‘Thanks. I suppose fending off bad luck is as good a reason to kiss me, as doing so to stop someone asking you out. Who would you kiss to stop me asking you out, just out of interest?’
‘No one. Because I’d rather like you to ask me out. But then I do make stupid decisions.’
He reached out a hand and took one of mine in his.
‘By the way, I know a good plumber if you do have anything else break down.’
‘Good. Because the last one left me in a bit of a mess. Personally speaking.’
He took my other hand in his.
‘I came here to shout at you, not to kiss you. How did we end up here?’
‘I don’t have a clue. But I know where I’d like us to end up.’
He smiled again. ‘Me too.’
And then he pulled me in close and looked deep into my eyes.
‘I can’t make any promises other than I don’t cheat and I’m not looking for a fling. But I’ve never felt this way about anyone before, not even my wife and I loved her deeply. If this is going where I hope it is, I’ll be in this for life. I need to know if you feel the same. And more importantly, if you’re prepared to love Melody as if she were your own child. Because we come as a package and that’ll never change.’
‘I don’t cheat either, but I have made some silly mistakes and jumped to conclusions. I want a family. I want to love someone with all my heart and for them to feel the same about me. As for Melody, I already love her, I think. I may even like her a teensy bit more than I like you, sometimes.’
‘That’s understandable, Melody’s easy to like. I can be hard work.’
‘Oh so can I. Just ask my mum.’
We gazed at one another.
‘I’m scared,’ he said. ‘I’ve never been scared before. It’s been a while since I’ve kissed anyone and I don’t want to screw this up.’
‘I’m scared too.’ I was remembering that awful kiss with Paul. ‘I don’t want to screw this up either.’
‘I suppose one of us will have to make the first move, and I guess that should be me.’
‘How very macho of you. I’m happy to take the lead if you don’t think you’re up to it.’
‘Oh, I’m up to it.’
‘Are you sure? Because I can imagine how stressful it must be to be so handsome and sexy and for everyone to have such high expectations of you.’
‘You’ve got high expectations? How high?’
‘At least a fifteen.’
‘Out of twenty? That’s not high.’
‘Out of ten. Now shut up and kiss me. Because until you do that we can’t move onto the next bit.’
His mouth hovered just an inch or two from mine.
‘The next bit? What’s that?’
I ran a hand inside his coat and let my hand trail up his back. His muscles tensed beneath my touch.
‘I believe I have a problem with the shower in the ensuite in my bedroom.’
‘Oh really? What’s wrong? Wait. If you knew that you wouldn’t need me.’
