And right now all Isobel wanted to do was snuggle back under the duvet, wrapped in his arms, and go back to sleep.
‘Hello? Earth to Isobel? Anyone home?’ he teased.
He sounded bright and chirpy. But that was Alex, able to burn the candle at both ends. He could stay up late—or, in the case of last night, spend a fair part of it making love—and still be wide awake and ready to go at the crack of dawn.
‘Uh,’ she said.
He must’ve hit the snooze button because the alarm stopped shrieking; then he rolled her onto her side and curved his body round hers. ‘Good morning, sleepyhead.’ He kissed the sensitive spot behind her ear. ‘I take it you have to be up for work this morning.’
‘Uh.’
He chuckled. ‘I always thought you were a morning person.’
‘I am,’ she mumbled, ‘if I get enough sleep first.’
He traced a lazy circle round her navel with his fingertip. ‘Ah. That. I guess we were a bit … busy, last night.’ His hand flattened against her stomach, then slid upward to cup one breast. ‘Any regrets, this morning?’
Apart from aches in muscles she’d forgotten she had … She twisted round to face him and pressed a kiss into his chest. ‘No.’
‘Good. So you’re going to marry me, then.’
He hadn’t actually asked her, the previous night. None of the traditional down-on-one-knee stuff, no declaration of love, no four little words.
She suppressed the sting of hurt. He had asked her, a few days before—and she’d refused him. So this time round he hadn’t asked and she hadn’t accepted. Which, in a weird sense, made them quits in this marriage that wasn’t a marriage.
‘Bel?’
She forced herself to sound light-hearted. ‘Depends.’
‘On what?’
‘I need coffee.’
‘I can take a hint.’ He laughed. ‘Go and have a shower, and I’ll make us some breakfast.’ He stroked her hair. ‘I’m tempted to join you in the shower … but then you’d be seriously late for work, and I don’t want to get you into trouble.’
‘Trouble?’
‘For spending the morning in the shower with me instead of doing what you’re supposed to be doing.’
She could just imagine the water beating down on them as Alex eased into her body, and desire flooded through her. ‘Oh-h-h.’
‘Tempted?’ he teased.
She slid the flat of her palm down his side, curving round his buttocks. ‘Mmm.’
The alarm shrilled again, and she groaned. ‘I have to go to work.’
‘We’ll take a rain check. Just keep thinking about whatever put that incredibly sexy look on your face just now—and tell me tonight. In detail. So I can act it out.’
Oh, Lord.
How was she supposed to concentrate on anything for the rest of the day, after a promise like that?
He shut off the alarm and climbed out of bed, pausing only to pull on his boxer shorts, and headed for the kitchen.
By the time Isobel had showered and dressed for work, Alex had made a pot of proper coffee, set the table and was halfway through buttering some hot toast.
‘Breakfast,’ he said with a smile.
Sitting there at her kitchen table, bare-chested, he looked utterly edible.
She’d never breakfasted like this with Alex before. Sure, they’d had breakfast together plenty of times. But not when he was practically naked. And not when they’d spent most of the previous night making love, and his hair was all mussed, and she knew just what that sexy mouth felt like against her skin. All she wanted to do right now was sit on his lap, make his hair even messier, kiss him stupid and drag him back to her bed.
God, she really needed that coffee.
She couldn’t fall in love with Alex. This wasn’t part of the deal.
‘Thanks,’ she mumbled, reaching for her mug. He’d made the coffee just the way she liked it—hot, strong and milky. ‘Mmm. Perfect.’
‘Me or the coffee?’ he enquired with a lazy grin.
‘The coffee, of course.’
‘Huh. Tomorrow, Isobel Martin, you can make your own breakfast,’ he retorted. Though the gleam in his eye told her he was enjoying the banter as much as she was.
‘House rules—you stay here, you make breakfast,’ she teased back.
His eyes glittered. ‘I can think of some much more interesting house rules. But then you’ll be very, very late for work.’ He moistened his lower lip. ‘Want me to tell you?’ His gaze slid lower. ‘Mmm. Looks as if you can guess.’
She folded one arm across her breasts. ‘Alex. That’s not fair.’
He laughed. ‘Sorry, Bel. I shouldn’t tease you. Not when I can’t carry it through to its proper conclusion.’
‘No.’ She paused. ‘Alex, about last night … I wasn’t expecting it to be so…’ How could she say this without insulting him? ‘Well, so good,’ she ended lamely.
‘Neither was I,’ he said. ‘I mean—I’ve always liked you. A lot. But last night wasn’t just going through the motions, was it? It wasn’t just perfunctory sex.’ He reached over and took her hand. Kissed her palm and folded her fingers over his kiss. ‘Maybe we should’ve done this a long time ago.’
‘You weren’t ready to settle down.’ She wasn’t so sure that he was ready now. Alex wasn’t a settling-down kind of man. He was more like a meteor shower that made a spectacular appearance in your life for a brief while and then vanished—until the next time.
So although sex with Alex had been a revelation—of the nicest possible kind—she wasn’t going to let her heart get involved. Wasn’t going to rely on him.
‘What are you doing today?’ she asked.
‘A bit of research. You?’
‘Probably working up a handout for the touring exhibition.’
‘Want to do lunch?’
She shook her head regretfully. ‘Sorry. I’ve got meetings that I know are going to end up going through lunch.’
‘Admin. Bleugh.’ He pulled a face. ‘My least favourite bit of any job.’
‘Says the man who’s planning to get a desk job.’
‘I’ll be negotiating for an admin assistant.’
She laughed. ‘You would.’
‘I don’t want to spend my time on tedious paperwork when I could be doing something much more interesting.’ He smiled at her. ‘I’ll see you back here tonight, then. And I might even cook you dinner.’
‘Yeah, right,’ she scoffed. ‘Once you’re in the archives, you only leave when they chuck you out at closing time.’
He gave her a speaking look. ‘As if you don’t do exactly the same.’
She shrugged. ‘I love my job.’
‘I know. Which is why you understand me so well.’
She finished her toast. ‘I’d better be off. See you later.’
‘You’re leaving