sound came out. A flush flowed up her neck into her cheeks, and her eyes widened. Big, round, bronze eyes stared at him. Was that disbelief? Was she surprised? Objectively, she was pretty much perfect; brown hair that glowed red and gold in the sunlight, plump kissable pink lips, and a figure he knew would fit against his just right.
