Unmasked (Revealed #1) (20 page)

Unaware of my sudden melancholy, Sean rested his hands on my hips and dipped down to place a quick kiss on my nose. ‘Well, your wish is my command. I’m all yours, my gorgeous girl,’ he murmured, before moving his lips to my mouth and taking his time to softly reacquaint me with his talented tongue.

He was mine. For today at least, I thought with a sad smile against his mouth.

Once I had shelved my gloomy thoughts, our Christmas Day proceeded fantastically; there might not have been any Christmas decorations or presents – although sex with Sean was practically a gift in itself – but we spent the morning listening to Christmas songs on the radio while snuggling up together in front of a roaring log fire which Sean had built and lit. Perhaps that was where his mildly smoky, spicy scent came from. Whatever its source, I loved it.

At lunch time we ate the beef roast, and it was delicious if I do say so myself. Actually, considering my limited ingredients, it had turned out far better than expected: the meat was succulent and tender, the potatoes crispy and moreish, and after devouring four of my Yorkshire puddings Sean had pronounced them to be the best he’d ever eaten, which had pleased me no end.

Our afternoon then slipped into one of pure indulgence as we snuggled together on Sean’s huge sofa for a post-dinner snooze before we began to watch
Die Hard
– selected because we’d missed all the good films on television, and it was the closest thing Sean had to a Christmas movie. Besides, once I’d mentioned in passing that I’d never seen that particular Bruce Willis film, he had stared at me in shock and then insisted we watch it so he could ‘educate me on Christmas classics’. The cheeky bastard.

The television was on, the room was cosy from the fire, and we were relaxing together, which was ideal for a lazy day like this. Given how new this intimacy between us was, I felt surprisingly comfortable with him, and found myself able to push away my worries about what the future might hold for us and just absorb the current bliss.

Lifting his arm, Sean patted around on the sofa until he located the TV remote, then pressed pause, and placed a kiss on my temple. ‘Let’s talk,’ he suggested.

Nodding my agreement, I snuggled closer to his chest and waited for him to start the conversation, only to find him lying below me quietly. That was fine by me; there was plenty I wanted to talk about.

‘So what’s your next film project?’

Below me, I felt Sean’s chest rise and fall sharply as he let out a sigh, almost as if he was disappointed that I was choosing to talk about work. After a short pause he shifted me slightly in his arms and replied, ‘I was supposed to be flying out to America tomorrow night for a week’s film shoot. It’s an advert for the new series of
LA Blue
, but judging by this weather, I won’t be going anywhere.’ The idea that he had to leave tomorrow struck me in the chest way harder than it should have done, and I instantly felt myself tense in his arms. It was nearly over. My scintillating snow-bound fling with Sean would be coming to an end incredibly soon.

‘Then after that I have a few weeks’ break before I’m heading back to LA to start shooting the next season. They’ve just extended our contracts for at least another two seasons, so I’ll be back and forth quite a bit.’ Pushing aside the sudden sadness that had settled on my mind, I nodded. I remembered him mentioning the series title before, but I hadn’t yet got around to watching it. Actually, I might try and avoid it altogether now that I’d had this fling with Sean.

In fact, once I’d gone back to my real life I think I’d be trying to avoid
anything
that might remind me of him and make me realise what I’d had so briefly as mine. Roast beef dinners would definitely be off the menu for a while, as would
Die Hard
films, sponges in the shower … ugh, the list just went on and on.

It was stupid, really, because we’d met less than a week ago, but the feelings Sean had stirred within me were so potent that I already knew I was going to miss him terribly.

‘So, enough about me. I want to know more about you,’ he said, breaking the silence as he rolled me further onto his chest so that he could access my long waves of hair. Adjusting my loose ponytail onto my spine he slipped the hair tie off and began to rhythmically smooth his hands down the strands.

The repetitive sliding motion was almost lulling me off to sleep, and I had to force my brain to engage and remember his question. ‘Oh, OK. There’s not much to tell. I’m quite boring, but fire away. What do you want to know?’ I asked, causing Sean to snort out a laugh at my comment.

‘You are far from boring, Allie,’ he corrected me, his strict tone making me laugh. I
was
boring when compared to him though – he was flying off to LA to shoot a TV series, and what would I be doing? Oh yes, going back to school to teach another term with my year threes. Hardly comparable lifestyles – although I didn’t bother to say it out loud again.

‘Start with your name. Is it short for something?’ His hand was still stroking down the length of my hair, something he really seemed quite fascinated with, so with a contented sigh I let my eyes flicker shut as I relaxed against him, completely at ease. My nose wrinkled as I considered his question.

‘Yeah, my name is Alexis, but I hate it, so I’ve always shortened it to Allie.’

‘Alexis? That’s quite a unique name, but I don’t see why you hate it; it’s pretty,’ he mumbled against my temple, but I huffed, remembering how all the kids at school had called me ‘posh’ for years, and then of course there were the boys, who upon discovering that Alexis could also be a male name had spent endless hours taking the piss out of me.

‘It is, but I prefer Allie. My dad is a bit of a history buff, I’m named after some Greek poet.’

‘It’s more exciting than my name. I can’t even shorten it,’ he murmured before falling quiet again.

We had lain in companionable silence for the last few hours as we’d snoozed and watched the television, but below me, I suddenly felt a change. Sean became noticeably tenser, and I could feel his jaw working against the top of my head as if he was chewing nervously on his lip. Pushing myself upright I looked at him and found him doing exactly that – his lip was being chewed frantically between his teeth as his concerned, frowning face looked up at me warily.

At the sight of his unease, I felt my own eyebrows pull together nervously. ‘What’s up?’

His blue eyes narrowed for a second before Sean guided me into a sitting position and pulled himself up to join me, his shoulders still bunched and his jaw continuing to work endlessly. ‘How old are you?’

Oh, was that it? I’d been expecting some horrible statement or strange confession or another heart-wrenching tale perhaps, but all he wanted was my age. ‘Twenty-six. Twenty-seven in July.’

Nodding his head, I saw him briefly flinch and draw in a long breath. ‘I’d guessed as much, but I was secretly hoping you might be a bit older.’ My eyebrows went from furrowed to rising significantly. Was I too young for him to have a casual fling with? Or did he just prefer his women more mature?

‘Well, I’m sorry to disappoint you,’ I muttered petulantly, folding my arms and well aware that I sounded just as immature as he had made me feel.

Running a hand though his hair, Sean shook his head. ‘I didn’t mean it like that, Allie. Christ, what man wouldn’t want you? You’re a beautiful, intelligent, funny, twenty-six year old. And gorgeous to boot. I just meant that I’d hoped you might be slightly closer to my age so you weren’t concerned by the age gap.’

Oh. Age gap? I knew he was older than me, I suspected late thirties, but it didn’t bother me in the slightest – I’d always had a thing for older men. There was just something about their calm maturity and experience which I found a huge turn on. And physically speaking, Sean was in better shape than any man I’d ever dated, and probably would ever date, so I didn’t understand why he was worried. Especially seeing as this thing between us didn’t ever really stand a chance of progressing beyond his house. As soon as the snow had melted I’d be going back to school and he would be going back to his star-studded life of glamour and movies. I couldn’t see why he was getting so worked up about it.

‘It doesn’t bother me,’ I said simply, telling the compete truth, but he looked decidedly sceptical.

‘I am significantly older than you, Allie. It matters,’ he whispered, leaning in to trace his thumb down my jawline. The intensity of our connection once again had me breathless, and as I tried to draw in some air I found myself desperately wishing that he really did want something more long-term between us.

‘Not to me, it doesn’t.’

Sighing heavily, he smiled at me thinly while shaking his head. ‘You are so fucking sweet.’ Another sigh had his shoulders rising and falling harshly before he pinned me with an intense gaze. ‘How old do you think I am?’

Ah, he was deflecting it, was he? I was fairly sure thirty-eight was the correct answer, but not definite in that knowledge. I hadn’t specifically googled his age in my searches because it really hadn’t bothered me enough to do so, but he’d said he had ‘just turned twenty-five’ at the time of Elena’s death, and I think the article on the accident had been dated from 2001, which would make him thirty-eight now if my maths was correct. Which it frequently wasn’t. Or was the article dated 2005? Shit. I couldn’t remember. Bugger. I didn’t want to make a faux pas and increase his paranoia if I said he was older than he was, so I erred on the side of caution. ‘Thirty-four?’ I guessed.

Watching his reaction carefully, I saw immediately that underestimation was the wrong thing to do, because his face now looked even more stressed as he winced and shifted himself across the sofa away from me and crossed his arms. ‘Thirty-eight?’ I asked, hoping for the life of me that I wasn’t wrong again.

Flashing me a wary glance Sean nodded slowly, scrutinising my reaction the entire time. A twelve year gap. It was hardly the end of the world. This reaction in him was all very bizarre, and my mind kept returning to the faint possibility that he might want more from me than just a casual fling. Could it be possible? It would certainly explain his behaviour, but it just seemed so unlikely that I pushed it away before my fantastical imagination could go into overdrive. Again.

Rolling my eyes at not only my stupid thoughts but his defensive posture and withdrawn expression, I decided to try and lighten the mood. This thing between us might only last until the thaw, but we may as well enjoy it while we could.

Crawling across the gap he had created between us, I straddled him, bringing my hands up to rest on his shoulders so we were eye to eye. ‘Sean. I. Don’t. Care.’ I emphasised each word slowly and clearly. I wanted to say that we were perfect for each other, and that his age didn’t matter because the way he made me feel was so incredible. But I didn’t. It was way too soon to be throwing those types of thoughts on the table.

‘Christmas is my favourite time of the year and you’re starting to spoil it with your tantrum. Can we go back to our film and snuggle like we were before?’ Blinking at me several times, Sean cocked his head and examined me quizzically, before finally seeming to believe me as he smiled tentatively, his posture relaxing and eyes beginning to twinkle again. Phew. Disaster averted.

‘Your wish is my command, gorgeous girl.’ Then, wrapping his arms around my waist he manoeuvred us so we were laid out full length on the sofa again, and pressed play on the remote so that Bruce Willis could get back to saving Christmas Day.

The film had ended a while ago, the credits long since finished, leaving the TV screen blank and the room quiet. Below me, Sean snored softly, so I decided to leave him to catch up on his sleep and go to burn off my Christmas dinner.

Now that I no longer had to hide away in his house I was quite looking forward to using the home gym, and jogged up to my room energetically to see if I had any suitable clothing for a work out. Narrowing my eyes, I looked at my pitifully pathetic options – I had trainers at least, because I’d been wearing them the day I arrived, but as far as suitable gym wear went, that was about it.

Dressing in the only outfit really available to me, I stood and appraised myself in the long mirror in my bedroom. The sight had me doubling over in near hysterical laughter until I was wiping away tears with the back of my hand – I was wearing trainers and socks, nothing on my legs, and one of Sean’s gigantic T-shirts; that was all.

In short, I looked ridiculous.

In addition to the gargantuan T-shirt, I was also wearing my normal bra, which wasn’t ideal but was relatively supportive and so would have to do. As long as I avoided anything overly bouncy like star jumps, I’d be fine. I could always wash it afterwards and dry it off on the radiator. Besides, I was sure my new, happy Sean wouldn’t be complaining if I went braless for a few hours, I thought with a smirk.

Fingering the gigantic T-shirt I realised it was probably quite dangerous to attempt a run in a garment that was so oversized, so I pulled the belt from my jeans and tied it around the middle before pursing my lips and glancing in the mirror again. OK, so now I looked even stupider, but at least I wouldn’t catch my arms and end up falling over.

Pushing aside my concerns about my appearance I made my way to the gym. Looking around properly for the first time I saw it was small, but perfectly formed, containing just a treadmill, rowing machine, weights bench, stack of towels, and an iPod dock complete with metallic blue iPod. Picking it up I scrolled through Sean’s music as I stretched for a few minutes to warm up, and found it positively stuffed with choice – he had everything from classical to rock, pop, and right through to some seriously heavy metal on here.

Opting for something I often ran to at home I selected one of my current favourites from Imagine Dragons, set it playing, and stepped onto the treadmill.

Considering I’d had several days off my usually strict regime, I was pleasantly surprised by how well I was managing. The display on my treadmill now read thirty-two minutes, and although I was sweating, I was running pretty fast and still relatively in control of my breathing, so all in all, this wasn’t a bad effort at all. Mind you, with all of the super sexing Sean had been throwing my way in the last few days, he’d probably been a major contributor to helping maintain my fitness levels.