‘Did you come back to England for your education?’ Sean asked and stepped closer to avoid a couple of joggers.
Dee stopped and turned back to face him, and her eyebrows squeezed together as she focused on his question. ‘Partly. But mainly because the firm promoted my dad to be a tea broker. We came back to London when I was fifteen.’ Then she exhaled and blew out hard. ‘Total culture shock. I had been here for holidays many times, but living here? Different thing.’
Then she paused and licked her lower lip. ‘That was when I realized how much I had taken the outdoor life for granted. Being cooped up in a classroom with only a couple of small windows to let in air and light started to be a real problem, and my schoolwork suffered. I found that the only lessons where I could relax were the cookery and art classes where we were taught in a lovely sunlit studio extension at the back of the school.’
She looked up at him through her eyelashes, which he realized were not black but more of an intense dark brown.
‘I was okay there. Big open patio doors. Lots of space. And colour; lots of colour. The gardens were planted out in wonderful displays of flowering shrubs and plants. Tubs and hanging baskets. Planters everywhere.’
Then she pressed her lips together tight. ‘In fact, that studio was just about as opposite as you could get to that windowless, airless cube of a white room we have just escaped from.’
She titled her head to one side and blinked. ‘Human beings are not supposed to be in spaces like that meeting room of yours. Seriously. What was the designer thinking? Monochrome, hard surfaces. No colour or texture. No living plants. If I was a business person, it would be the last place on the planet where I would want to go to work.’
Then she winced and flashed him a glance. ‘Sorry, but you did ask. And I am sure that the bedrooms are very nice and cozy.’
‘Actually, they are exactly the same. We market the style as minimalist couture. No pictures on the walls and all-white polymer surfaces and sealed tiling.’
‘What about the food?’ Dee asked in a low, incredulous voice.
‘Micronutrients, hand-harvested seafood and baby organic vegetables. It is very popular with the ladies who lunch.’
‘Not the same ladies who come into our tea rooms. Those girls can eat! We are run off our feet keeping up with the demand. But I am starting to get the picture. Oh, Sean! I don’t envy you that job. How do you survive? Oh no—I’ve just had a horrible thought. Wait. Wait just one minute.’
Sean stopped walking and Dee stomped up to him, close enough that she had to look up into his face.
‘Please tell me that this other hotel is not the same! I’m not sure that I could stand another minimalist venue. Forget the breakfast meeting. All I want is a replacement venue, Sean.’ And she clutched hold of the lapels of his raincoat. ‘Somewhere with windows and light and air where people can enjoy tea. Because you have to understand, that’s what tea is all about. Having fun and sharing a drink with friends and family. The ceremony and the rituals are optional extras. And you can’t do that in a cement basement garage. Please give me some light and space. Is that too much to ask?’
Her bright eyes were shining. Her hands were on his coat, so it made perfect sense for his right hand to rest lightly on her hip.
‘As it happens, this hotel is the first one on my list of options. They have a vacancy a week Saturday and can easily fit the numbers you gave on the booking form.’
He flicked his head over his right shoulder. Dee’s stunning green eyes widened in surprise and she took a small gasp of astonishment.
‘This was the first of the Beresford luxury five-star hotels. Art deco. Original stained glass. Plenty of natural light, and the conference suite opens up onto the lawns leading down to the river. It’s also the same place where I cut my teeth as a junior manager so I think I know it pretty well. And not a minimalist detail in sight. In fact, I would go as far as to say it is old school. So. What do you think?’
‘Think? I am too stunned to think. Wow. You can officially consider yourself forgiven.’
And, without asking permission or forgiveness, she leant up on the tips of her shoes and tugged his lapels down towards her so that he was powerless to pull back even if he wanted to.
The quick flutter of her warm breath on his cold cheek happened so fast that, when her soft and warm lips pressed against his skin, the fragile sensation of that tender, sweet kiss was like liquid fire burning her brand onto his skin and in a direct line to his heart.
To Dee it was probably nothing more than a quick, friendly peck on the cheek but when Sean looked into those smiling green eyes he saw his world reflected back at him.
He should have looked away. Made a joke, stepped back and pointed out some of the famous London landmarks that were on the other side of the Thames. But for the first time since Sasha the only thing Sean was interested in was the warm glow and welcome that a pair of captivating green eyes held out to him.
Tantalizing. Alluring. He was held tight in their grasp and that suited him just fine. Forget the cold wind. Forget that they were on a public footpath. Forget that she was a client.
All that he could think about was the red glow on her cheeks, and when she tilted her face to one side the first real smile of the day creased the corners of her mouth and lingered there for a moment before reaching her eyes.
Sean lifted his hand and popped a stray strand of hair back under her knitted hat with one finger. He made sure that the knuckles of that hand traced a feather-light track along cheekbones which were so defined and yet so soft that his skin ached to do it again to make sure that he had not mistaken the sensation.
Instantly her head lifted just a little and those eyes recognized a shift in the electricity in the air between them. It had that same power as the energy bolt he had felt when he first saw her in the hotel, but here it was magnified a hundred times.
It seemed only natural to drop his briefcase to the floor, slip both hands behind the back of Dee’s head and cradle her skull. When he bent down and pressed his cheek against her temple, he could feel her breath on his skin, and each breath he took was warmed by the scent of the woman he was holding so close to his chest.
His mouth slid slowly down to her lips, making her take a sharp gasp that told him everything he needed to know.
This was a woman designed for pleasure, and given the chance he wanted to be the one to show her just how good that pleasure could be.
Shame that two cyclists just happened to be speed-racing past them at that very second, laughing loudly, followed by a woman on a mobile phone with a tiny yapping dog on a lead.
Perhaps this was not the place. Dee certainly thought so; she let him go so quickly that he almost overbalanced but held it together by keeping a tighter grip on her waist.
Dee grinned back at him, and suddenly it was as if the sunlight in the break in the clouds above their heads was focused on the genuine warmth of her delight. The grey was gone, replaced by an infectious smile which seemed to reach down inside his very being and twist by several hitches that steel wire of attraction that bound them together.
Irrepressible, fun, real. His sunshine on a grey day.
This was what he wanted. This was what he needed in his life.
This was probably why he stepped back, slid his hand from her hip and held his elbow out towards her.
‘May I have the pleasure of being your personal hotel guide on this fine February morning, Miss Flynn?’
Dee looked at his elbow, eyebrows high, as though she was getting ready to give him her very best snarky remark, then flashed him a blushing half-smile.
‘Well, if you can stand the scurrilous gossip this will create, I may be prepared to risk it,’ she replied and threaded her hand