Page 69 of The Secret Holiday Kiss

Avery stepped closer. Beyond him, through the dusty glass, Daisy could see the rainbow bulbs of the oak tree, like coloured fireflies in the dark. She sucked in a breath. ‘Just focus on this minute, right now,’ he murmured. ‘Does this feel real?’

She moved closer, sliding her hands up the front of his jacket, around the back of his neck, and tugged. He came easily, pressing his mouth to hers. Daisy leaned into him, opened up for him, his tongue finding hers. His kiss felt purposeful, her insides fizzing as his hands found her hips and he backed her up into a bookcase.

Daisy melted against him, the kiss taking over her senses until all she could think was that this couldn’t end now. He had brought her to the bookshop and listened to what she wanted. He hadn’t scoffed at her ideas or told her she had to go ahead with them. He was her anchor, grounding her to reality, tying her to Mistingham, but he also made her feel like anything was possible.

Daisy wanted more of that; she wanted more of him. Right now. Not here, but now. She pulled back, her skin tingling and her lips swollen, breathless with desire.

‘Jesus.’ Avery braced a hand on the shelf above her head.

‘Yeah,’ Daisy agreed. ‘Exactly. So I think I’ve had enough of the bookshop now.’

‘You have?’ He sounded dazed. ‘So what do you … do you want me to walk you home?’

Daisy smiled up at him. ‘I want to see your room at May’s house.’

She heard his breath hitch, every nerve ending coming to life when he trailed his fingers through her loose hair. ‘You’re sure?’

‘I’m sure. Let me see what the stars look like from May’s loft.’

‘Got a thing about stars, haven’t you?’ But he took her hand and pulled her through the dusty space.

‘Right now, I’ve got a thing about you,’ she admitted. ‘The stars were just an excuse.’

He turned to look at her, and even in the low light from the torch, his smile took her breath away.

Chapter Twenty-two

The loft room in May’s cottage was simple, without much personality apart from Avery’s toolbelt hanging over a chair in the corner. It smelt of his cologne, the bed had a soft-looking grey eiderdown, and a patchwork of stars was visible through the skylight, but by the time they had walked the ten minutes to get there, then tried to be as quiet as possible getting inside – Avery taking his boots off at the door, Daisy doing the same but bringing hers up with her – her entire body was buzzing with anticipation.

‘It’s lovely.’ She took off her coat, watched as Avery switched on a lamp on the bedside table.

‘It’s fine for now. It’s not permanent, anyway.’

She wanted to ask if he was going back home once he’d finished Mary and Winnie’s house, or if he planned to stay in Mistingham, but she didn’t want to bring up Norwich in case it changed the mood. ‘Is May’s bedroom below us?’

Avery moved closer. ‘This is the loft,’ he said. ‘It covers the whole footprint of the house.’

‘Right.’ She swallowed.

‘We can be quiet, though, if you’d like that?’

Daisy thought she might combust on the spot at his words, at the way he ran his warm palms from her shoulders to her wrists, then took her hands and pulled her over to the bed. I would like everything, she wanted to say, but she didn’t want to seem too needy; she wanted to pretend that there was still a tiny part of her being sensible about this.

‘Would you like that?’ she countered, and Avery laughed.

‘You know,’ he said, as he tugged at her jumper, then slowly slid it up, so she was stretching her arms to the ceiling and he could pull it over her head, ‘I loved your interrogation that first day.’

‘This isn’t going to be an interrogation,’ Daisy said, once her jumper was off and Avery had thrown it in the direction of the chair. But he wasn’t paying attention to her words, because his eyes were fixed on her, standing there in her bra. Then he caught her gaze, and the heat there dissolved her thoughts. ‘It’s …’

She wanted to say something witty, but Avery closed the gap between them, said, ‘God, Daisy,’ then he was kissing her again, pulling her onto the bed with him, and she stopped trying to be clever and sensible. She focused on that moment, and then the next one, on being with Avery, on the way they touched each other, on giving in to the perfection of her secret holiday kiss.

She woke not to the stars, but to December sunlight streaming in through the skylight, and not to a bed where she had all the luxurious space to herself, but to a warm, solid man beside her, his arm flung over her stomach, his slow, easy breaths tickling her neck.

Daisy smiled and rolled over so she was facing him, took a moment to drink him in, with the added knowledge that he was every bit as sexily scruffy as she had imagined. Sexy being the operative word. She decided that this was a lot better than waking up alone, that she would give up all her mattress space and duvet warmth to have more nights like last night with him.

‘Hello,’ he rumbled, his eyes still closed but his lips lifting into a smile. ‘Do you need to be anywhere this morning?’

Daisy glanced at the alarm clock on the bedside table. She had ball prep and designs for Mary and Winnie to check over, a call scheduled with Lars for later that afternoon. But it was still early. There was loads of time for her to get through her to-do list.