Page 100 of The Secret Holiday Kiss

‘Daisy.’ He stepped towards her. ‘I was being a dick. I don’t go all out at Christmas.’

‘No?’

He stole a chip from her cone and ate it. ‘I only go all out at Christmas, at any time of year, for the people I care about.’

‘Is that so?’

He pursed his lips. He hadn’t got rid of the stubble, and it made him look delectable and slightly dangerous. He was in a suit, and it was gorgeous, but she was so glad he hadn’t abandoned sexily scruffy, because it was one of the things she loved most about him. ‘Actually,’ he said, ‘that’s not really it. That’s not all of it.’

‘Not all of it?’ Daisy ate a chip.

Avery’s lips lifted into a smile. ‘The truth is, Daisy, I only go all out for the people I love.’

‘Love?’ she whispered, and to her mild mortification and extreme surprise, she could feel the pressure building behind her eyes, a dam ready to burst. ‘You put phosphorescent paint on your sculptures, like in The Hound of the Baskervilles.’

‘I did.’

‘You made a crocodile and put shoes on him, even though the Christmas link was tenuous at best.’

‘Jimmy Nail is very important to me.’

She smiled. ‘You made me a whole village, Avery. A whole Mistingham, with lights and trees and a village hall and a tiny manor.’

‘Your ball was very important to you.’

Daisy swallowed, but the first tear fell anyway. ‘Right. And this.’ She reached out, slid her thumb and index finger down his silky tie.

‘I got Sophie to go into your room and take a photo of your dress. Did you know Birdie can make more than goat jumpers? She added the sequins.’

‘It’s impressive work,’ Daisy said, ‘and that is a lot of going all out. That is a whole lot of things, Avery, for someone who was just a secret holiday kiss.’

She looked up at him, her tears falling freely now, and he brushed his thumbs over her cheeks, wiping them away. ‘We both know it’s more than a holiday kiss. I’m sorry for how I acted; I’m sorry for what I said to you. I don’t care how temporary this is, how long we have together. I have gone all out, because I am all in.’

Daisy’s heart pitter-pattered. He had done all this, he had told her he loved her, and he still thought she was going back to London.

‘I am all in with you, Daisy,’ he went on. ‘If you’ll have me.’ A frown flickered over his gorgeous face, and she knew she would never tire of his features. Not in five years or ten years or fifty.

‘Avery Hudson,’ she said, and it was actually a bit of an effort, because she had become a waterworks factory. ‘I knew it was more than a holiday thing when we agreed to it.’ She laughed. ‘I think I knew it was more than that when I followed Jimmy Nail and found you half inside your van. I am all in, too.’

‘You are? For Christmas?’

‘For this Christmas,’ she said. ‘And next Christmas too, I hope. And—’

‘What do you mean?’ He put his hands on her waist, warming her through the thin fabric of her dress.

Daisy went up on her tiptoes so she could whisper in his ear. ‘It’s still a secret, but we’re going to open the bookshop, Harry and I. We’re going to bring it back to life.’

Avery pulled back to look at her. Everyone was still watching them, the music had faded, and they were the centre of attention. ‘What are you saying? That you’ll be here …?’

‘Full time. This is my home now. Again. For ever.’

‘What?’ Avery’s grip tightened, his words coming out along with disbelieving laughter. ‘Are you serious?’

‘Seriously serious. There’s just … nothing for me in London, now. And everything for me here. You’re here.’

‘You’re going all in,’ he said, his words back to a murmur.

‘I’m going all in, because I love you.’