I selected my slate grey suit, white shirt, and silver and black tie, and it was all hanging on my wardrobe door ready. I’d decided I didn’t want to wear black as I felt maybe that would give the impression either, a) that I was mourning, or b) that I was on some kind of power trip. Neither was the case.
I was feeling very positive.
I was making my way to the bedroom when there was a knock at the door. My heart rate increased, and I knew exactly whom I wanted to be standing at the other side.
After unlocking the door, I flung it open. There she stood in pink skirt that matched her hair, a black T-shirt, and denim jacket. She looked good enough to eat.
She tilted her head to one side. ‘I missed you too,’ she breathed. And with that, I stepped over the threshold, scooped her up in my arms, and crushed my lips to hers.
25
Star
I awoke on my back to find Fin wrapped round me once again. It was quickly becoming my favourite way to wake up. His left hand was hugging me to his side, his right arm created a halo round my head, whilst his left leg was entwined with both of mine. Each warm exhale that caressed my skin caused goosebumps to rise and a tingle to shiver its way down the length of my body. Turning my head ever so slightly, I watched him sleep for a few minutes. His blonde hair was sticking up at all angles, and the beard covering his angular jaw was no longer spiky but soft to the touch.
There was no other word for him right then thandelicious. I couldn’t help but smile as I watched his eyelids flutter in REM sleep. He must have been dreaming as his arm twitched a little, and I stifled a giggle.
‘It’s creepy, you know?’ he mumbled.
Huh?His voice startled me as his eyes were still closed. ‘What’s creepy?’ I wasn’t sure if he was talking in his sleep.
‘Staring at someone when they’re sleeping. It’s creepy.’ His Scottish accent and gruff morning voice melted my insides, and the smile that widened his lips turned me to total mush. I poked him in the ribs and his eyes opened abruptly. ‘Hey, Mendoza. You’re going to pay for that.’ With one swift move, he had me pinned to the bed and was blowing raspberries on my neck.
I squirmed and fought whilst giggling like a teenager. ‘Hunter, no! Stop it! I swear to God I’ll pee in your bed! Please... stop!’ Thankfully, the mention of peeon his high thread count sheets stopped his attack and he jumped off me as if I was on fire.
‘Urgh! Go to the bathroom, woman! We’ll have no incontinence here!’ He shoved my naked butt, eliciting further giggles from me. I had to virtually hop to the bathroom as I laughed but, thankfully, I made it in time.
We shared a very lazy Sunday, eating toast in bed and getting crumbs everywhere you really didn’t want them. We talked at length about our families and friends. I told him all about my Grandma and how she was eager to meet him, but then I backtracked, worried about scaring him off.
‘I’d love to meet Aggie. She sounds awesome. I’d like you to meet my brother Callum and his wife Tori. Their baby, Charlotte, is bloody adorable of course.’ The fact he had mentioned me meeting his family set butterflies stampeding inside of me.
He asked me a gazillion questions and listened intently as I rambled on about my love of photography, my hometown in the US, my eclectic music tastes. I felt like I must surely be boring him but from the way he drank in every word I guessed I was wrong on that score.
‘What made you want to come to the UK in the first place?’ he asked as he drew lazy circles on my naked back. I was laid beside him on my front, my head propped on my hand and my hair in a wild mess.
I sighed dreamily. ‘Oh, I think I just fell in love with the place after reading books set in Edinburgh.’
‘Let me guess, you readThe Prime of Miss Jean Brodie?’
I felt my cheeks warming. ‘You say that as if it’s a bad thing. Ilovethat book. It changed me.’
‘Hey, no. It’s not a bad thing at all. I haven’t read it, a bit too girlie for me I think, but I know plenty that have.’ He contorted his face as if he regretted his words. ‘And Edinburgh is a wonderful city, but I’m rather biased, I suppose.’
I smiled. ‘It really is. And you’re allowed to be biased, Fin. It’s your home, after all.’
‘So, what appealed to you the most about it? Surely not the romantic ideal? Things can be very different in real life as I’m sure you’ve discovered.’
I pursed my lips as I contemplated the question. ‘I think to begin with itwasthe romantic ideal. I knew I had visited as a child but I only have faint memories so the descriptions in the book definitely helped with the draw, that and my Grandma being here, but once I got here and visited some of the tourist attractions, that was it. I was completely head over heels; the architecture, the atmosphere, the people, the history.’
‘Well, yeah. You don’t have much of that to experience in the USA,’ he teased.
I shoved his shoulder and he fell onto his back, laughing. I rose and gazed down at him where he lay, still shirtless and dishevelled in that delicious morning way.
‘So, when did the pink hair and the tattoo happen?’ he asked as he reached out to run his fingers through my hair.
‘Hmm. I’ve always been encouraged to be my own person. My folks have instilled in me that it’s better to be your real self than a fake version of someone else. The place I grew up in wasn’t so bad, but some people weren’t so open-minded. I used to buy clothes from the thrift store in town and chop them up, sew patches on and such. I always tried to beme. I didn’t feel like a skirt and blouse type of girl.’
He laughed lightly. ‘That’s not particularly in keeping with Muriel Spark’s novels.’
