Page 31 of Life After Me

Lottie

I rolled over in bed and stretched luxuriously, but refused to open my eyes. I was way too comfy to want to give in to morning yet.

‘I know you’re awake. Stop faking.’ A finger ran its way along my ribs and I shivered with the deliciousness of it.

‘So what if I am?’ I rolled over.

‘So come here.’ Stuart slid his arm beneath me so I could snuggle against his shoulder.

He was so warm and comfortable that any complaint I might have been thinking about making melted out of my brain.

He often seems to have this effect on me.

Damn it, the man even managed to smell good.

It’s not fair. From the feel of it, my hair was a knotted mess that’s going to hurt like a bitch to brush out, and I’ll just bet that my mascara has turned me into a panda.

He just lolled back into my pillows looking hot.

So. Not. Fair. Still, I guess there are worse things to worry about than having a hot guy between your sheets.

Especially when he looks at you the way Stu looks at me.

I swear he can turn me into a puddle with just a look. I snuggled closer to hide my blushes.

‘What you thinking?’

Oh my God! A guy who cares what you’re thinking about when you’re naked. If it weren’t for all the evidence to the contrary, I’d swear he was gay. ‘Nothing really. Just... wondering.’

‘About what?’ I could hear the smile in his voice.

‘About when you stopped thinking of me as a friend.’

‘It’s been a while, Lottie.’ He chuckled, the sound reverberating through me.

‘I know. But I still wondered. You asked me what I was thinking, and that’s it.’

He shifted beneath me and rolled over to catch my face between his hands.

His dark eyes were so intense it felt like he was trying to read my mind.

I lost all track of time until he suddenly grinned and kissed me on the nose.

‘You’re still my friend, Lottie. The fact that you make me crazy horny is just an added bonus. ’

‘Just an added bonus?’ My heart dropped. Was that all he thought of me? ‘Do you have added bonuses with other friends?’

‘Would it bother you if I did?’ I couldn’t read his expression or tone of voice, no matter how hard I tried.

‘Yes.’ I wanted to bite the word back as soon as it escaped. I didn’t want to be so needy and demanding.

‘Good.’ Stu grinned. ‘Coz I’m not having... added bonuses with anyone else, and I don’t want to be. Are you?’ He struggled to keep the smile from his face. Arrogant sod.

‘You know I’m not.’

‘Just checking. I like you, Lottie. I’ve liked you since the moment you opened your dad’s front door to me, and you bent down and petted my brute of a dog. That’s what you wanted to know, wasn’t it?’

I shrugged, not wanting to admit it. ‘What was I wearing for you to respond like that?’

Stu sighed. ‘I wasn’t staring at your tits or arse, Lottie, though for the record both are just... wow. There was just something about you. I liked you then and there.’

Huh? I hadn’t realised he had feelings back then. I thought he’d just been a nice guy. ‘So why did you wait so long before... you know?’

‘Putting the moves on ya?’

‘Yeah.’ Except that it sounded so icky when he put it like that.

His arms tightened around my waist and I instantly forgave him. ‘You were hurting when I met you. You’d just lost your mum.’ Even now, in my safe, cosy bed months later it still hurt. Even curled in Stu’s warm arms, it still hurt.

‘You’re still hurting, Lottie.’ He tilted my chin up so I had to look at him. ‘I didn’t want to rush you. I didn’t want to be some weird rebound thing that just made you feel better for a couple of weeks.’

‘You really think I would have done that?’ I wasn’t sure how I felt about that.

‘I think people do some strange things when they’re grieving. I wanted to give this... us... a fair chance. I didn’t want this to be just a hook-up.’

‘So you waited?’

‘Yup.’

‘How long would you have waited for?’

‘As long as you needed.’

‘And if you were still waiting?’

‘Well...’ He drew the word out. ‘About now I’d probably ask you to make sure that, if I died of frustration while waiting, you’d have me cryogenically frozen until you were ready, and then defrost me.’

I started to laugh, but Stu pulled me tightly against him and smothered my giggles with slow kisses.

His fingers traced goose pimples up and down my spine, and I completely forgot what I had been laughing about.

I squirmed happily and arched my body against him.

His lips followed his fingers across my bare skin, chasing down the shivers and goose pimples with trails of fire.

I gasped when his warm breath hit my belly button.

I groaned with frustration when the phone rang.

‘Leave it.’ His eyes begged as they met mine.

‘Definitely. They can leave a message.’ I barely heard his reply as he murmured it against my stomach before trailing his fingers lower.

I twisted my fingers through his hair and pulled him back up to me so I could kiss him properly and slide my tongue between his lips.

He groaned and moved against me, and slid his hand around the back of my neck.

We both froze when the phone rang again. ‘Leave it. Lottie, please leave it.’

‘ Argh . I can’t. It’s the second time. Who’d be ringing this time on a Sunday morning? It might be important.’

‘Aren’t I important?’

‘Urgent. It might be urgent.’ I rolled away and grabbed for the phone. ‘I’m sorry. Hello?’ I tried not to giggle and give away the fact that Stu had followed me and was slowly kissing his way up my back.

‘I’m looking for C. Hughes.’ The voice was gruff and didn’t introduce himself. Oh please don’t be a sales call. Do not tell me I just pushed away a crazy-hot guy who wanted nothing more than to kiss me until I screamed, for a freaking sales call.

‘Speaking.’ I kept my voice curt. If this was a sales call, they were gonna get it!

‘This is James Barrow. From the Gazette . Are you the same C. Hughes who took the photos of all the tulips being planted?’

‘Daffodils.’ I wriggled and gave Stu a gentle shove. Stop it, I warned him with a glare.

‘Tulips, daffodils, they’re all the same to me. Was it you?’

‘Yeah. They’re my photos. Is there some sort of problem?’ I sat bolt upright, and could feel Stu’s eyes on me as I held my breath.

‘For me, yeah. For you, nope. You near Middlesex?’

‘Yeah.’ Ish, I fibbed.

‘How fast can you, your camera and all your gear get to the marina at Shepperton? ’Cause if you can make it to the shoot there in the next hour and a half, you’ve got a job.

To be honest, you’d be doing me a favour.

’ He rattled off the details quickly while I scrabbled for a pen.

Shit. Could I make it all the way over there in ninety minutes?

It’d take at least fifteen minutes for me to get everything together and into the car.

An hour to get out of the city was pushing it, and then time to find the right place?

I shoved the address at Stu and mouthed ‘hour and a half?’ to him.

He nodded firmly. No problem.

‘Umm... Can I ask what the fee is?’ I gawped at the answer. ‘Yeah. I’ll be there.’

He laughed. ‘Good. I thought you might. Bring a laptop. I need to see the first proofs before lunch. The shoot manager will fill in the rest when you get there.’

‘Umm . . .’ A thought hit me.

‘Yes?’

‘What type of shoot is this, exactly?’

‘Fashion. What else do you think you’d be shooting on a Sunday in the marina? Top floor, overlooking the water to create a juxtaposition between that and the clothes. Anything else?’ The phone clicked off before I could even respond, and I stared at it.

‘Oh my God, Stu, I’ve got a job. A real job . I’ve got to get moving.’ I rolled out of bed.

Stu groaned reluctantly. ‘I’ll give you a hand. Just tell me what you need me to do.’

‘Thanks.’ I shot him a grateful smile and rushed into the bathroom. Thank goodness no one else was about.

‘Hey, Hughes?’ Stu tapped softly at the door. ‘You’re going to make this up to me, right?’

* * *

It was really scary at first. I was nearly late getting there.

We’d both forgotten about the Sunday markets and got caught up in traffic, and then struggled to park.

When we finally found the right address the lift wasn’t working, so we had to lug my camera, my backup, all my tripods, lighting gear and laptop up four flights of stairs.

By the time we actually got into the shoot I was sweaty, out of breath and getting more stressed by the second.

The harassed-looking shoot manager met me with a clipboard at the door. ‘You the replacement photographer?’ I looked pointedly at the camera bag resting on my hip. ‘Thank goodness. We’ve been set up for ages, and we’re losing time. And time is money. You ready to go?’

‘Just need to set up.’

‘And how long will that take?’ He tapped the clipboard impatiently.

‘Depends on what you want.’

‘They haven’t even briefed you yet? Ai me .

..’ He started rattling off unpleasant-sounding phrases in Italian.

Within five minutes, Stu had calmed him down and got my laptop set up and connected to the internet, ready for my photos to whizz their way to the editor.

He helped as much as he could with the rest of my gear, but most of it he’d never even seen before, so he just stuck to lifting the heavier things and holding them in place while I bossed him about.

It was kinda cool. And just knowing he was there seemed to make it easier.

Like I was drawing strength from him or something.

A couple of times I think I felt Mum too, but there was so much going on, it was hard to know for sure.