“Just in case what?” Sarah yawned again. “God, sorry. I can’t stay awake.”
“You wanna lie down, sweetheart?” Dylan asked.
“Well… I should really get back to work.”
“No,” Dylan said. “I don’t want you back there today. It’s too dangerous. Phone your boss – the hotel owner – and tell him –”
“Her.”
“Tell her you’ve been a witness to a murder. They’ll just have to cope without you.”
Sarah nodded. It would be nice to sleep for a while. She tried not to think about the brutal image of Natalia that had been haunting her all day. What if she could’ve done something to save the poor girl? A flash of sadness assaulted her, forcing hot tears into her eyes and a lump in her throat. She tried to suppress it, but her emotion spilled out into the world as a whimper. She bit her lip, refusing to break down.
Dylan wrapped her up in his arms. “Come on, let’s go lie down ... Joe, don’t leave without telling me, okay?”
“Okay. I’ll get on with some college work if I can use your laptop? It’s all stored in the cloud.”
“Sure, help yourself.”
Dylan and Sarah strolled arm-in-arm to his bedroom. She still needed to let out her burning emotion. A good cry would make her feel better, but she would prefer to do it in private – just in case Dylan thought she was nuts or hysterical. Perhaps she could shower later and have a soothing sob.
Sarah glanced around his bedroom and tried to act cool, but this was the most impressive room she’d ever seen in her life. And she’d seen a lot of gorgeous bedrooms in her profession. The huge window overlooked a lush green park – an oasis in the middle of London – and the king-size bed seemed incredibly inviting. The high ceiling gave the room an airy feel, and Sarah started to feel a bit better just from being in this warm and sumptuous setting.
She sat down on an antique chair and gazed out into the summer night. Dylan sat on the corner of the bed opposite her, and they smiled into each other’s eyes. Sarah suddenly felt nervous. As if they were on their first date – which was odd, considering they’d already had sex twice and witnessed the murder of his former lover together this afternoon. Maybe it was because of those things that she felt nervous… maybe it was because her heart was opening up to Dylan again. And maybe his was opening up to her.
“Rough day, huh?” he said.
She smiled sadly. “It started well.”
He chuckled. “It did. Right up until I woke up and you weren’t there.”
“Did you expect me to be?”
“Nah. Just hoped.”
He gazed tenderly into Sarah’s eyes, and opened his mouth to add something, but then he shook his head and looked away.
“What?” she asked.
He smiled fondly. “I’m proud of what you’ve achieved, Sarah. I really am. You’ve done very well.”
She shot him a playful look. “You sound like my dad!”
He laughed. “Sorry. I mean it, though – it’s great to see you succeeding.”
“Thanks.” She gestured to the room. “You’ve obviously done pretty well yourself.”
“Yep. I can have anything money can buy…”
“But?”
He ran his fingers through his curls. “You know I’ve never been good with words.”
Her heart thumped nervously against her chest. “Maybe now’s the time to start?”
He held out his arms. “Come here. I’ll show you how I feel, okay?”
She remained seated and tutted disapprovingly. “Don’t you ever stop thinking about sex?”