Jill watches him walk through from the sitting room.
Dressed now, she can still see the hints of the sleep that held him in its grip until she accidentally woke him.
His movements are slow, his body is lazy and she's inordinately grateful to the little cottage for giving them this precious time to rest and be together. These days are special. She knows she will look back on them with fondness for the rest of her life.
He approaches, running his fingers through his hair, stifling a yawn. He leans down, pops a quick kiss on her neck. She catches a bunch of his shirt in her fist, pulls him in for a second kiss; decadent and sexy and filled with love, she feels her own blood surge at the contact. Just an hour ago they'd been on the floor and ...
Well, safe to say it was wonderful and intoxicating, and she isn't near done with him.
Joe sets his hands on her hips and pulls her close. The proximity of their bodies so soon after sharing such an intimate encounter revives the tingle that had just begun to wane inside her body. His hands are warm and steady against her back as they kiss and it seems to last forever but really it's over all too quickly.
She raises her hand and lightly brushes his hair back off his forehead. He looks at her through heavy lidded eyes.
Resting his forehead against hers he exhales deeply. 'I don't want to move on. I want this afternoon to last forever. Just you and me, cozy and safe and ...', he grins and her tummy flips over at the look. 'Well. You know. Together', he says with a lift of his eyebrow and she knows exactly what he means.
She settled her hands on his arms. 'I wish that too, but reality has a habit of intruding. I heard you on the phone', she tells him, preparing to hear the latest news.
He sighs sadly. The last thing in the world he wants right now is to break their little bubble but, duty calls.
'Yeah. Tony rang me. Gideon has landed and Glen's flight took off less than an hour ago. The guys are going to meet them both in Dublin airport and bring them back by helicopter. They needed to do a flight check anyway so it'll work out fine. They should be here within about forty minutes', he tells her.
She nods and they exchange a final knowing smile; they need to push their interlude away now and concentrate on the problem, problems, Joe corrects himself.
Myriad of problems, he tries again.
'I'll hold dinner over, they probably haven't eaten', Jill declares and, with one finger hooked around a button of his shirt she tugs him closer and keeps him there for another moment.
She scratches his belly.
'By the way, I'm not done with you yet today', she tells him and his grin is akin to the sun coming out. A chuckle rumbles upwards through his chest and her reaction to it lodges right between her legs.
An hour later they are seated around the table in the kitchen. Glen and Gideon have arrived and the four of them dine together as they get the latest news from London.
'... so he kept calling it Londongrad, told me that the hotel is right in the center of it', Glen said, pausing to take another forkful of chicken parmesan. 'This is amazing by the way. I really appreciate the invitation to have dinner with you both', he says, as he devours another mouthful.
Joe places his own fork down and looks to Jill who is sitting in her customary place; right beside him, so close in fact, that it's difficult to see where one ends and the other begins.
'Honey, how much do you know about Londongrad?' Joe asks her now.
She reaches for another slice of the beautiful bread that she brought back from the village earlier and sets it on her side plate.
