Enlightened Read Online Free PDF Page B

negotiate several large piles of books and boxes, presumably new stock – definitely not in any sort of order – before I came to Rebecca’s cosy office. When I say ‘cosy’, I’m being polite. In actuality her office is about the size of a broom closet, and that’s being decidedly generous.
    Poking my head in, I found Rebecca shoving her laptop into its bag before spinning to me with a huge grin on her face. As much as I might think of myself as a tough guy I just couldn’t help the way I reacted to my girl when she looked at me like that, and as was now the norm, I found myself reflecting her grin like a giddy teenager as I felt my heart start to thump a little faster in my chest. ‘All done?’
    Shouldering her laptop bag and grabbing a holdall Rebecca nodded. ‘Yep. I packed a weekend bag this morning like you told me to.’ Stepping forwards she wrapped an arm around my neck and pulled my head down for a quick kiss which sent a fire racing from my lips straight to my groin before she leant back and levelled a narrowed glance at me. ‘Are you going to tell me where we’re going now?’ I had no idea if Rebecca felt the same spark between us every time we touched, but for me, even after a year and a half, the thrilling effect hadn’t faded. I hoped it never would.
    Getting a grip on my runaway libido I tried to think with my brain and not my trousers as I smiled down at her. ‘Just for a nice weekend away,’ I replied vaguely, with a waggle of my eyebrows as I took the bag from her hand. ‘Come on, let’s head off and beat the rush hour.’
    Just over four hours later we arrived at our destination, Langdale Chase, a beautiful and exclusive country house hotel on the shores of Lake Windermere. Rebecca might not have known my exact destination as I drove, but being born and bred in the Lake District she had realised we were heading for Cumbria as soon as I’d turned off the M6 at junction 36, and had been giddy with excitement ever since.
    As I slowly negotiated the gravel driveway towards the hotel Rebecca drew in a gasp. ‘Nicholas, this place is beautiful,’ she murmured softly as she gazed out of the window while I parked the car. ‘I used to do a cycle route as a kid that took us past this hotel, but that’s about as close as I’ve ever been to it.’ Swivelling back around to me as I turned off the ignition I saw Rebecca frown, ‘It’s pretty exclusive here, Nicholas. I wish you’d picked somewhere a bit less pricy, that way I might not feel like such a freeloader.’ Watching as she nervously chewed on a fingernail I smiled and reached across to tug her hand from her mouth, pulling it to my own lips and placing a kiss on the tip. Lowering her hand I stroked her knee reassuringly and gave it a squeeze until Rebecca took the hint and met my calm gaze.
    ‘But this is my treat for you, Rebecca. I don’t want you paying for anything; that would defeat the point of it being my treat ,’ I explained patiently, knowing that Rebecca was still a little uncomfortable with the amount of money that resided in my bank accounts. She had no reason to be, I knew she wasn’t after me for my money. After all, I’d seen her own bank statements – Becky had plenty of cash coming in from her business, she wasn’t as well-off as me perhaps, but none the less, she was more than comfortable.
    ‘Hmmm.’ She hummed a noncommittal noise in the back of her throat, but didn’t sound convinced and I found myself sighing heavily and drawing my hand back into my own lap. Rebecca might be a business owner, and a good one at that, but she was my girl, mine to look after and mine to treat to a night in a nice hotel if I bloody well wanted to. Not that a casual treat was entirely my motive for this trip, but Rebecca would find that out soon enough. Enough was enough, I might be softening up, but she still needed to know that I could and would take care of her if I damn well wanted. Swinging the car door open I fixed her