‘Yes, since you mention it.’ Nell looked at her watch. ‘You have five minutes to say goodbye to Nadine. Then you’re coming with me.’
CHAPTER TEN
HUGO LAY ON his bed, staring at the ceiling. He had slept a little after their return from the hospital and then lain awake, thinking mostly about how Nell was both magnificent and unstoppable when she was angry.
He could hear her clattering around i
n the kitchen downstairs. Hugo got up, walking slowly into the en suite bathroom to splash his face with water. The scar on his chest was still there, but the stitches would be out soon. It seemed somehow to be fading already.
‘I think I might cook this evening.’ He made sure that he spoke while he was still a good twenty feet away from her so as not to make her jump. All the same, she did jump, turning around and flushing a little when she saw him.
‘You can cook?’ She smiled suddenly.
‘Of course I can cook. I know how to deal with all the appliances in this house. Even the vacuum cleaner.’
‘Well you’re not dealing with that for a while, vacuuming requires too much reaching. Although it’s something I’d really like to see as soon as you’re well enough.’
Hugo chuckled. Everything was going to be just fine. ‘I can cook, though. You can help if you like, and get things out of the cupboards.’
‘What were you thinking of cooking?’
‘I do a mean lasagne. I asked Ted to get the ingredients when he went shopping this morning.’
‘Okay. I do a pretty mean lasagne myself, so let’s see what yours is like.’ She grinned as she threw down the challenge. ‘Perhaps Ted can give us his opinion.’
‘I’ll give him a call when dinner’s ready.’ Hugo opened a drawer and took out an apron. A number of people had said he was a good cook, but no one had ever accused him of being a tidy one.
Nell walked across the kitchen, taking the apron from his hand and unfolding it. Then she reached up, putting it over his head.
‘Thanks.’ Hugo wasn’t sure he could reach behind him to tie the apron, and he wondered whether Nell would do that for him as well. And whether she’d do it the way a fiancée would, reaching around from the front, or whether she’d prefer to do it from the back, the way a doctor might.
She reached around from the front. Somehow she managed to do it while hardly touching him, but she was so close that Hugo caught his breath.
‘I was thinking...’ She’d tied the bow in the apron strings but she didn’t step back.
‘What were you thinking?’ he encouraged as she tailed off.
‘That... Well, if I were called upon to kiss you, in light of our announcement...’
If she felt able to do that Hugo wouldn’t object in the slightest. ‘You’re not going to be called upon to do anything you don’t want to, just for the sake of appearances. We’ll just do the same as we’ve been doing up till now.’ He wasn’t in the habit of pawing women in public anyway, and the thought that Nell might not welcome it made it a complete no-no.
‘So no kissing?’ It was extremely gratifying that Nell looked almost disappointed. Hugo supposed that a woman might close her eyes and kiss someone while overlooking their other physical flaws.
‘I’d be extremely happy if you kissed me. And extremely unhappy if you felt in any way pressured to do so.’
‘I don’t.’ There was a mischievous glint in her eyes, which made Hugo’s heart beat faster. ‘I just wouldn’t like to do it for the first time in front of a crowd of people.’
Before Hugo could think of a suitable reply, she’d raised herself up on her toes, planting a soft kiss on the corner of his mouth. For a moment, she stared up at him and then lowered her gaze shyly.
He wanted so badly for her to do that again. It had been just a moment and it hadn’t felt real, but it still felt special. ‘May I...put my arm around you?’ Hugo decided that asking first would be the best course of action.
‘Yes. I’d like that.’
He put his right arm gently around her waist, resisting the temptation to pull her hard against his aching body. Then Nell reached up suddenly, putting her left arm around his right shoulder, her fingertips touching the back of his neck.
It was delicious. If she’d thrown all her clothes off it could hardly be any more arousing than this. He felt himself trembling at her touch, all the more powerful because she was touching so little of him.
He saw her pupils dilate suddenly, and that small reaction almost made him choke with desire. Nell kissed him again, this time on the centre of his mouth, lingering just long enough for him to return the kiss.