Minding Amy (27 page)

"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 Seventeen

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.

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.

She rinsed her hair out and soaped her breasts, humming happily. Steam spiraled out of the cubicle. She kept one eye on the doorway, where she could see the light from the bedroom. It grew brighter and she heard the door creaking open. She smiled when she saw Sebastian moving outside the frosted shower screen. He pulled it open.

"You took your time," she commented.

She'd been waiting for him to follow her. She knew he would. He'd been quietly watching her and waiting for her attention and she was being a bit naughty teasing him this way, but he'd soon know that one more night at Tall Gables was just the start, as far as she was concerned. It was obvious neither of them wanted to throw this away. What they had was way too good.

He stared at her, his expression serious. His gaze dropped down then slowly rose over her body. "You look like Venus walking out of the waves."