AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She bit down on her bottom lip, her mouth curling into a smile. ‘Oh, you have?’
‘I have. She’s clever, smart, witty, beautiful and has this really cute way of scrunching her nose up when she’s concentrating.’
‘I do not scrunch my nose when I’m concentrating!’
‘Oh, you do.’ Graham chuckled. ‘It’s cute. I first noticed it when you were trying to figure out the way to the bakery.’
‘The day you as good as made me fall bum first into that puddle!’ She laughed.
‘That’s the one!’
Looking across at him, she met his gaze. ‘Well, I’m actually glad you did.’
‘What? Make you fall into the puddle?’ He raised his eyebrows.
‘Yes, no, but I’m glad you called out to me.’
‘We’d have still met at the bakery if I hadn’t.’
‘I know, but it’s a good first meeting story to tell, isn’t it?’ She laughed.
‘It sure is.’ Pulling his arm from hers, Graham leaned forward and tucked a loose strand of Layla’s hair behind her ear before holding his elbow out so she could link arms once more. ‘Have you had any more thoughts about where you see yourself settling down?’
She scrunched up her nose. That was an easy one to answer, but did she dare say it aloud?
‘See, I told you! You’re scrunching up your nose right now.’
She held her coffee mug in front of her mouth and grinned. ‘I didn’t even realise I was doing it.’
‘Don’t hide it. As I said, it’s super cute.’ He smiled at her. ‘So, have you thought about it at all?’
Looking down at the sand, she dug the toe of her trainer down a little, watching a small mound of sand form. ‘I did think I might see if I can find a temp job and hang around a little.’
‘Oh, yes?’
She looked up at him. If the pink hue of his cheeks was anything to go by, he knew what she was going to say. ‘Yes. You see, I met this guy who, although at first, I thought he was the most annoying person on the planet, I soon realised he’s kind, caring, funny and has the most gorgeous eyes I’ve ever seen.’
Pulling his arm free again, Graham took her empty coffee cup and put both his and hers on the ground before wrapping his arms around her and drawing her close. ‘If you do, that will be amazing.’
She pulled away slightly before cupping his cheek in her hand and kissing him. Was this really happening? Had they both agreed to stay on in Penworth Bay to see what the future held between them? Looking up at him again, she searched his eyes. ‘Are we really going to do this?’
‘Oh yes.’ Leaning towards her again, he closed his eyes as their lips touched.
Chapter Seventeen
‘Will you two be okay for an hour, loves?’ Elsie slid two trays of pasties behind the glass of the bakery counter. ‘I’ve got to drive Ian to Trestow to pick up Max’s car from the repair shop. He and Brooke are stuck at a hospital appointment and they’re not sure if they’ll make it out before the repair shop closes for the day.’
‘Yes, that’s fine. We should be okay.’ Layla glanced across at Graham, who was busy serving.
‘Are you sure? I don’t like to just abandon ship when there’s baking to be done, but we’ve found ourselves in a bit of a pickle.’ Elsie frowned.
‘We’ll manage. We’re pretty well stocked up.’ Graham joined in the conversation after saying goodbye to his customer.
‘Thank you. Both of you.’ Elsie nodded. ‘Teresa said she’s happy to run out the back and do some baking if anything gets low.’
‘Honestly, it’s no problem.’ Layla smiled.
‘Okay, thank you. I owe you both. I really do.’ Elsie picked up the two empty trays she’d swapped the full ones for and hurried back into the kitchen.
