Mills & Boon Christmas Delights Collection. Rebecca Winters

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СКАЧАТЬ tomorrow morning frozen solid like an ice pop.’

      I gave an eyebrow rise of acceptance.

      ‘Bye Pilot. See you in a couple of days.’

      ‘Last big push, eh?’ Michael said, his face showing a hint of concern.

      ‘One of them. Not long to go now but I’m confident we’ll get there in time for everything to be just perfect for you all.’ I gave his forearm a gentle shake. ‘Really, it’s going to be finished in time. Stop worrying. Now, thanks for the company but you need to get that dog back into the warm.’

      ‘All you care about is the dog. You’re a hard woman Katie Stone.’

      I shrugged, half smiling.

      He glanced at the entrance then back at me. ‘I suppose it’s pointless me asking you to stand him up.’

      I shook my head a little sadly. ‘Please let’s not do this again tonight? We’ve managed to move past yesterday’s…moment and had a really good day. I don’t want to argue with you any more Michael. Please?’

      He nodded, his eyes still fixed on a point behind me. I waited for a moment and the intense green gaze moved and found my face.

      ‘I’d better go.’

      He nodded, then leaning forward, he kissed me on the cheek.

      ‘You look really beautiful Katie.’

      A smile flickered on my lips as I tilted my face up and met his eyes. He held the look a moment then stepped back, calling the dog and set off at a jog back towards the house. I watched their retreating figures, the touch of Michael’s lips on my cheek still clear in my memory and warm on my face. Giving myself a mental shake, I turned and began walking through the concourse, heading for the escalator down to the trains. Clearly I’d missed Calum’s touch more than I thought if a simple, innocent kiss on the cheek from Michael O’Farrell could have me feeling like my insides were made of melting chocolate.

      ***

      ‘So how was the trip? Did you get to see much outside the office?’ I asked, as I finished the last mouthful of delicious cheesecake and laid the dessert spoon to the side of my dish.

      Calum had been talking about work for most of the dinner and I was happy to listen. Although it might have been nice if he’d asked how things had been going for me too once or twice.

      ‘Oh. Yeah. Well, no, not much.’

      ‘That’s a shame. It looks like you got a bit of tan though, so you must have done a bit of bunking off,’ I teased.

      He chuckled. ‘So long as you don’t tell the boss. There was a pool at the hotel so I grabbed a couple of swims when I could.’

      ‘Why not?’

      ‘Exactly. That’s what I thought.’ His eyes drifted over my face and his hand, under the table, drifted over my thigh. ‘God I missed you.’

      I dropped my gaze and smiled. It didn’t matter what Janey or Michael or Bernice thought: He did care.

      ‘I missed you too.’ Which was true. In the times that I hadn’t had back-to-back appointments or been up to my elbows in kennel detritus. ‘In fact, I was thinking that maybe I could take a few extra days off at Christmas and we could go – ’

      ‘I can’t Kate. I’m sorry.’

      I sat back, confused. ‘You don’t even know what I was going to say.’

      He let out a sigh. ‘You were going to ask to spend some more time together over Christmas.’

      ‘It’d be nice if you didn’t make that sound quite so distasteful to you! And frankly, I shouldn’t have to be “asking”! Most normal couples would automatically assign some time together over Christmas, because they actually want to be together.’

      ‘Kate, don’t do this. Not tonight.’

      My anger began to bubble. ‘Frankly I’d have liked to have said something before now but I’ve hardly bloody seen you and you’re not exactly what anyone would call chatty on the phone.’

      ‘I’m busy!’

      ‘Everyone’s busy!’ I said, my teeth gritted in an attempt to keep my voice low. ‘All I want is some time with my boyfriend! Is that really too much to ask?’ Much to my disgust, my voice broke on the last words and Calum’s face immediately softened. He reached for my hand.

      ‘Kate, please don’t be upset. I’m sorry. You’re right. It’s been crazy lately and I’ve neglected us far more than I should have. Look, I’ll work something out and we’ll definitely have a few days away together, like you said. OK?’

      I nodded and took a deep breath. I hated rows like this. I’d witnessed too many and, although Janey was right in that I didn’t take any crap from people in my work, I still always did my best to avoid confrontation when I could. Apart from with her brother, but he really was a case unto himself. And luckily, it seemed that we had managed to get past that stage now anyway. Mostly.

      ‘So, what about you? Things going well at work? You said you had a new client who was proving a bit difficult. Did you move him to Bernice in the end?’

      I took a sip of red wine and shook my head. ‘No I couldn’t. He wanted to continue with me.’

      ‘Did he now?’ Calum said, leaning back and picking up his own glass.

      ‘It’s nothing like that. He’s just quite…private and didn’t want to go through everything again with someone else. Janey had recommended me to him so he just wanted to stick with me.’

      ‘Ah, the delightful Janey.’

      I gave him a look. ‘Yes. She is delightful.’ The tone in my voice warned him not to push that way.

      ‘It’d be easier if she liked me a little more.’

      ‘She does like you. She likes everyone.’

      This time it was Calum that gave me the look and we both knew I was being diplomatic. Also known as fibbing a little.

      ‘Once things settle a bit with your work and we get to see each other a little more, she’ll come round. I promise.’

      Calum said nothing.

      The waiter drifted past, stopping momentarily to top up our glasses from the wine bottle sat on our table. He then left the bill on the side of the table and glided away. Beside us, a table of eight began singing happy birthday and I looked round to see several waiters accompanying a large cake being wheeled on a dessert trolley. I smiled at the family gathering as photos began being taken, the flashes illuminating the area in bursts. Glancing back at Calum to share the enjoyment, his head was down, brow furrowed as he studied the bill. I was about to look away again when I noticed something.

      ‘What the hell is that?’ I asked, my voice raised to compete with the singing opposite. Which of course finished just as I spoke, resulting in my question being heard by far more people than just the one I’d СКАЧАТЬ