Page 92 of Snowed In with You

‘Stay here for what?’ asked Jonno, looking confused.

‘I’m not sure,’ said Lucy, her face burning hot. ‘I’ll join you in a bit.’

‘I’m not leaving you here on your own, you look like a twat,’ said Jonno, leaning up against the back wall next to her.

After a few minutes the security guard reappeared, his face grim. ‘Still here, then,’ he said, raising his voice over the sound of the singing.

‘I took the banner down,’ said Lucy. ‘Please don’t throw us out.’

‘What’s your name?’ he asked.

‘Lucy,’ she said.

‘Come on then.’ He gestured towards the exit door.

‘Where are we going?’

The security guard gave her a conspiratorial smile. ‘I’ve been told by one of Nate’s team to find out who was holding the banner. And if it’s a woman called Lucy with blonde hair, I’m supposed to take you backstage.’

Lucy grinned, then passed Jonno the bundle of sheets and poles. If her hands had been clammy before, they were sweating freely now.

‘I’ll just wait around here, shall I?’ said Jonno lightly.

‘Go to the bar,’ said Lucy breathlessly. ‘I won’t be long.’

Jonno threw an arm around her and kissed her hair. ‘Go get ’im, babe.’

‘Come on,’ said the security guard. ‘We need to get a move on.’

Lucy half-jogged behind him as they slipped out into the vestibule and headed down a corridor, then through a door with a keypad and along another series of dimly lit passages full of cables and equipment. Lucy hoped the security guard was going to hang around long enough to take her back, otherwise she could be lost in this backstage labyrinth for days.

‘Here,’ said the security guard, knocking on a door with a laminated sign saying Nate Lambert. Lucy barely had time to remember to breathe before the door opened, and a woman holding a pouch of make-up brushes appeared.

‘Come in,’ said Nate’s voice.

‘I’m just leaving,’ said the woman, edging past Lucy. She disappeared with the security guard, leaving Lucy all alone in the doorway, staring at Nate over by a rack of clothes and suddenly entirely lost for words.

‘Come in,’ said Nate again, waving her forward until she was inside enough to close the door behind her. She looked around for Alex, but it was just the two of them. The smile on Nate’s face told her how happy he was to see her, so she did the only thing that felt right in that moment and took three huge strides across the room to kiss him. He gathered her into his arms with a fervour that felt like passion, relief, desire and joy all at once, and for a heady minute there was nothing in Lucy’s head other than love for this extraordinary man.

‘How do you feel?’ whispered Nate, pulling away and giving her a searching look, the flickering anxiety in his eyes betraying that even now, he needed to be sure of her feelings.

‘Like I’ve reached the end of a really long journey,’ said Lucy, holding his gaze. ‘I’m sorry it took me so long.’

‘It doesn’t matter,’ said Nate, pulling her tightly into his body and letting out a long, slow breath. ‘You’re here now.’

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

‘I’ve only got five more minutes,’ said Nate, glancing at his watch as they lounged on the sofa in his dressing room, his arm thrown casually around her shoulder. ‘I told Alex I needed some time alone, but he’ll be along in a bit to check I’m OK. He’ll go apeshit if he finds you here.’

‘I’ll go in a minute,’ said Lucy, tilting her head up to kiss him. It felt like the latest of a thousand kisses she’d been storing up for him, and it was hard not to pepper him with all of them at once.

‘I thought you were dating Kristoff, anyway?’ said Nate with a grin.

‘We broke up a few weeks ago,’ shrugged Lucy. ‘But you already knew that.’

‘Yeah, I did,’ muttered Nate. ‘But if you’re still secretly dating, you should know that he’s cheating on you with a really hot Swiss woman.’

‘Condoms and chocolate,’ said Lucy. ‘They’re the ultimate match.’