Hannah and Conor exchanged a quick, guilty glance, which was ridiculous because they had nothing to feel guilty about. Well, not yet.
‘We’ve been to Dingle, kayaking.’
‘Kayaking. Now that’s something I’ve not tried.’ She glanced down at her stomach. ‘Not sure I’d squeeze into the little hole.’
Alan gave an exasperated snort. ‘Woman, I tell ye. You’re grand as you are.’ He turned to Conor. ‘There’s no arguing with the ladies though, is there?’
Conor nodded.
Meredith laughed. ‘Did you enjoy it, Hannah? Very adventurous of you. Gorgeous day for it.’
Hannah was horribly conscious that if she didn’t respond to Meredith’s tumble of good-natured conversation, she’d appear rude; she genuinely liked the woman and didn’t want to cause offence.
‘I’ve done it before but the sea was beautiful.’ She glanced at Conor. There was a very faint trace of wariness on his face as if he were daring her to mention the dolphin, which would inevitably prolong the conversation. ‘But also quite cold. I’m dying for a nice hot bath to warm me up.’
‘Oh, don’t let us hold you up.’ Meredith’s warm, understanding response made Hannah bite her lip. ‘You go on. Get warmed up. No doubt we’ll see you later. Are you coming to the pub tonight? They’ve got some more live music on. It’ll be quite thecraic.’ She turned to Alan, pleased with herself. ‘Did I say it right?’
‘You did. Thecraicwill be mighty. You’re almost starting to sound like a local,’ he teased.
‘Right, well. We’d best be off,’ said Conor, already starting to edge forward.
‘Yes, sorry. You go. We’ll see you later. Shall we knock for you, Hannah?’
‘Er…’ she flailed for a moment.
‘Come on, leave the poor girl alone,’ said Alan, taking hold of her arm.
‘Well, Conor, if you feel like coming, don’t be a stranger,’ said Meredith over her shoulder as Alan finally steered her away.
‘Bye,’ called Conor, his lips pressed together and his cheeks dimpling as he tried his best to hold the laughter at bay.
‘Bye, dear.’
They waited a moment as Alan bore her away before a snort escaped from Conor. Hannah began to giggle.
‘Come on,’ Conor grabbed her arm. ‘Before anyone else appears and wants a blow-by-blow account of the day’s activities.’
‘She was only being friendly,’ said Hannah, with another explosive giggle.
‘I know but my balls are turning bluer by the second.’
‘Conor!’ she said primly, but her dancing eyes gave her away.
‘Don’t youConorme.’ He grabbed her hand and they began to run.
She grinned unrepentantly at him as they raced towards the cottage.
As soon as the door closed behind them, Conor peeled off his jumper in one fluid movement and threw it to the floor, kicking off his shoes at the same time as Hannah ripped off her fleece and then their mouths fused together for what felt like a long overdue kiss. They kissed as they stripped, Conor walking backwards up the stairs, simultaneously unclipping her bra. Every brain cell was shoutinghurry, hurryas together they stumbled up to her bedroom. They fell onto the bed, rolling over, kissing and giggling as they struggled to remove the last of their clothing. Conor’s hands were already racing over her body and all coherent thought left her brain when, finally, they lay skin to skin on the fine cotton sheets, breathless with anticipation and desire.
Chapter Nineteen
‘If Meredith could see you now,’ teased Conor, tugging at the sheet draped around Hannah as she sat propped against the pillows in the big king-size bed, with the sun streaming in through the dormer window.
‘Oh God, what time is it? I need to text her.’
‘You don’t want to go to the pub then?’ Conor asked with an overly suggestive raise of his eyebrows.
‘What do you think?’ she retorted, stretching lazily like a cat in the sunshine. She didn’t want to spoil the euphoric post-coital mood by having to get dressed and make sensible conversation with people. She could stay here forever, lounging in the pool of sunlight with Conor next to her, both of them relaxed and comfortable in their own skin. He was so beautiful to look at, so at ease with his nudity that she didn’t feel the need to cover up either. Conor was delightfully confident and sure of himself. It seemed to give her added confidence, enabling her to follow suit.
