Quentin's expression was pensive.
"We left in a bit of a rush, you see," Natasha explained. "I'd seen this cottage to rent when we were up here on a shoot, and when we took the urge to get out of the city it was available. It was kind of a spur of the moment thing." She turned back to Quentin. "You didn't trust you-know-who with the job did you?" Her face was growing increasingly pale.
Quentin pursed his mouth, shifting his feet restlessly under the table.
"I thought surely he would be over it by now."
"You wouldn't be talking about one Jake Brent, would you?" Sebastian asked.
"Oh dear," Natasha whispered, her hand going to her throat. "This is terrible." She shook her head. "He's my ex, you see." She blushed uncomfortably as she explained to Amy and Sebastian. "He's been finding it a bit hard to accept that I'm with Quentin now." She frowned. "Oh, I do wish I hadn't chosen right now to give up smoking."
"It's not terrible at all, please don't upset yourself." Amy leaned forward to reassure the woman. Her mind was racing. Things were rapidly falling into place and the possibilities arising from the mystery were leaping out at her. "He did try to make some rather dubious accusations about your disappearance and he said you'd developed an unhealthy interest in the occult."
"The occult?" Quentin blurted, then broke into laughter.
Natasha bit her lip.
"Yes, but you see it doesn't matter now." Amy tried to direct her reassurance to Natasha, who still looked unhappy and had abandoned her sandwich in favor of her wine glass. "He was obviously trying to cast an air of disrepute over Quentin's career, but it simply doesn't matter because his remarks went unheeded." She glanced at Sebastian. Thanks to him. Thanks to him being there and distracting her. What with that and all the other things that had happened along the way, she'd missed her first deadline and, oh boy, was she ever glad. "We can tell the story the way you see it. What better way to assure your ex that you're happy where you are than to go public with it and tell the world about your romance?" Amy's mind was buzzing. Her scoop was looking better all the time.
"Sounds good to me." Quentin weaved his fingers together with Natasha's. "Shall we go for it, my love?"
She nodded, her eyes glistening.
Quentin turned back to Amy. "I may be a late bloomer, but when I met this lady I knew she was the one for me." Natasha was blushing, understandably. Quentin was clearly head-over-heels. "I asked Natasha to marry me, when we arrived up here. When we get back to London, we're going to set the date."
"Oh, how wonderful, congratulations."
"You're the first people we've told," Natasha added, her expression finally melting into happy tears.
"Congratulations." Sebastian leaned forward to shake hands with Quentin.
The feature was forming in Amy's mind as the moments passed, and boy was it going to be top-notch media news. She looked up at Sebastian and he nodded at her, his eyes sparkling, he knew how good this was too, and she could see he was pleased for her. Her heart did a funny little leap in her chest and she felt the need to touch him. As if he knew, he stood up and moved to stand behind her.
"Well, now that we've sorted out the mystery, I'll leave you to your interview." He rested his hands on her shoulders, squeezing her gently as she passed. "Is it okay if I take a stroll around the neighborhood?"
Quentin nodded and gestured out of the kitchen window, where the landscape sloped away toward fields in the distance. "There's a public footpath that loops round the local farm, follow that and it'll bring you back here safely."
Sebastian gave her another squeeze and she looked up at him, smiling her thanks for all of his support.
"How long have you two worked together?" Amy asked, when she heard the door close behind him.
"Two seasons, but we knew there was something really meaningful between us within days of meeting each other," Natasha replied.
Through the kitchen window Amy could see Sebastian as he passed close by, his expression preoccupied. One look at his strong masculine shoulders made her want to touch him, to hold him. She watched him retreating away from the house as she listened to Natasha talking about her first meeting with Quentin.
Yes, it had only been days that she and Sebastian had known each other too, but she knew she loved him. Through all that had happened and the potential changes in her life over the past few days, that fact was possibly the only sure thing. She'd had some dark moments. She'd narrowly averted a complete disaster with the feature and she'd been wondering if she was cut out for journalism at all. What she did know for sure was that she was ready to have a gorgeous man like Sebastian in her life on a more permanent basis. She hadn't been looking, but she had found the man who filled her heart, mind and body, making her world complete. Their agreed time together was almost up, but would she be able to keep him for longer? She wanted to, more than anything and she was ready for the next step.
Chapter Se
venteen
Sebastian set the room service tray down on the bedside table and lifted the lid on the coffee pot, inhaling the aroma before he poured out two cups of the steaming brew. Behind him, Amy clapped her hands in delight as she read over the text she'd typed into her laptop. Sebastian smiled to himself then picked up her cup and carried it over to her. He put it down on the dresser, where she had set up her laptop as soon as they had returned, cramming as much in as she could while it was still fresh.
"Is it going well?" He glanced over her shoulder. He could see the title of the feature. "Love at last for TV's favorite host, Quentin Edwards."
"Yes, very. Thanks. I've got the bones in. It will just need fleshed out for publication, which I can see to when I get back to the office. I can't believe we've gone from one man's warped hearsay to an exclusive of the whole fabulous story, fate really was on our side."
"Fate was on your side, Amy. You were right in the first place—you really didn't need me along with you, now, did you, hmm?" Yes, he knew he only wanted to hear her say different, to hear her say she needed him in some way.