She turned to him and grabbed his hand, pulling him down to her for a quick kiss. "Oh, yes I did."
She smiled, released him, then returned to her document.
He wandered over to the bed and threw himself down on it. It had been a real pleasure watching her chatting with Quentin and Natasha. She certainly had the knack of putting people at ease and making them talk about themselves. He was so happy for her, happy it had gone this well. But he felt like a spare part, like the minder who had served his purpose and was now redundant. He often had a kind of content but empty feeling at the end of a long case, but this was different. This was about how he felt about Amy and the lingering question as to whether it was over or not. He looked at her and his hands itched to hold her. His gaze ran over her hair, and he longed to stroke it, to smell it and sink his fingers into it while he kissed her. He was contemplating her profile, when her phone began to ring out.
"Janine, hi, how did it go?"
Sebastian watched and listened, trying to catch the gist of the conversation. She'd called Janine on the way back from Quentin's hideaway, asking for her advice about where to go with the feature. It wasn't at all what she'd been expecting but it was a real scoop and an exclusive one. It was more of a people story than investigative, and as a result Amy had felt it her duty to discuss it with her line manager, first. Janine said she'd take it to the top of the media section then get back to her. Sebastian gathered that was part of the reason why Amy was cranking the article in, to keep her mind off what was going on down at HQ.
There was lots of gasping, "Oh no's" and one "Janine, you can't," but all in all Sebastian gathered it was good news. The good vibes were coming of her in waves.
"And how are things going with Roger," she asked, winking over at Sebastian while she listened to Janine's reply. "Cool, go girl go."
"Well, a man could die of suspense here," he declared, when she eventually put the phone down.
"Sebastian." She was standing, her hands on her cheeks as if to calm herself down. "Lucille, she's the head editor in media which is our division, she's like the equivalent to dad. Well, she said this one is such a good scoop there's no way investigation are having it." She beamed. "She's gone to fight Fiona for it now… apparently she got finance to shift the budget Dad agreed for this trip over to her tab already." She laughed again, and he could hear that it held a note of disbelief. She paced up and down, as if she was trying to take it all in.
"It's going out as a front page feature interview, and—if I'm up for it—it can launch a new media personality interview section. Janine says she wants to move on—that was a shock—but she's already discussed it with Lucille, apparently, and when she does the Women's Page can be revamped into media interviews, with me at the helm." Her eyes were wide, and she was staring at him as if she needed to say it aloud and hear him respond, just to help the information to sink in.
"That's fabulous news, are you going to take it?"
"Of course I'm going to take it. It's what I'm good at." She paced the floor, bubbling with energy. "Oh this is perfect," she added, turning toward him. "Do you see, if Lucille takes the responsibility for my work on this feature back to media, it means it won't look as if Dad did me any favors, after all. That would be such a relief. If she's got the budget moved, that's the key."
"Except that he paid for my time."
"That was his problem and, besides, you were a perk of the job, remember?" She winked at him.
Sebastian stood up and walked over to her, arresting her into his arms.
She hugged him gleefully then threw her head back, looking up at him with bright, excited eyes.
He kissed her mouth, savoring her exuberance and quickly growing hungry for her. "I have to ask." He drew away, reluctantly. "Can they spare their new superstar journo for one more night?"
"Oh yes," she replied, her hips rolling against his, tantalizingly. He was gripped with longing, longing to be inside her. He wanted to feel her yield, he wanted to feel that delicious sense of pleasure he got when he eased inside her and she urged him on.
"Oh, I think we'll have to have one more night together, at Tall Gables." She had such a suggestive, mischievous look on her face. She pulled away from him and began to strip off her clothes. "I'm going to take a shower now."
Sebastian stood exactly where she had left him, riveted to the spot, chaos welling up in his soul. Just one more night?
With dismay he watched her T-shirt going up and over her head. Her breasts bounced free when the soft white fabric pulled up over them. She threw the T-shirt to the floor and climbed out of her jeans and panties, dropping them in a heap. He traced her now familiar body with an affectionate gaze. He didn't want to have to say goodbye to her, he wanted to spend more time adoring each and every inch of her. She turned away, disappearing into the bathroom with a quick backward glance, a smile and a wave.
One more night?
He sat down on the edge of the bed, looking at the door leading into the bathroom for several restless moments. She had left it slightly ajar and it looked like an invitation. He felt restless and edgy. He stood up again and paced the length of the room. He heard the shower go on and the sound of Amy humming happily to herself.
He turned and stared again at the open door. He didn't want her to be in there, he wanted her to be here in his arms, now. He didn't want her investigative feature to be finished, he didn't want them to be finished. What had changed? Everything. Everything had changed.
He was deeply in love with her, and she had touched him in ways he never thought possible. His life had been a lot more fun, as well as more meaningful and complete. He really couldn't imagine life without Amy in it, not now.
I don't want just one more night.
He wanted more than that, much more, and he was going to have to show her that. He wanted to charge in to the bathroom right now and demand she keep seeing him, demand she commit herself to him as he was doing to her. He shook his head, his fingers furrowing through his hair.
"Steady man," he muttered to himself. "Take it steady."
* * * *
Amy closed her eyes and dropped her head back, letting the glorious warm water spill over her face. How things had turned around, since that morning. How lucky they were that fate had been on their side. Fate had wanted them to find Quentin and Natasha—fate had wanted them to meet. Fate had led her to Sebastian.