‘Wait.’ Emily freezes, her hand against his now bare chest. ‘Did you hear that?’
‘Didn’t hear anything.’ Rupert reaches for her again, nuzzling into her neck. Now that the champagne has worn off, he doesn’t want to waste another minute of the evening.
‘Listen.’ Emily pulls away and goes to the door, pressing her ear against it. ‘There’s someone outside, Rupert.’
‘Em… don’t be silly, come here. It’s probably just Miles or Sadie going to bed. Or one of the others. They’ve got more than one spare room, you know.’ He tries to keep the testiness from his voice, but honestly, he just wants to get into bed. And not to sleep. He walks up behind her, turning her to face him. Emily relaxes back into his arms and he starts to edge her towards the bed, planting tiny kisses all over her face, her neck, his hands running over her body.
‘Wait.’ She freezes again, pushing him away from her, and he groans in frustration. ‘Listen. Can you hear it?’
Rupert strains his ears, and thinks maybe, maybe, he hears the tiniest of knocking sounds. ‘It’s nothing, Em. Come on, you’re just feeling jumpy because you thought you saw someone outside the house the other night. There was nothing then, and there’s nothing now.’
As soon as the words leave his lips there is a sharp bang, as if someone has slapped their hand against the bedroom door, and Emily lets out a little shriek, her hands flying to her mouth.
‘Please, Rupert, will you just go and look?’ Emily turns to him, her face pleading. ‘That was definitely someone outside our bedroom door. I feel weird enough staying here tonight; I’ll never sleep if I think someone is spying on us.’ Caro’s name hangs unspoken in the air between them.
Rupert sighs, although his heart is racing. ‘OK. If it’ll make you feel better. It’s probably just someone staggering to their room – you saw how drunk everyone was. I won’t be a minute.’ Emily gives him a roguish grin, and he pulls his shirt back on and heads downstairs.
I wait for fifteen minutes or so, the sheets artfully arranged around my naked body so that my shoulders and chest are bare. I fidget, running my fingers through my hair, giving it that sexy, tousled look that Rupert loves and glance impatiently at the bedside clock. How long does it take to check if there’s anyone outside? The champagne is wearing off now, leaving me with the thick thud of a headache beginning at my temples, and I am starting to get cold, goosebumps rising on my arms as I wait for Rupert. I wait another five minutes before I tug the sheets away and pull on Rupert’s discarded sweater and slip my knickers back on. Rupert will surely be on his way back and I’ll bump into him on the landing, and then we’ll slide back into the warmth of the bed. Grinning to myself at the thought, I let myself admire my ring one more time before I open the door and peep out. Part of me is still jumpy, and I half expect a face to loom out of the darkness… but there’s nothing. Not even any sign of Rupert.
Maybe he’s gone to get some water? My temples throb in sympathy and I decide that I’ll go down and get some anyway. Rupert can’t have gone far. I creep silently down the stairs, not wanting to wake anyone, a reassuring yellow glow of light spilling from the entrance to the kitchen. As I get to the bottom stair, I pause, unable to comprehend what I’m seeing at first. I was right, Rupert did go to the kitchen, but he’s not alone. Sadie sits on the high bar stool in front of him, her head resting against his chest, as his arms go around her shoulders and she clasps him about the waist. Rupert is murmuring something, and she raises her head to look at him, pulling away.
I watch, hardly daring to breathe, my ears straining to pick up what they might be saying but I can’t hear anything, just the low mumble of their voices. Rupert takes her hands in his now, holding them tightly as she says something and he nods, leaning down to kiss her on the cheek. It feels intimate, private, and I turn and quietly hurry back up the stairs to the safety of the bedroom, sliding back into bed and tugging the sheets up around my neck. A few minutes later, I hear the door open, and Rupert’s light breaths as he gets into bed beside me. I can feel him leaning over me, so I regulate my breathing as if I have fallen deeply asleep and he pauses for a second, before dropping a light kiss on my hair and rolling over. I lay there, my mind replaying the two of them together, until fingers of light filter through the blinds and finally, I fall asleep.
Emily stirs, and Rupert smiles as he watches her go from dozy to full wakefulness, slowly, like she’s making the most of the morning sunlight that slants across the room.
‘Morning, sleepyhead.’ Rupert has been awake for what feels like hours, waiting for Emily to wake up.
‘Ouch.’ She struggles into a sitting position, one hand clutching her head. ‘Champagne head. Sorry for falling asleep on you last night.’
Rupert laughs and kisses her, not wanting to talk about it. He had been a little relieved when he got back to the room and Emily had been fast asleep in bed – his brief conversation with Sadie had left him feeling unsettled. But a good night’s sleep and waking up to Emily’s smile has just made him even more convinced he’s doing the right thing. Emily is definitely the one.
‘Coffee?’ Emily says, as she
