As she munched her toast and chatted to Noah about some of the new residents Purrfect Paws had taken in over the past few days, she found herself wondering what it would be like to be in Noah’s shoes, to have a steady income, a permanent place to live and an inheritance on the way that would provide a comfortable cushion, should things suddenly go pear-shaped in his life. They were so different: apart from a few wonderful kisses, how else could they possibly be compatible?
But then, she thought, those kisseshadbeen exceptionally wonderful.
‘See you later,’ she said as she headed towards the front door after getting herself ready.
Noah, who was on his second cup of coffee, stood from the kitchen table and crossed the small kitchen space. ‘Um, before you go…’
‘Yeah?’
‘Can I kiss you again?’
Bella smiled. ‘I think that can be arranged.’
As their lips met, Bella felt a surge of rightness. If this was only a temporary thing, it was definitely a very lovely one.
Heading over to Purrfect Paws, Bella couldn’t help smiling all the way through her shift. It was a good job that she was on her own; Mollie was taking a well-earned day off and was out to lunch with her grandson. As she tended to the cattery’s residents and then switched sides to check in on the rescues, she began to sing under her breath. A melody had been running through her head since she’d woken up, and she’d been resolutely ignoring it until now, but as she checked over the ferals in the outdoor pen, noting with relief that they seemed to be settling into their new habitat, the melody began to find lyrics, too.
‘No,’ she told herself wryly. ‘You are not going to succumb to that age-old cliché of snogging a bloke and then writing a song about it!’ All the same, snatches of lyrics kept coming to her, and when she stopped for a cuppa and one of Mollie’s ever-replenishing supply of Penguins, she grabbed a scrap piece of paper from the recycling box by the printer and scribbled down a couple of things, before they drove her bonkers.
It didn’t take long to make sure that all of the residents were happy, well fed and had no immediate issues, so after lunch, Bella headed back to the cottage. Mollie would be back home in good time for the evening shift, so Bella could relax for the rest of the afternoon.
She wasn’t quite sure what time Noah would be leaving, and she was shocked at how much she wanted to see him again. As she approached the cottage, she could hear the low chug-chug of a lawnmower and assumed it must have taken Noah longer than anticipated to get the thing working again. She couldn’t resist a peek through the garden gate and was rewarded with the sight of a once-again shirtless Noah, carefully mowing straight lines into the expanse of lawn. Smiling to herself, she crept through to the back door and poured two glasses of water, filling them with ice from the tray in the freezer.
She heard the mower stop again and brought the glasses out, putting them down on the wall where they’d sat the night before.
‘Thanks.’ Noah gave her a lazy smile and took a long gulp. This time, he didn’t seem nearly so self-conscious about being shirtless in her presence. In fact, she thought in amusement, he seemed to be enjoying the thought of her seeing him like that. His olive skin was glistening with sweat and Bella had to resist the urge to run her hands over his torso. The heat was coming off him in waves.
‘I’ve got to get off soon,’ Noah said, putting the glass down on the wall again.
Me too, Bella thought, eyes fixated on Noah’s unclothed chest. Just in time, she realised he was talking about going back to London.
‘Traffic’s always rubbish on a Sunday evening.’
‘Right, right,’ Bella stammered. ‘Um… will you be back next weekend?’
Noah paused. ‘Not sure yet. Can I let you know?’
Disappointment slithered down Bella’s spine as she heard the noncommittal nature of Noah’s response. ‘Of course.’
Smiling, Noah reached out a warm hand. ‘I don’t want to crowd you. Maybe it’s better if we have a little breathing space to think.’ His eyes were still warm and spoke of many things he didn’t quite seem to have the confidence to articulate. Despite his assured salesman’s patter, Bella got the impression that he was playing things cautiously; letting her decide the pace.
‘Well.’ Bella took a breath. ‘If you wanted to, and you don’t have anything else on, why don’t you come down on Friday night? I could cook some dinner, we could talk.’
Noah’s tentative smile grew a lot broader. ‘I’d like that.’
‘It’s a date.’ Bella stretched up and kissed him. Then, before things could escalate any further, she broke away again. ‘Slowly,’ she breathed, trying to calm her suddenly racing heart.
‘Agreed.’ Noah’s voice was husky, and Bella knew that they were both trying to keep their physical feelings under control. A few days to cool off were a very good idea, and hopefully, by Friday, they’d be able to think about what happened next.
45
After kissing Noah goodbye, Bella had decided on an early night. It had been lovely to share the cottage with Noah all weekend, but she felt as though she needed to get her head down. The fact that he wasn’t on the other side of the bedroom wall took some pressure off, as well.
As she got ready for bed, she suddenly heard the melody and lyrics from earlier in the day singing through her head once again. Padding downstairs quickly, she pulled her acoustic guitar out from where she’d stored it behind the door of the living room and sat on the edge of one of Jack’s armchairs. Tuning it briskly, she started to pick out the melody, adding in some chords as she went, and tinkering about with the progressions until they sounded more logical. Humming under her breath, she remembered snatches of the lyrics she’d written and filled in some gaps as she played.
It wasn’t long before she’d worked out four verses and a chorus, and refining and tweaking as she went, she soon had a draft that she felt was passable. Monty, who’d made a sharp exit at the sound of the guitar, had slunk back into the room and was lying under the other armchair, regarding her with a mildly interested expression. Giving the guitar a final strum, she nodded at him.
‘Well, what do you think, old fella? Not bad for a first attempt, after all these years!’
