Stirred with Love Read Free Page B

an accusation of him not wanting to come home for some reason was all it had taken for them to end the day sleeping back to back.
    Things seemed no better the following morning. In the icy atmosphere of their bedroom, Kate whistled when she heard Rosie pattering about downstairs.
    Nick frowned as the dog dashed past his feet. ‘Don’t let her jump on to the bed. She’s just been out in the garden.’
    Kate waited until she heard Nick going down the stairs and patted the duvet defiantly. Rosie jumped up without a moment’s hesitation.
    ‘Good morning, my lovely.’ Kate ruffled the dog’s fur under her chin. At least Rosie was always pleased to see her.
    Eight years ago, Rosie had been abandoned in one of the properties owned by Kate’s employers. The tenants had made a run for it without leaving a forwarding address. Rosie and her three brothers had been left behind too. When the housing officer had brought them to the office to await the arrival of the dog warden, Rosie had won Kate over as soon as she’d picked her up.
    Rosie licked Kate’s hand a couple of times before promptly curling up in a ball to doze off again.
    Kate gently tugged at her collar. ‘Not this morning, I’m afraid. Places to go and people to see.’
    Dressed and showered thirty minutes later, Kate drew back the curtains and noticed that Nick’s car still stood in the driveway. Her shoulders dropped. Great, that’s all she needed this morning, his miserable face putting her off her cereal. Carefully, she arranged the heavy muslin into two perfect arches and then made her way downstairs to face him.
    Nick was sitting at the table when she walked into the kitchen. He met her eye for a moment before he turned away and continued with his drink.
    Well, sod you, thought Kate. She flicked on the kettle, grabbed a mug from the rack and raised the volume on the radio.
    Rosie headed straight for her bowl. Kate spotted the morning’s newspaper folded over on the table. She reached across for it.
    ‘I want that,’ said Nick.
    ‘Oh, it does speak then,’ Kate replied.
    Nick didn’t acknowledge her. Instead, he snatched the paper from out of her grasp.
    ‘But I want to flick through it before you go to work,’ she protested.
    ‘I’m going in a minute.’
    ‘I’ll only be a minute.’
    Nick slammed down his mug, the contents dripping over his clean, white shirt. Kate hid a smirk as he tried to brush them off with his hand.
    ‘Why do you always have to wind me up, Kate?’
    ‘Oh, take the blasted newspaper if it makes you feel better!’
    ‘Don’t be so pathetic.’
    ‘Don’t be so childish then.’
    ‘ Me ? You’re the one who’s childish. The one who thinks she’s still sixteen. Single with no responsibilities. That’s what you really want, isn’t it? Your single life back, so you can openly flirt with every guy that you fancy? You could even become a clone of your wonderful friend, Louise.’
    ‘Why do you always bring Louise into the conversation?’
    Nick frowned. ‘I don’t.’
    ‘Yes, you do.’ Kate popped two rounds of bread into the toaster and deliberately kept her back to him. ‘Is it because you’re jealous that we spend the odd hour together every now and then? Time I should be spending with you?’
    ‘Oh, grow up, Kate.’
    ‘No, come on, hotshot,’ she encouraged as she stirred her coffee. ‘Tell me what’s really bothering you.’
    ‘You wouldn’t want to hear it.’
    ‘Try me.’
    Nick stood up, shoved the newspaper inside his briefcase and clicked the lid shut. Much to Kate’s annoyance, he then switched off the radio. She stared at him until he lifted his eyes to meet hers, his look dark and menacing. But she refused to be warned off.
    ‘Come on, try me,’ she repeated.
    ‘Okay then,’ said Nick. ‘You make me feel like you don’t want to be around me anymore.’
    Kate kept her eyes locked on his, for fear of giving her inner most secrets away. Could he read her mind?
    ‘You only make an effort