Page 77 of Snowed In with You

‘It’s fine,’ said Lucy.

‘No, it isn’t, but I’ve been wanting to explain. That week had been crazy, with everything that happened after we got back from Zermatt. I’d barely slept, and I wasn’t expecting to see you there.’

‘I wasn’t expecting to see you either,’ said Lucy. They walked side-by-side, close enough that Lucy could feel the heat of his body.

‘Anyway, I—’ he continued.

‘It’s OK, Nate,’ said Lucy, reaching out to touch his arm. The crackle of electricity made them both gasp and jump back.

‘We’ve still got some chemistry, I see,’ laughed Nate, blushing.

More than I’ve ever had with Kristoff, thought Lucy, feeling simultaneously guilty and more alive than she’d felt in months. This feeling – this hum in her veins, this tingle of anticipation on her skin – was what she’d been trying to find since she’d finished with Marco and Anthony. She’d forgotten what it felt like, until now.

Lucy looked away, feeling a bit flustered and needing to get a handle on the conversation. ‘It’s nice that Sasha is here,’ she said. ‘She told me you’d moved out.’

‘Yeah,’ said Nate. ‘It wasn’t really working. And look, I really appreciate you keeping quiet about her being . . . you know. It was a lot to ask.’

‘It’s fine,’ said Lucy again, feeling like there were still a million things to say apart from It’s fine, and time was running out. ‘You seeing anyone else?’

‘Er . . .’ muttered Nate, looking away. Lucy’s heart sank, furious with herself for asking the question. What purpose did it serve? They’d both travelled a thousand lifetimes since Zermatt, but in entirely different directions.

‘You guys want anything?’ shouted Kristoff, waving a bottle of champagne.

What do I want? thought Lucy. I want to feel absolutely sure that I’m in the right relationship with the right man. That I’m not still holding out for something I can’t have. She looked at Nate, who smiled bleakly.

‘Do they have any Jägermeister?’ said Nate, and Lucy started to laugh.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

‘Done,’ said Kristoff, pulling out his AirPods and throwing them in the tray on the dashboard. ‘Sorry about that, I hate doing meetings on Sundays. You want some music?’

‘Sure,’ said Lucy, glad that it was just the two of them and he’d given Andy the day off. She was feeling tired and restless after yesterday, her head still reeling from an incredible day that had ended with Lizzo on the Pyramid Stage and a final round of champagne in Titan’s admittedly lovely backstage cabana. The videos Kristoff had posted on TikTok had captured the buzz and frenzy of it all, and she’d had to drag herself away at 10 p.m. Today the whole thing felt like a dream, and being chauffeured to Croydon would just be another reminder that this thing with Kristoff wasn’t real life. Nate’s not real life either, she told herself, trying to shove thoughts of Nate aside. He’d joined them for Lizzo, wearing a fedora and a pair of sunglasses so he didn’t get mobbed by fans, which had mostly worked in the gathering dark. But now he’d gone back to his celebrity life, and it wasn’t fair on Kristoff that she was still thinking about him.

Kristoff pressed some buttons on the steering wheel until Radio 1 started playing, then reached over and took Lucy’s hand.

‘What’s the plan for this evening?’ he asked.

‘My mother’s cooking. I think she’s attempting something from an Ottolenghi cookbook that’s been collecting dust for a decade.’

‘Not on my account, I hope,’ he said, pulling a face. He hated people going to any trouble, and would much rather have taken everyone out for dinner. But Shirley had been insistent.

‘I think that’s reasonable to assume. They’ve both got work tomorrow, so we can head back after breakfast.’

‘I need to head straight back to New York,’ said Kristoff. ‘Sorry.’

‘It’s fine,’ shrugged Lucy. ‘I’ll come with you to the airport and get the train back to Bristol.’ Short notice changes of direction weren’t unusual in Kristoff’s world, which was another reason why they rarely made plans beyond the next week. Titan was flying high right now, and there was a lot of talk about whether the next step was a merger or a buyout or an IPO.

‘Why don’t you come with me?’ he asked. ‘You can work out of LUNA’s New York office and stay at mine.’

Lucy swallowed down an anxious flutter in her belly; this was something new. They’d never spent more than three consecutive nights together, and she’d never stayed at his place in New York. London, yes – he had a riverside apartment in Chelsea that had a lot of glass walls and very little furniture. But when she’d been to New York for work, she’d always stayed in a hotel.

‘I don’t have any clothes,’ said Lucy feebly. Her overnight bag contained the bare minimum, and there was an unsettling amount of laundry waiting for her back in Bristol.

‘We’ll go shopping in Manhattan tomorrow afternoon,’ said Kristoff happily. ‘Get you a New York capsule wardrobe. You can leave it at mine for next time.’

‘My God, can you imagine?’ laughed Lucy, who had never owned a capsule anything. There was a long moment of heavy silence, and Lucy realised he wasn’t joking. She could actually feel the temperature in the car dropping.

‘Well, maybe another time,’ said Kristoff, then turned the radio up.