Falling For You [Tom Hiddleston]

42

"One would think I'd have a say about what's in my best interest, it being my life and all," Tom grumbled.

"It may be your life," Emma said, crossing her arms over her chest. "But surely you haven't forgotten that your decisions affect us as well! This time, more than five minutes notice that the paps are going to be surrounding our house would be appreciated."

Tom cast his eyes heavenward in a silent appeal for patience. "Are you still holding that against me, Em?"

"Not really; I just thought you were in need of a reminder."

I raised an eyebrow at him. "Do I want to know?"

He kissed my temple, lips lingering against my skin. "I'll tell you later."

When Tom's phone rang, I took advantage of his momentary distraction to slip out of his arms to go check on my scones. The tops were now a light golden brown, so I turned off the oven and pulled out the baking sheet, leaving it on top of the range to cool. I tossed the potholder onto the counter so I could turn off the burner under the annoyingly loud kettle before rummaging through the utensil drawer for a flat spatula.

"I'll take care of the tea," Sarah volunteered as she came up beside me and began to add loose leaf tea to the kettle.

"Thanks for backing me up earlier," I murmured quietly, finally finding the right one.

"You're welcome," she replied as put the container away again with an efficiency of movement that told me she'd been here often. "I'll admit it's nice to see him happy again."

Emma smiled as she handed me a serving plate for the scones. "I agree; don't get me wrong, I love Meg and all but she just wasn't right for Tom."

"Em, remember how Mum kept telling him to go after Sadie?" Sarah chuckled. "As if he ever stood a chance there!"

"How could I forget?" Emma sighed, rolling her eyes. "Mum was rather put out when Sadie and Seb made it official earlier this year," she informed me. "Completely ignoring the fact that Sadie has never once given any sort of indication that she thought of our brother as anything other than a dear friend, of course."

I blinked at her. "So you're saying your dear Maman would've made an excellent Regency era matchmaking mama, then."

"Yes!" Both women chorused, then burst out laughing delightedly.

"So what did you think of Sadie, Claire?" Sarah asked when she regained control again.

"Oh, she made quite the impression on me," I admitted. "Her sons sound pretty entertaining; did one of them really get stuck in the Murphy bed?"

"Oh, yes," Sarah giggled as Emma doubled over with laughter. "I'd forgotten about that until now."

"What's so funny?" Tom asked with an adorably confused half-smile, tucking his phone back in his pocket as he approached.

"Liam and Isaac's...Murphy bed incident!" Emma giggled, wiping tears from the corners of her eyes.

"I still can't believe the little rascals did that on purpose," he huffed in amusement, kissing my temple as he slid his arms around me from behind. "If you lot have this covered, I'll meet Mum with a brolly. The wind stripped hers getting into the taxi."

"We'll be fine," Sarah said, waving him off dismissively. "On with you."

I leaned my head back against his shoulder and looked up at him with an impish grin. "Nope, can't do tea."

"It's a good thing we're not in the States, then." Tom spun me around to face him and gave me a quick kiss. "And remember darling, you're still under lifting restrictions."