‘Penny for your thoughts?’ Alex asked as he joined her.
Rain was starting to sprinkle overhead, and Emma tried her best to warm her hands on the coffee cup. Shivers racked her body.
‘I was just thinking this place is so different from what I was expecting.’
He moved to stand behind her. Wrapping his arms around her waist. Drawing her into his warmth. ‘And what was that?’
‘A fancy high-tech townhouse in Mayfair or something.’
Alex laughed. ‘I like being close to the water. And I can watch the boat race from up here.’
‘The Regatta?’ Emma asked.
‘Mm-hmm.’
‘Isn’t rowing a bit slow for you?’
She couldn’t imagine him doing anything that didn’t involve wild amounts of speed. Rowing somehow seemed too tame a sport for Alex.
She knew he was rolling his eyes, even though she couldn’t see it.
‘I used to be on the team at university,’ he said.
‘That’s impressive. It explains all the water-related art you have.’
‘You noticed?’
Of course she had. There wasn’t much Emma missed. Considering how she’d grown up, being observant had served her well. Noticing when to make herself scarce, when to give up something to Lauren, when to shield Maddison.
Alex tightened his hold on her. ‘I sail now.’
‘You do?’
‘I have a sixty-footer.’
He pulled out his phone. She could hear him tapping the screen.
‘Unfortunately, the weather is not ideal so we can’t take her out.’
‘That’s okay.’
He frowned at the disappointment curdling in him. He didn’t share his sailing with anyone apart from family and friends. But how wonderful it would have been to have her all to himself, with nothing but ocean around them, as he made her scream out his name over and over again.
‘How long do I have you before I have to return you to the world?’ Alex asked in a low voice, teeth nipping at her ear.
‘Two weeks. I didn’t know what I was walking into or how long you’d need me when I asked for leave,’ she explained.
Two weeks. He liked the sound of that.
With rogue thoughts still clouding his usually sound judgement, Alex decided they needed to get out. He’d take Emma on a tour of the city. Show her everything she would never have seen during past visits to London. It would be London as he knew it. No locked doors and even fewer rules.
They still had most of the two weeks ahead of them, and he resolved to enjoy it as much as possible.
He took her somewhere new each day.
That was when they weren’t exploring each other in his bed or couch or kitchen.
They spent virtually every minute together.