‘That’s rubbish.’ She walked with him, enjoying the banter and wishing she had the courage to not only tell him how much she was attracted to him but also to grab hold of him and kiss him and show him how hot she really thought he was.
They were a few steps away from the kitchen door when it opened, making them both skid to a halt in surprise.
Lettie looked from one to the other of them, grinning. ‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to catch you off guard. I was watching from the window and saw the pair of you coming this way, so thought I’d welcome you.’
She stepped back and waved for them to enter the cool hallway. ‘Your lunch is ready. Please go on through to the kitchen.’
‘First on the left,’ Callum whispered when Tasha hesitated to walk forward.
She stopped at the kitchen doorway and gasped at the sight of the huge pine table laden with various dishes: green salads, pasta salads and something that looked like a large bowl of Coronation chicken. There was a baguette, with a butter dish full of rich yellow Jersey butter.
‘Wow, this looks amazing,’ Tasha said.
‘I’m glad you think so.’ Lettie motioned for them to take a seat. ‘Please, help yourselves and tuck in. Brodie will be here any minute and he will be ready to eat quite a bit.’
‘Thank you for all this,’ Callum said.
‘I love doing it, as you well know.’ She pushed two of the salads closer to them. ‘Now, what do you both fancy to drink?’
Tasha went to respond but before she could someone called out to them from the hallway.
‘Hello there. I’m looking for Tasha.’
She looked at Callum, trying hard to remain calm. Did Riley not consider this was her lunchtime too?
Lettie went to stand but sat again when Brodie passed the open kitchen door and went to speak to their guest.
‘I hadn’t expected to see Brodie back here so soon.’
Callum leant closer to Tasha. ‘What does Riley want, I wonder?’
‘For me to do something for him, no doubt.’ She rolled her eyes.
They heard footsteps and Brodie said, ‘They’re through this way.’ He mouthed an apology to Tasha as he entered the room ahead of Riley.
‘There you are,’ Riley said in his most charming voice. He gave an apologetic smile to each of them. ‘I hate to interrupt your lunch, but I was hoping to ask Tasha for her help.’
Not wishing for Lettie, Brodie and Callum’s lunches to be interrupted further, Tasha stood. ‘I’ll come with you now, Riley.’ She turned to Lettie. ‘I’m so sorry to leave without tasting any of this delicious-looking food.’
Lettie shrugged and shook her head. ‘Don’t worry about it.’ She went to stand. ‘If you can wait a moment I’ll put something into a Tupperware for you.’
Before she could answer, Riley responded. ‘No. Please don’t do that.’ He gave Lettie an appealing smile.
How typical of Riley to assume Lettie was referring to him, Tasha thought, amused.
Riley turned to her and pulled out her chair. ‘Please don’t worry, Tasha. I only came here to let you know I’ll be finding something for Erin and I to eat from the canteen, so there’s no need to worry about me.’
Tasha was taken aback by him being uncharacteristically thoughtful, then it dawned on her that he was clearly making a show of being considerate for Erin’s benefit.
‘Erin is with you?’ Callum asked.
Erin appeared in the doorway and smiled, looking embarrassed at being there. ‘Please, take no notice of me. I’m only here with Riley because he was hoping to find Tasha.’
Lettie stood and pointed at the food on the table. ‘There’s more than enough for everyone to eat. Why don’t the pair of you take a seat and join us?’ She beamed at them. ‘I’d be fascinated to hear all about the filming, if you don’t mind sharing, Riley.’
Tasha had to control herself from showing her amusement and wondered if Lettie had sensed how much Riley enjoyed being with people when he was the centre of attention. He loved talking about his favourite subject: himself. He took Erin’s hand and led her to the other side of the table, pulling out a chair for her to sit on before taking a seat next to her.
‘And it will be lovely to get to know you a bit more, Erin,’ Lettie said. She turned to Tasha and Riley. ‘Callum is my brother Zak’s best friend, so Erin and I have met each other quite a few times over the years, but never really spent much time chatting.’
