Page 80 of Tears of Glass

And it’s everything. Every breath, every fibre, every cell that I am morphs into one fleeting kiss with him.

“What was that for?” His eyes hold mine intently.

“I’m lost for words with you. So I wanted to show you.”

He stares at me for one long stretch of a millisecond before that cute curve of his lip sends my stomach into somersaults. “Not all bad. I can cope with words like that.” He lets go of his delicate hold of my face and catches my hand again and we return to meandering down Bankside of the Thames.

“Come on, tell me where we’re going? Nothing is open down here, unless you’re planning to haul my annoying arse into the Thames once and for all.”

He chuckles and the sound makes my heart beat a little faster. Weaved together in a moment of weekend perfection, it’s like the rest of London doesn’t exist.

We are passing a cafe, the staff are staring out of the window mournfully as their own weekends tick by in a boring stretch of banality. “Would you like a coffee?”

“Uh sure.” I follow him in and he goes to the counter ordering my double espresso and his latte, then I watch in confusion as he steadily ignores me and proceeds to sweep up every sandwich and packaged snack the place has and places them on the counter.

“Can you bag this for me and eight more latte’s in cup holders if you have them.”

The girl behind the counter sends him a knowing smile, her eyes alive as they dance over her face. “Certainly, Mr Fairclough.”

“Elijah.” He tells her with an easy smile.

What the hell is going on here?

I guess it’s a good thing he didn’t tell her to call him Eli. Call me Eli...

Seriously, what the hell is going on?

“Elijah.” She is burning with a flush as she packs up the food. “That’s—”

He cuts her off and hands over a flash of gold in the form of plastic. “On this.”

Once the payment has gone through and he’s slid his gold Amex back into his wallet he sweeps up the bags of food, passing me one paper bag and a tray holding four cups to me. “Can you manage?” Damn that dimple.

“Sure.”

Back out by the river we continue our route. “Eli, come on, this is killing me. What the hell are we doing? If you were hungry you should have said, and I would have forgone at least one shag.”

He glares, his lips teasing. “Never say that. It’s not an acceptable compromise on my Saturday routine.”

“So you’ve always started the weekend with awesome sex?”

His smile is wide and brilliant. “Jeez, you are sharp.”

“I told you, don’t get too close.”

His face clouds for a moment, and we both know what he’s thinking, that I was the one who got hurt, but it passes like a light cloud floating across the midday sun and he sends me a wink. “Patience, Faith.”

“Patience can kiss my arse,” I grumble.

We round under the foot of one of the Thames spanning bridges and my stomach tightens as we find a homeless guy under the bridge wrapped around his dog. They both sit a little straighter as we come closer. “Alright, Eli.” The man calls and Elijah turns and walks closer.

My heart races in my chest. My legs are frozen and rigid as tears of surprise threaten to drop down my face onto the cobbled street below.

“Stephen, how are you?” Eli crouches down next to the guy sat on blankets with his hoodie pulled up. About the same age as me, his face is lined and drawn, shadowed with shades of grey. “Coffee? It’s getting a bit chilly in the mornings isn’t it?”

“Ah mate, I tell you this morning my balls shrank to marbles.”

Eli laughs and claps Stephen on the shoulder. “Here. What sandwich do you want? I got to E.A.T first, it’s a great selection today.”