London, Summer 1984

Chapter One

Present Day

BEEP-BEEP, BEEP-BEEP, BEEP-BEEP.

Elizabeth groaned. No way. It couldn't be seven o'clock already. The cold air prickled over the back of her arm and charged every last hair to attention as she groped and fumbled her way across the bedside table—phone, book, binder, other phone—until her hand stumbled upon the alarm. She swatted it.

BEEP-silence.

Thank God.

The mattress dipped behind her. A moment later, Henry's hand grazed her waist and then slid down, down, down and teased up the hem of her t-shirt. With his palm flat to her stomach, he fluttered his fingertips over her skin and then pressed his chest flush to her back—a surge of warmth—followed by a trail of kisses that started at the tip of her shoulder and ended at the spot behind her ear. "Good morning." His lips brushed against her earlobe, his voice groggy from sleep.

A tingle shivered up the curve of her neck, and she cracked open one eye. A shaft of sunlight sauntered through the slit between the curtains and illuminated the motes of dust that spiralled through the air. "Morning."

Henry nuzzled the nape of her neck. "I think we should add a 'good' to that."

She chuckled, but as his hand slipped lower and lower over her abdomen, she caught hold of his fingers and laced them through her own, thus stalling their descent.

He propped himself up, and as his gaze raked over her, she rolled to face him. He quirked one eyebrow, as if to say—Why not?

Elizabeth met him with a stern gaze. "I've got work."

Darkness eddied beneath the surface of his eyes. He freed his hand, and cupping her jaw, he brushed his thumb back and forth over her cheek. "You can be five minutes late."

"Wow, a whole five minutes, huh?" A smile crept across her lips, and she met the pecks that he placed at the corners of her mouth with the flutter of a kiss. "Sounds romantic."

"Then tell them you were busy." His lips roamed down her neck and then paused to suckle at her pulse point, and when her breath hitched, he smiled against her.

"Doing what exactly?" She threaded her fingers through his hair and dragged her nails over his scalp as he wandered lower, over her collarbone and between her breasts, pressing sloppy kisses through the cotton of her shirt.

"Book club."

She snorted. "At seven AM?"

His gaze darted up to meet hers, his eyes alight with a dangerous glimmer. "It'll be a riveting read, I promise. A real page—"

BEEP-BEEP, BEEP-BEEP.

Henry's whole body jumped, and his eyes shot wide; he couldn't have looked more surprised had her whole DS detail stormed into the room.

Elizabeth cackled. "Oh my God, Henry, you should see your face." She cradled his head against her stomach whilst his own chuckle reverberated through her, and then she shifted from beneath him and placed a kiss to the top of his head. "I guess that's the universe's way of saying 'no'."

She swung her legs over the edge of the bed, and her toes wriggled as the cool air snaked between them. She padded across the floor towards the bathroom.

Henry called after her, "What about you? What do you say?"

She stopped in the doorway and smiled over her shoulder at Henry as he peered up at her from the tangled sheets. "Take a cold shower."