But I had to keep it all to myself. Until I could get a chance to discuss it in detail with Erin.
I had sent her a text at midnight while Sam was making tea.
‘What a day!!!!!! Sam here. Snowing outside. Hot sex inside. He’s staying the night. And tomorrow. May get snowed in. Will call you when I can. Even better than ten years ago. Details to follow. Hope all okay with you. Pleasant dreams. Soooo glad I booked this break!!!!!! Love you. Xx’
She’d sent a brief reply. ‘You go girl!!!!!! Love you. Xx’
And then I’d forgotten about Erin, because Sam made love to me again, after we’d drunk our tea and eaten the biscuits.
No. Not love. I had to remember that this had nothing to do with love.
But just like ten years before, I could already feel myself falling for Sam Worth once again.
To Sam, this was a holiday fling and in a week it would be over.
To me, this was everything. He was everything. Or he would be. If only he could feel for me, even half of what I felt for him.
When we eventually got out of bed, we made love in the shower. Finally, we managed to dress and go downstairs, but we both knew it wouldn’t be that long until we were back in that bed again.
Sixteen
Snow was piled against the sliding doors, to a height of at least three feet, maybe more in places. I had never seen so much snow and I still couldn’t quite believe it after the sunshine and warmth of yesterday.
‘It’s a good thing I brought plenty of food,’ I said.
‘It’s a good thing I stayed,’ said Sam. ‘I don’t think anyone is going anywhere today, not even the gritters.’
‘And I don’t think Melody will be out building snow people. The snow level is as high as she is tall.’
Sam grinned and walked along the hall, gingerly opening the front door and quickly closing it before the wall of snow resting against it, toppled inside.
‘I think I was five when we last had this much snow,’ he said. And then he let out a long and dramatic sigh. ‘Oh well, I don’t see any point in us staying up, do you? Especially when there’s such a warm and inviting bed upstairs.’
‘Sam! Shouldn’t we at least make a pretence of behaving like normal people, rather than wild rabbits.’
He raised his brows. ‘Why? It’s not as if anyone can see us. And wild rabbits have a bad rep when really they’re cute and fluffy bundles of joy.’
‘Perhaps. But I need more coffee first. And you’ve got to show me how that machine works.’
‘Come on then,’ he said, taking my hand in his and leading me into the kitchen.
It took far longer than it should have, partly because we were laughing so much, and partly because we constantly stopped for kisses, but I finally got to grips with the coffee machine.
‘You’ll be repairing bikes next,’ he said, pulling me into his arms as we waited for the coffee.
‘Oh will I? Does that mean you’ll be designing wedding dresses sometime soon?’
He gave me a questioning look as I ran my fingers down his chest.
‘Oh, I’m sorry,’ I added. ‘I thought you meant we’d be tackling one another’s jobs before long.’
He shook his head, but he was laughing. ‘No you didn’t. You just wanted to take another little dig at my commitment phobia.’
‘Is it a phobia?’
‘No. Phobias are fears. I’m not afraid of commitment. I simply don’t believe in it. I'm just not cut out for marriage. Or long-term relationships,’ Sam said with more than a hint of sadness and regret in his voice this time. ‘I told you about my parents. Mum's been married four times since Dad. Dad’s been married three, and is about to propose to his fourth wife-to-be. We don’t do long-term relationships well in my family. Along with more than fifty percent of the population. Have you seen the divorce statistics? And your parents are divorced, so it’s not just mine, and half the world, who couldn’t make marriage work.’
‘But Mum has remarried again. And Chris, her new husband, is the love of her life. Don’t you believe there’s someone out there for each of us?’
