‘It is actually,’ Oliver confirmed, annoyed at the defensiveness in his tone. ‘I take it it’s not yours?’
‘No, it’s mine too. Ever since Alan Rickman gave that office tart a necklace at Christmas and broke Emma Thompson’s heart, anyway.’
She smiled at him then like she hadn’t just conflated a character’s deserved comeuppance in one film with their actions in another. From fifteen years later.
Who even did that?
‘Would you mind if I went and settled in? I’ve got some unpacking to do and some work to catch up on and I shouldn’t leave Flower too long in unfamiliar surroundings.’
Oliver shook his head. Frankly he needed a stiff drink and a good lie down.
‘Thanks so much for this, Oliver.’ She crossed to him then and, without a second’s hesitation, wrapped her arms around him in a quick, hard hug. ‘I promise, you won’t even know I’m here,’ she said as she pulled out of his stiff embrace and headed for the stairs, a living, breathing rainbow.
Somehow, Oliver entirely doubted it.
* * *
The next morning, Oliver stirred slowly through the layers of sleep. Something was warm and heavy on his chest and there were four little pin pricks of pain. His hand lifted to soothe them at the same time his lashes fluttered open to find two little black eyes, a twitching nose and a wild mop of fur staring right at him.
‘Jesus Christ!’ he hissed, startling himself out of bed.
Belatedly, he remembered from his midnight googling session that hamsters were exceptionally sensitive to being startled. Like, they could literally just drop dead from a sudden fright. Thankfully the displaced hamster staring up at himcalm-as-you-please, appeared to be made of sterner stuff.
The same could not be said for Oliver. He pressed his hand to his thundering heart. ‘Bloody hell, Pavarotti.’ He refused to call the animal,Flower. ‘I could have had a heart attack.’
The hamster seemed unconcerned by the news and irritation bloomed as the digital numbers on his bedside clock told him it had only just gone six. The darkened room seemed to concur.Nota morning person, Oliver hadn’t seen 6a.m. in a very long time.
He frowned at the rodent currently sniffing his pillow. How did the little fucker not only manage to escape his cage but get in here? He’d shut the door, hadn’t he? Glancing across, he could see it stood slightly ajar. Enough space for a small animal to squeeze through.
Although quite how Pavarotti had managed it, he had no idea.
Well… this wouldn’t do. If he had to suffer a rodent-related animal in his house, it was through the bars of a cage only!
Without giving it much thought or even stopping to put on a shirt, he scooped the animal up, yanked the door fully open and stormed down the hallway in his boxers. He did knock but he didn’t give her time to answer, barging in, determined to lay down some rules.
‘Your damn hamster was in my bed,’ he accused.
It was less dark in her room, her blinds not all the way down, giving him a very good view as she sat, one hand pushing her mop of hair off her face, the other clutching the sheet to her chest revealing bare shoulders.
Oh Jesus. Was she naked under there?
‘What?’ she asked, blinking at him blearily, her voice sleep husky.
She had freckles on her shoulders he absently noticed. And down her bare arms. It made him wonder where else she might have them.
Christ alive. Stop thinking about her freckles,you fucking perv.
‘The hamster.’ Oliver dropped the animal who landed with a soft thud onto the cloud-like layers of the feather duvet, arms and legs akimbo like some kind of coiffed flying squirrel. ‘It got out of its cage.’
‘I’m so sorry.’ She sat forward a little, reaching for the animal, which made things shift very nicely beneath the sheet. ‘He is a bit of an escape artist. I should have mentioned.’
Oliver suppressed the urge to say,Ya think? as she brought the fluff ball to her chest, rubbing her face against the manic spring of fur covering his head. It looked soft and pillowy where he was nestled and Pavarotti shut his eyes, clearly in a state of bliss.
And damn if Oliver wasn’t insanely jealous of a hamster.
Annoyed at just about everything right now, he grouched, ‘Don’t let it happen again,’ before turning quickly on his heel and getting the hell out of Dodge.
* * *
