Page 9 of The Mad Marchams

“Do you have your boarding pass?”

He took it out of his back pocket and gave it to her. “Ceremonial burning?”

“No.” She started to blush. “Actually, and I hope you don’t mind, I had about a million air miles about to expire, and so I asked if we could both be upgraded to first class and they said yes.”

“That’s…very kind of you.”

She was kind, something that was woefully underappreciated these days. God, he wanted to tuck her under his arm like his old teddy bear and hold onto her forever. He added, “But I’m quite happy to sit in business class and glower at the back of your head for eleven hours.”

“I’d much rather you sat next to me and guzzled champagne.” Her hazel gaze was suddenly shy. “But I also get it if you don’t want to accept something like this or feel like you owe me. It’s just that the miles were about to disappear, and⁠—”

“I’m more than willing to owe you, whatever that means. And I’d much rather sit with you than a random returning tourist. Thank you.”

“Cool.” She let out her breath. “That’s great.”

He had to kiss her. But then he wanted to keep kissing her, strip her naked, and make love to her, which wasn’t going to work in the middle of San Francisco International. A discreet cough behind him made him ease away from Mabel. The customer service agent held out two new boarding passes and smiled at them like they were newlyweds.

“Would you like to wait in the club lounge? I can show you the way.”

CHAPTER THREE

Mabel woke up as a set of tall gates creaked open to allow Colin’s small car through. She blinked and rubbed her eyes, straining to see where on earth they were going. Apart from the gleam of the headlights, the blackness outside was all encompassing, and there were no lights directly ahead to guide their way. Colin leaned forward over the steering wheel, his gaze intent as he navigated along what looked like a never-ending driveway.

She squeaked as they bumped over something hard and he shot her a glance.

“Cattle grid. Keeps the cows out of the garden.”

“We have those in America, too.”

He grinned at her. “Gardens or cows?”

“Both.”

She braced her hand against the door as he took a sudden left turn away from the faint glimmer of lights ahead and plunged them into darkness again.

“There’s a ha-ha around here somewhere. It’s much more picturesque,” Colin said.

“A what?” Mabel asked.

“Never mind. We’re nearly there.” He sounded quite tense. She wasn’t sure if it was due to the driving conditions, or what awaited them.

“There is a there?”

He stopped the car and turned the engine off. Mabel heard nothing except the sound of Colin’s footsteps in the gravel as he came around to open her door. A single light to the car’s left illuminated a red brick wall and a battered blue door with a brass knocker on it. She got out, stretching her neck, and smelled a sweet perfume and something not so pleasant.

“I love the scent of manure in the morning.” She wrinkled her nose. “The cows obviously worked out how to get around the cattle grid.”

He glanced down at her as he picked up their bags. “That’s the stables. No cows in there.” Using his foot, he kicked open what she assumed was the front door. “Come on up.”

They went inside. She followed him along a narrow corridor and up a steep set of curving stairs. “Stables? Do you live on a farm?”

“There’s one quite close.” He opened another door at the top of the cramped landing. “Here we are.”

Mabel walked into the room ahead of him and stopped dead. “There’s a four-poster bed in here.”

“I know. It was built in situ, so no one knows how to get it out without chopping it up into matchsticks. It’s quite comfortable.” He put their bags down on the rug and put a couple of lamps on. “Bathroom’s through here.”

She followed him into another large room, which held a porcelain sink, a toilet, and a standalone bath that looked big enough for two. One of the walls was filled with elaborately polished wooden doors and drawers.