Page 23 of Tears of Gold

I let him lead me out and he almost lifts me into the Range Rover. I sink into the seat, my eyes already closing.

“Next time, not that much whisky,” he murmurs against my lips as he brushes me a kiss.

I shake my head. “No whisky.”

I settle back as he fires the engine and the car purrs beneath us. I wonder what Peter would say about my post-wake hangover. Honestly, I think he would be proud.

Then I go back to sleep.

“Come on, sleepyhead.” Eli pulls me from the leather seat straight into his arms, carrying me along the pathway to the shiny black door of the Kensington Mews. It feels like coming home.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to sleep the whole way.”

He kicks open the door and flicks the lights on, the whole time not letting me out of his tight embrace. “It’s okay, sunshine, it’s been an exhausting few weeks.”

With gentle hands he settles me on the sofa and covers me with a blanket. I fight it off, but his hands are insistent. “I’m not sick, Eli.”

“Humour me, I want to take care of you.” Sighing deep, he settles next to me and lifts my legs over his. His head drops back onto the leather cushion of the sofa. “This wasn’t what I had in mind for us, Faith.”

Shifting my legs, I snuggle up closer. “I know, my love. But it is what it is. None of this has happened how it should have.”

We lapse into silence for a while.

“What happened in Brighton with Dan, Eli? You still haven’t told me how he was.” My stomach rumbles with the rolling fall of awkward rocks.

“Dan wasn’t in a great way, Faith.” His fingers smooth through my hair. “He doesn’t want to see you. I’m sorry.”

I shrug, but it hurts. I’ve messed everything up. I know this is all on me.

“He made it exceptionally clear he would rather see me dead than with you.”

I turn my head in his lap and meet his vibrant gaze. “I’m sorry.”

“Not as sorry as me. I messed this all up for us at the start. It feels like the catalogue of errors is open at my feet and I have to pay the price.”

“Eli, you can’t blame yourself for Peter, or what I did with Dan. We all make our own choices. Peter chose to drive his car that fast, you didn’t push the accelerator for him.”

He doesn’t answer, his fingers still sliding through my hair.

“It seems like your mother and you have been having some interesting conversations.”

He gives a wry half laugh. “More lies and secrets.”

“They made Peter keep Jeremy a secret, didn’t they?” I graze my fingertips along his cheek, and he leans into my touch. “They can’t do that to us.”

His gaze when he meets mine is tortured, burning. His hand slides down my belly, flat against my skin, kindling a deep flicker of desire within me. “They break everything.”

“Not us, Eli. Never us.” Sliding my hand around his neck, I pull his mouth down to mine. Our kiss is desperate, hot, intense.

When his fingers tug at my clothes, it’s like they are searching for the very centre of my soul, and all I can hope is that he finds it.

Seven

“Do we have a routine for court days?” I’m perched on the stool at the black marble island in the kitchen. I’m up early… okay, I’m up bloody early. Eli looks professional, smart, and as sexy as hell. If it wasn’t for the fact today was the first day of Melanie Duncan’s case, I might not have let him out the house.

“A routine? Are you being superstitious on me?” He grins and then takes a sip of his coffee. If he’s nervous it doesn’t show. This man is a machine. A machine in a fucking hot three-piece suit.

“Do you need a good luck blow job? Anything like that?”