Page 30 of The Surrender (Arlington Hall #2)

I grin like an idiot. “I’ve got to go. Jude’s made me dinner, and I’ve got to help him clean up.”

“Oh?” Dad says, quiet and interested. “Jude, eh? Where does he live?”

“Oxfordshire.”

“How the flaming heck are you getting home from Oxfordshire?”

“Driving.”

“What?”

“I have a car now.”

“You do?”

“A Jaguar.”

“Well,” he says, kind of surprised, kind of impressed. “You really are doing well, aren’t you?”

“I am, but I didn’t buy it.”

“What?”

“It was a gift from Jude. Bye!” I hang up and leave that with him, smiling at the thought of him yelling Mum’s name, stalking around the house looking for her so he can tell her. I quickly put a call in to Abbie. “Hey.”

“Evening.”

“Where are you?” I ask, hearing a busy background, guessing she’s in a restaurant.

“On a date.”

I scramble up, shocked to my core. “Who with?”

“Vince Hightower.”

“You know I don’t know who that is. Wait.” I quickly go to my screen and hook Charley in, even though I’m technically not speaking to her. “Did you know she’s on a date?” I ask when her face appears.

“Shhh,” Charley hisses, directing her camera down. Ena is asleep in her arms. “A date?” she whispers.

“Yes,” I whisper back.

“Who with?”

“Vince Hightower.”

“Is that a superhero’s alias?”

I snort.

“Fuck off,” Abbie whisper hisses. “He came into the florist earlier and ordered some flowers.”

“Who for?” Charley asks.

“His mother.”

“Awww,” we both coo.

“He asked me out, I said yes, and here I am.” Abbie shrugs. “Girls, I have got to get out of this rut. Maybe I just need to accept I’m never going to have that kind of explosive passion again.” Another shrug plus a grimace. “Manage my expectations, you know what I mean?”

We both nod.

“Jude bought me a car.”

Both of my friends go bog-eyed. “A car?” Abbie asks. “What kind of car?”

“One that drives.”

“Dickhead.”

“It’s a Jaguar.” I give them wide eyes too. “And he gave me an engraved pen.”

Abbie swoons. It makes me smile. “What did it say?”

“I’ve got you.”

“Oh my God,” she breathes. “I might faint.”

“As in, you’re his?” Charley asks, frowning. “I’ve. Got. You. Possessive?”

“No,” I say, the word drawn out, sounding like a warning. She better not kick off again. “As in, he’s got me. Holding me. Is there for me.”

“So cute!” Abbie sings.

“He took me to see his parents’ graves earlier. Told me about them. It’s so sad. Jude found his dad. Heart attack.” Both girls jut their bottom lip out. “And his mum died in her sleep. She was perfectly healthy. Jude said it was a broken heart. He found her too.”

“Oh my God,” Charley whispers. “It’s hard to hate someone who found both his parents dead and suffered grief like that.”

I could never hate Jude. “Are we friends again?”

“Yes, we’re friends,” Charley says.

“And in future, will you be nice to my boyfriend?”

“So long as he treats you right.”

“Look, girls.” Abbie flaps an impatient hand at the screen. “I appreciate the update on all things, but my date is going to think I’ve bailed if I don’t get back to the table.”

“What does he look like?” I ask.

“How old?” Charley pipes in.

“Is he tall like his name?”

“What does he do for a living?”

“When can we meet him?”

“Bye!” Abbie hangs up, leaving me and Charley chuckling.

“I’ve got to go too. Ena’s had a sleepy poo, and I need to try and change her without waking her up. Are you around this weekend?”

“Yeah, I’m getting the keys to my new place tomorrow. We’re doing an IKEA trip Sunday. I need to buy some furniture. Especially a bed. I need a bed.”

“Even though you stay at Jude’s every night?”

“It’ll be over an hour to Jude’s from my new place. I can’t sustain that during the week. I’ll call you tomorrow.” I hang up and smile down at my phone, happy things are back on track with the girls. And my dad.

I look up when Jude appears at the bedroom door. “Everything okay with your dad?”

I tilt my head. He wasn’t listening. He just knows, and once again I’m adding something to the list of things I love about Jude. It’s far outweighing the list of things I don’t like. “I better think about getting myself home in my new car.”

Remaining where he is in the doorway, Jude considers me for a few seconds, and I just know he’s plotting to keep me here. “Grant me one wish,” he eventually says.

“Just one?”

He cocks his head, slightly amused. “For today.”

“What?”

“Let me be overprotective and controlling for a moment.”

My eyebrows shoot up. “Go on.”

“I’d rather you didn’t drive these roads in the dark. At least, not until you’re familiar with them. Let me drive you.”

I bite at my lip, pondering that. Only for a second. “Okay.”

“Oh, well, that was cleaner than I expected.” He comes to the bed and lays himself all over me, kissing me in thanks. And I’m his again.

“I love my car,” I mumble in between the swirls of our tongues. “I love my pen.” Another swirl. “But the best gift you gave me today was you.” Everything he’s shared, I’m so grateful for it. For him .

“Mum would have loved you,” he says quietly, pecking his way to my ear.

“She’s famous for being a lady of exquisite taste.” I inhale and absorb the feel of his tongue dragging lightly up the shell of my ear, his arousal growing against me. “Of course she would.” Oh God, I just can’t get enough of him.

He chuckles and kisses his way to my nose, biting it. He looks deep into my eyes. Lets his mouth fall to mine again.

“You know,” I mumble around his slippery-soft tongue teasing mine, “it’s light at five a.m., so I could drive home then.”

Jude pulls back, his eyes sparkling happily.

“You know how to please your man.” And then he resumes our kiss, rolling us so he’s on the bottom.

“You’re staying the night.” He rips my robe open, stroking over my breasts as I lift and get him positioned at my entrance before slowly sinking down.

His eyes squeeze shut, and I watch his face contort as I ride him unhurriedly, circling and grinding, feeling every inch of his prime chest.

Beautiful.

Just . . . beautiful.