Love notes Read Online Free Page B

his
devastating smiles. “Don’t worry. I’ll be there to look after
you.”
    Erika decided this was exactly
what she was afraid of.
     

Chapter Two
     
    Erika’s legs failed her close to
the top of the hill and she stopped to catch her breath, bending
double with her hands on her knees as she gasped for air. “Wait,”
she wheezed, the word barely audible. “I can’t keep up.”
    Aiden managed to hear her above
the roar of the wind and turned back, holding out his hand to her.
“Here. I’ll pull you the rest of the way.”
    As she didn’t have the strength
to argue, let alone walk the last hundred yards, Erika took his
hand and allowed Aiden’s long, easy stride to propel her the few
remaining steps. She collapsed onto a rock, relieved to be sitting
down and yet completely enraptured by the glorious view out across
the rugged Yorkshire landscape.
    Her heart quickened. She’d
forgotten how much she’d once loved this part of the world and how
happy she’d been there. Every chance she’d had, she’d escaped from
her music studies in York to walk miles across the moors, or
explore the remote villages, finding peace and musical inspiration
in the isolation and craggy beauty.
    “I’d forgotten how beautiful
Yorkshire is,” Aiden said, spookily echoing her thoughts. But then,
he always had been able to read her mind. He sat down next to her
and looked out across the fields and open dales that stretched to
the grey-misted horizon, almost unbroken by road or village. “I
haven’t been here since…”
    He’d been about to say, since we
broke up, but thought better of it and allowed the sentence to
trail away unfinished.
    “Me neither.” Erika knew exactly
what had been on his mind but couldn’t even go there. She deftly
changed the subject. “In my final year at uni, I composed a
classical piece inspired by all this.” She swept her arm around
her. The opening bars played in her head, transporting her back in
time, but she stopped the thought abruptly before she had time to
remember everything else that had happened around then.
    “I always wanted to hear it
performed but Marty had other ideas. A piano concerto isn’t exactly
sexy.”
    “Depends who’s performing it.”
Interest flared in Aiden’s eyes again as he looked at her,
intimating that he’d find her sexy, whatever she did. But the spark
died just as quickly and he stared back out into the distance,
looking thoughtful. “Do you regret not pursuing a classical
career?”
    Erika shrugged. “I’m paid a
great deal of money to make music. Millions of people download my
songs and I’ve performed all over the world. I might not have had
those chances elsewhere.” Not that a classical career had ever been
an option. “When Marty appeared with his contract, I was broke. I’d
been singing in Los Angeles bars for a few dollars a night and
frankly, I’d have taken any job he offered. Added to which…”
    “…you had no reason to come
home,” Aiden finished for her, looking down at his hands.
    “I had every reason not to come
home.”
    A subtle difference but she made
the point forcefully and Aiden nodded as if he accepted the truth
of it. An uncomfortable silence settled around them while the icy
wind whipped Erika’s breath away and found its way into the gaps in
her clothing. She shivered and pulled her coat closer, wrapping her
scarf tighter around her neck. It seemed inconceivable that, twenty
four hours earlier, she’d left Los Angeles wearing a T shirt and
short skirt. Despite her initial objections, she was now glad that
Aiden had insisted upon buying her a heavy hiking jacket on the way
through Harrogate and snuggled down into it.
    Realising they’d probably freeze
to death if they sat there much longer, Erika moved the
conversation on. “So,” she prompted. “You wanted to talk to me
somewhere private. Is this quiet enough for you?”
    Aiden laughed. On top of a
windswept hill, in the middle of the Yorkshire dales, they