The media room was locked and she rattled the door handle impatiently. The unit director appeared from the adjoining room, where cameras and microphones were being set up, in readiness for tomorrow.
‘Sorry. It’s closed until tomorrow.’ He was eyeing their robes and grinning.
‘We’ve been swimming. And we need the internet.’ Matt returned his stare.
‘Like I said. No internet until tomorrow at ten o’clock, we’d like you to spend this evening deciding on your projects. After that you’ll have twenty-four-hour access.’
‘But we’ve already decided.’ Hannah tried to reason with him and he shook his head.
‘Okay. Thanks anyway.’ She heard Matt’s voice behind her and fel
t him tug lightly at her sleeve. He was right, no one was going to be allowed into the media room tonight, and they should go back to their suite.
Hannah followed him into the lift, looking up at him dejectedly. ‘So what are we going to do now? It’s fourteen hours until the media centre opens and we can’t start researching.’
Matt chuckled softly. ‘How about we just dream a little more, then?’
CHAPTER TWELVE
THE HEAT WAS oppressive tonight, and when Hannah had showered off the chlorine from the pool, she slipped on a pair of shorts and a T-shirt. When she walked into their shared sitting room, Matt was on the house phone, just ending a call.
‘You managed to get a line out?’
He laughed. ‘No, I was just ordering some drinks.’
He was wearing a faded pair of jeans that had been washed and worn until they were like a second skin. She’d seen him work his body so many times now, and there was always something new to like. His strong arms, slicing through the water in the pool, or straining to support his weight when he tackled the climbing wall. Those long legs that seemed to eat up the miles. She’d seen him talking to people and the way that his quiet manner put them at ease, had watched him and Sam discussing the world, nodding solemnly to each other as they came to a conclusion. But her favourite version of Matt was this one. Relaxed and smiling, his eyes seeming very blue against his tan, and sparkling with ideas. She fetched a pad, and started to make a list.
‘What do you think about building?’ The drinks had arrived and he was swirling his thoughtfully, allowing the ice to clink against the sides of the glass.
Hannah put down her pen. Aspirations were one thing, but this was way beyond their budget. ‘Building. You’re serious?’
‘I’m not sure yet. But prefabs are low cost and very configurable. We could make a space that was exactly as we wanted it.’
‘Prefabs?’ Hannah shot him a pained look. ‘The only thing I know about prefabs are that my old school had a few of them tacked on to the main building. They were far too hot in the summer and freezing cold in the winter.’
‘They’ve come a long way since then. I worked at a hospital in Glasgow that had some prefabricated wards and they were great. Clean and modern and very comfortable.’
‘But...they’re too expensive for us, aren’t they?’
‘Yeah. But what if we could approach a manufacturer, and ask if they’d like to donate to a high-profile charitable project—’ Hannah started to laugh and he gave her a reproachful look. ‘Hey...this is being filmed for TV, it doesn’t get more high profile than that. And lots of manufacturers use donations to gain publicity. It’s tax-efficient...’
‘You make it sound almost do-able.’
‘Almost can be stretched a little, can’t it? What do you say to phoning round a few suppliers tomorrow and just testing the water. I could do that while you investigate some of the cascade lights you were talking about.’
‘Okay. I’ll put it on the list.’ Hannah scanned the paper in front of her. ‘So we have exercise and therapy equipment, different kinds of lights and a sound system, along with a new building and... What about an outside area, where kids can play in the summertime? We could have a play fountain, Sam loves the one in the park near us.’ They were moving in the realms of the impossible, and somehow it all seemed possible.
‘Sounds good. Anything else?’
‘That’s enough for the time being. We’ll be lucky to get half those things into our budget.’
‘Then we have to prepare the presentation. In three days.’ Matt chuckled.
‘Oh, yes. I forgot the part about the three days.’ Hannah grinned at him. ‘Maybe we’ll have to forgo sleeping.’
‘In which case we should probably get an early night. Although I think it’s going to be too hot to sleep tonight.’
Dreams and hot nights. And Matt. The man she couldn’t have, because they’d both agreed that romance wasn’t on their agenda. But maybe fantasy was.