Distraction

Chapter Thirteen

'No.'

'Liar.'

Fancy him? Fancy him didn't begin to cover it. After the first summoning spell, or was it the grounding exercise, she'd stopped fantasising about him and everything was fine. All fine until he hugged her again. God, how could he hug her when they'd just watched Max and Cleo practically shagging? Since then, most nights involved utterly inappropriate dreams, including one of him as a fireman.

'What does it matter? He's married. I couldn't have him, even if he didn't hate me.'

'So move on.'

'Who with? The policeman who would rather be with his ex-wife or Jack who'd shag around the minute my back was turned?'

'Personally, I'd drag either of them to bed,' Zoe said, her eyes suddenly widening. 'Or both?'

'Don't be ridiculous. Why's Jack here anyway? It's Saturday.'

'Making up the time he missed on Monday.' Zoe checked her watch. 'I can't believe it's pissing down. My hair's going to frizz.'

'You can't look worse than me.'

'This is true.' Zoe frowned at her. 'Okay, for one, Robbie can't sack you because you've done nothing wrong. And two, there's a rather single, very fit joiner in the kitchen, dying to see you. I'm off.'

Libby glanced towards the kitchen, and sighed. 'Later 'gator.'

'While 'dile.' Grabbing her umbrella, handbag and a bottle of red, Zoe headed out into the rain.

Glass of wine time. Libby headed into the kitchen, pointedly ignoring Jack as she opened the fridge. No white wine. She glanced across to the new wine rack built into the island. No red wine.

She swore, pushing her hair off her face. 'Bloody Zoe. She's just taken the last of the wine.'

'Sorry.' Jack said, packing his tools away.

'Why? It's not your fault.' She regretted her snappy tone the second the words came out. 'Sorry, I mean, it's not your fault.'

But then was any of this Jack's fault? Had she unintentionally summoned him? Jack ticked her boxes: good looks, twenty-nine, green eyes, English, single and surprisingly honest.

'Libby-'

'I'm going for a shower.'

The thunder rolled in as she climbed out of the shower, now precluded by flashes of lightening, some lighting the sky, some forking down to the ground. She stood in her bedroom, wrapped in a towel, watching the storm, Hyssop on the dresser next to her. The black clouds seemed endless. The wrath of the Earth Goddess.

There was a knock at the door.

'You decent?' Jack said from the other side.

She tightened the towel. 'More or less.'

Jack came in, his eyes only glancing at hers before he focussed on the floor, his right hand offering a glass of wine. 'I nicked a bottle from Aunty Sheila's.'

'Sheila from next door is your aunt?'

He nodded. 'She wasn't in, so I left a note. It's her elderflower wine.'

Libby sat on the bed, pressing her lips together to hide her smile as she took the glass. 'Thank you.'

He sat down, a foot away, with his his elbows on his knees, looking up at the opposite wall. 'You didn't fancy starting a fire, to see me in the uniform?'