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He didn’t ignore it, because his instincts paid his bills and had carried him safely through three years of war, before he got careless.
“You had every right not to come back to mine if you didn’t want to, or to change your mind about it. Throwing myself at you doesn’t oblige you to catch me.
“Could you possibly do or say something reassuring?” Aaron wished he could think of what that might be. “Pudding?” “What?” “They do delicious puddings here. Would something sweet help?” “My life is falling apart and you’re recommending pudding.” “Feeding you has always helped so far,”
Can I eat all of this?” “I don’t think I’m up to fighting you for it.” “Well, you’re bigger, and trained, and you have more hands. But I’m motivated, because this is in the top three of things I have ever put in my mouth. Mph.” Aaron wanted, urgently, to ask about the other two. He resisted, despite his companion’s uninhibited moan, and just sipped his wine and enjoyed Joel’s near-sexual relationship with his pudding until the plate was scraped clean.
I’ve been doing for so long is living with things. Keeping on with them, putting up with them. And then I met you and now this, you and me, it doesn’t feel like ‘living with’ at all. It’s living.
“But if the war taught me anything, it was that if you keep going, you might get through. And not to raise your hand for attention, that’s a terrible idea. And also that tea fixes most things, so get the kettle on, because we’re going to talk about this.”
He is such a plucky, sassy little hero. 😍😍😍
Suppose I tell him you’re a complete fool for graphology?” “Rather than for a graphologist?” Aaron asked, and there went Joel’s heart again, squeezing painfully, because Aaron flirting ineptly was so much better than the most practised seducer.
“You could so easily walk away.” “Problem is, it wouldn’t be easy.” He put his hand over Aaron’s. “Which is your fault, by the way.” “Dear God, Joel,” Aaron said, and pulled him over again.
By the third morning Joel had chewed off all the fingernails he had available and was cursing the Germans for depriving him of the other five.
“No tea. Sit down.” The instruction came in the sort of voice that took a man right back to school, and Joel dropped into the nearest chair as though she’d cut his hamstrings.
She let out a breath that sounded long-held. “So do I. That man gives me the screaming ab-dabs.”
Joel thumped his left arm on the table, which made it obvious he wasn’t wearing the prosthetic. Challice gave a slight exclamation that she suppressed almost at once. “Yes,” Joel said, a little loudly. “Yes, I do in fact know that attracting attention isn’t always a good idea. Do you know why I was waving for attention when they shot my hand off?” He looked between Aaron and Challice. “Because we went out after a bombardment, and I had found a man who might have a chance, and I needed someone to help me get him back. Well, we needed two men as it turned out, because my stretcher-carrying days
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I don’t want your gratitude, your thanks, or your obligation,” Joel said. “I simply want wholehearted admiration of my courage, integrity, and intelligence, which can be demonstrated by a good shagging at any time.”
The Express had the Paul Napier-Fox story as an exclusive. The journalist had gone straight to him and extracted a full admission that Colthorne had dictated the threatening letter. Paul tried to claim he’d gone along with it because Joel had unfairly maligned his integrity, but the journalist had also contacted Barbara Wilson, who did a gleeful job of eviscerating his character and morals. That would teach the swine to bully Aaron as a child.
It shows exactly how much he loves Aaron because he easily could have said "that's what you get for coming after me."
Christ, Joel. I spent three hours lying on the floor thinking I was going to die tonight, and I realised that you were what I’d miss.
“Colthorne just shot himself on the doorstep of Scotland Yard.” “God, I can’t stand bad losers,” Joel said,
He’d have liked to come up with a witty remark, or a playful jab of the kind Joel was so good at, but the only thing coming to mind was the truth. “That I love you,” he said. “I love you, I want us to live, and from now on, if you find yourself living with anything, I want it to be me.”
