Free Artistic Licence by Katie Fforde

do most.
    ‘On the other hand, you may not fancy a longish drive at this time of night when you’ve only just arrived.’ He grinned. ‘If I’d known you were coming, I’d have baked a cake …’
    ‘I really am being a dreadful nuisance.’
    ‘Not at all. I wouldn’t have invited you if I hadn’t wanted you to come. I’m just not that much of a cook.’
    Here was a situation she felt at home in. ‘On the other hand, I’m an expert in making meals out of nothing.’
    ‘I couldn’t ask you to do that,’ said Rory, obviously quite keen on the idea.
    ‘Why don’t I have a poke around and see what I cancome up with?’ Thea got to her feet again, determined that Rory shouldn’t regret her arrival. If she couldn’t promise him a night of hot, imaginative sex, hot, imaginative cooking might be some compensation.
    ‘Excellent plan. I’ll make up the fire. Did you want to sleep in the back bedroom?’
    ‘What are the alternatives?’
    ‘Come and I’ll show you.’ He opened the door to the right of the front door and showed Thea a glimpse inside a large room with a wonderful view of the sea. ‘This is mine. It has a double bed, a goose down duvet and goose feather pillows, but I come as part of the package. I don’t mind sharing, but I’m not giving it up entirely.’
    ‘Right,’ said Thea cautiously. ‘And what about the other bedroom?’
    It was across the way from his, on the left of the entrance. It had the same high, wood-lined ceiling as the sitting room, two single beds and a couple of wardrobes in it.
    ‘The house belonged to my uncle. He didn’t have children of his own, but he used it as a holiday cottage for his nieces and nephews. He left it to me when I told him I’d live in it if he did. He was an artist.’
    ‘Did he do these?’ Thea indicated a pair of small seascapes in oil which hung over the beds. ‘Or is that your work?’
    ‘His. It’s good, though, don’t you think?’
    ‘Mm. Did he do them here?’
    ‘I should think so. I tend to work on a slightly larger scale.’
    ‘Will you show me your work tomorrow?’
    ‘Maybe. But now I’m going to show you the kitchenand all that it has to offer in the way of spaghetti, tinned custard and tomato ketchup. If you can find a meal in it I’ll show you all the wonders of my kingdom.’ He smiled into her eyes and she felt her libido stir again. ‘There’s also a sack of potatoes and a hunk of cheese.’
    They ate at the table in front of the fire. The dining table was entirely taken up with books and junk mail, a selection of dirty crockery and a large coil of rope. Obviously no one had eaten at it for a long time.
    ‘You’re a grand cook!’ said Rory. ‘I’m glad I invited you.’
    ‘I’m glad you think so, because I pretty much invited myself.’
    ‘Not at all. I gave you my address, didn’t I?’
    ‘You did. Have some more pie.’ She had boiled sliced potatoes and made them into a pie with tinned tomatoes, fried onions, eggs and milk, and covered it all with grated cheese.
    ‘I will. I wouldn’t have got anything half as nice down at the pub.’
    ‘You’re very flattering. Shall I make some tea?’
    ‘Or a drop more of the “crater”?’
    Thea was willing to bet he meant whiskey. ‘I’d rather have tea. I am quite tired.’
    ‘Tea it is, then. And don’t worry about the washing up. Susan will do it in the morning.’
    Thea was dead on her feet but she resolved to get up early and sort out the kitchen. She had a feeling that her lodgers didn’t bother about clearing up their late-night snacks because they said, ‘Thea will do it in the morning.’ How were they managing now,she wondered? Tomorrow, if she felt like it, she would ring them and tell them where she was. But only if she felt like it.
    Rory and Thea said good night amicably, with just enough teasing flirtation on Rory’s part to make it clear how he felt about Thea. Thea went to bed half wishing she were the sort of girl who could just jump