“It’s late,” he said, a grimace on his face. “My EA wouldn’t text after midnight, and that only leaves….”
“Your ex,” Thea mumbled, her heart and her libido sinking lower by the millisecond.
Felix sighed and nodded. “I should check. Lucas’s visits don’t always go well.”
Thea unthreaded her arms from around Felix and leaned back, tipping her head to one side, ignoring the bitter taste in her mouth. “Check it then.”
Felix moved over to the table, picked up his phone, andglanced at the screen. His eyebrows knit together, and Thea took a breath, letting it out slowly.
“It’s Lucas,” he said, meeting Thea’s eyes. “He’s struggling to sleep. Would you mind if I made a quick call?”
“Of course not,” Thea said, realising she still sat on the kitchen counter, the top of her dress around her waist and the bottom up around her hips. She shifted, pulling herself and her clothes back to order. “Go out into the hallway for privacy,” she added, slipping to the floor.
With a sheepish smile, Felix nodded and disappeared around the corner with his phone. Thea pottered around the kitchen, straightening cookery books and rearranging the apples in the fruit bowl until the deep murmur of Felix’s voice hit her ears. Craning her neck, she could only make out the odd word, so she moved to the wall. Felix must be right on the other side; if she pressed her ear against the cool of the plaster, she might hear what he was saying.
As she pressed harder, she caught the tail end of his conversation. Although his words were indistinct, her stomach plummeted at his tone. Felix wouldn’t be staying much longer, and there’d be no further downstairs action. Thea sighed, recalling the two orgasms he’d given her, her toes curling at the memory.
“What are you doing?” Felix asked as he came around the corner. Thea’s eyes sprung wide. He’d busted her with her ear against the kitchen wall. It was pretty clear what she’d been up to.
“I, I thought I could hear termites in the walls. They love old wooden houses like this one.” Thea’s cheeks lit hot at her lie.
Felix smiled, not unkindly. “Thea, whoever built your house made it out of stone.”
She shrugged her shoulders. “Okay, you caught me. Was it your ex?”
He nodded, picking up his abandoned glass of brandy andknocking it back. “Lucas has locked himself in his bedroom and is refusing to come out until I pick him up. I’m so sorry, but I have to go.”
Thea scowled. What on Earth could his mum have done to upset him so much? “Is he okay?”
Felix nodded, sucking on his lips. “He and his mum don’t always see eye to eye.”
At the sadness and the pain in his eyes, Thea’s fingers pricked with the need to reach out and hug him. Comfort him. Instead, she busied herself re-pinning a pony rosette to her cork board. She didn’t want him to be unhappy, but Felix’s ex always seemed to interrupt them. “I’m sorry too, but I understand. Go.”
Felix’s teeth gripped his lip, and he stared at Thea, the kitchen clock’s ticking, marking out the seconds. After five beats, he pocketed his phone and held out a hand to her. “Walk me out?”
Thea smiled, a closed-lipped grin that she hoped reached her eyes, and took his hand, following him back down the hallway to the front door.
As they stepped out into the chill of the spring night, Felix turned around, backing Thea against the door. Within milliseconds, his lips were on hers, and he kissed Thea hard, his hands gripping the sides of her face. “Damn,” he breathed when their lips parted. “Please, can we consider this unfinished business? Having to leave is killing me.”
Thea’s lips curled. “If you insist. But who do I contact in customer service? I have some feedback to leave on my evening with Felix Walsh.”
“Sorry?” Felix dropped his hands from her face, his eyes searching hers.
“Well, isn’t tonight what I paid for? The evening together that I bid on?”
Realisation dawned on his face, and he gave a throatychuckle, his hand reaching for hers. “No. Tonight was just an appetiser. A taste. If you’re going to spend one night with me, I want it to be complete and uninterrupted.” Felix’s eyes drilled into hers. “I’ve been living a slice of your life here in the country. I want to show you whatmylife is like.”
“When you’re not kicking your heels in Clavenham, you mean?”
“Precisely. I want you to come with me to London next weekend.”
Thea held a breath, then let it go slowly.
“I have to attend a gala event,” he said, lifting her hand to his lips. He spoke against her knuckles, hot breath travelling across her skin. “It will be boring hotel business.” Felix grinned, bringing his lips to the inside of her wrist. “But I think I can make it worth your while. Will you come?”
Thea looked deep into his sage eyes. Her instinct was to agree immediately, to finish what they’d started tonight, but her life wasn’t that simple. She couldn’t just walk away from her responsibilities for an entire weekend.
“What about Ammy?” she asked, luxuriating at the brush of his stubble against the skin of her wrist.
