Page 23 of The Cotswold Christmas Bookshop

‘Nope! Last time I looked, I didn’t have either of those. A girlfriend or a partner. Or a wife, come to that. If we’re going for complete transparency.’

‘Oh!’ Now there was no disguising the heat that flushed her cheeks. ‘You’re not in a relationship?’ she blurted, regretting it as soon as it escaped her lips.

‘Nope.’

‘I’m so sorry, I hope I haven’t offended you with the question. It was just…’ She gave an imperceptible shake of her head. ‘I must have got the wrong idea entirely.’ Mother, she seethed inwardly. Now, her whole perspective on the man standing in front of her shifted in an instant, but she couldn’t deal with the consequences of that right now. She had a job to do. ‘So, who is the book for then? A few details might help with any suggestions.’

Guy was still frowning, looking at her, perplexed.

‘No, hang on a minute. Why did you think I had a girlfriend? Where on earth did you get that idea from?’

Good job the shop was quiet this morning. There was one customer who had ventured into the back to look at the antiquarian books, and Henry was happily ensconced in his usual spot, but this wasn’t the sort of conversation she would want to have in front of several other people.

‘Umm, I think it was my mum.’ She gave an embarrassed shrug. ‘She mentioned you had a partner.’

‘Ah, Diana! Lovely Diana.’ He seemed more than satisfied with that explanation. ‘I can see how the misunderstanding might have occurred.’

Really, he had no idea. Her mum had a habit of getting hold of the wrong end of the stick, only getting half a story and filling in the details as she thought might fit. Isla shuddered to think of the rumours her mum had fuelled around the village with only a slight understanding of what was going on. Isla should have known better than to take her mum’s word for it.

Guy went on. ‘Now, I think I may have mentioned in passing to your mum that I have a partner, a business partner. Leona. She was actually my dad’s partner, girlfriend, call her what you will, but she was also a partner in the business. She’s great, not much older than me, in fact, but she’s decided that she wants out of the company so I’m in the process of buying her out. She wants to move away and start afresh. I can’t blame her. It’s all going through smoothly and should be finalised in the new year. I’m looking forward to taking full control of the business.’

‘Right, I see.’ That was probably the woman Isla had spotted him with in the pub that time. ‘Well, I’m sorry for the confusion,’ she said sheepishly. It was the second time she’d had to apologise after making wrong assumptions about him. She really shouldn’t make a habit of it. ‘Right, about that book?’

Don’t they say be careful what you wish for? Isla had wanted to learn more about Guy, and she had now, but all she wanted was for him to leave so that she could properly process what he had told her. Instead, she had to try and listen intently as he spoke about an elderly relative who he would be visiting over Christmas. His great-uncle was a retired engineer who wasn’t interested in reading fiction, but was immensely curious about the world and how things worked, and could usually be found with a textbook or a manual at his side. Isla led Guy over to the non-fiction section, where she was able to quickly put her hands on several books that she thought his great-uncle might enjoy. If she was anxious to get this interaction over as quickly as possible, then she noticed Guy had no such qualms. He took his time, leafing through each of the books, nodding sagely. So much so that in the end, Isla opted to leave him to it.

‘Look, I’ll be back at the till, but if you need any further help, then please come and find me.’

She went across and picked up her coffee cup from the counter, grateful that it was still warm, and took a sip, discovering that it was every bit as delicious as the last time. Holding it between her hands, she felt a tad guilty that she had been affronted by the gesture, thinking Guy had an ulterior motive, but now had to wonder if she had done him a huge disservice.

A little later, he was back, clutching a book in his hand.

‘There are so many wonderful books here. I’m not a great reader myself, but there were several that caught my eye. I’ll take this one for my uncle, thanks, but I might be back to pick up some books for my own bookshelf.’

‘Well, please do.’ She took the book from his hands and wrapped it up, only slightly self-conscious as he watched her. ‘I could always give you some suggestions if you’d like them.’

‘I might take you up on that,’ he said with a half-smile that made her toes curl.

‘Would you like a cake?’ she asked, after handing him his package, pulling out one of her Tupperware boxes from beneath the counter.

‘A cake?’ he said, looking surprised. ‘Well this is unexpected. What is this, a new business opportunity? Buy a book, get a free cake?’

‘No. Mum and I had a baking session yesterday and we had plenty left over so I thought I’d bring some into work.’ She pulled off the lid to the box and Guy peered inside. ‘It might go nicely with your coffee,’ she said invitingly.

‘Wow! They look amazing.’ He pointed to the individual cake bars which were covered in marzipan and decorated with white frosted icing. ‘Thank you.’

Isla double wrapped a slice in some kitchen roll and popped it in its own bag, thinking he would take the cake for later and eat it at home, but he methodically undid all her good work there and then, unwrapping the cake and proceeding to eat it in front of her.

‘This is really very good,’ he said, savouring every mouthful. ‘You and Diana are clearly great bakers. I think this could definitely become our thing, don’t you? Coffee and cake?’ He looked up at her, still munching away, wiping stray crumbs away from his lips with a finger, which Isla found strangely compelling. Was he actually wanting a sensible answer or was he flirting with her? Now there was a thought. One that she had previously dismissed, thinking he had a girlfriend.

Now, Isla didn’t know what to make of the way he looked at her, but he did make coffee and cake sound enticing, although with Christmas approaching she knew the opportunities for coffee with Guy would be few and far between. After Christmas, her whole focus would need to be on finding a new job and getting her life back on track in London. She realised, with a pang, that Guy, Henry, Heathcliff and the charms of Finch’s bookshop would be nothing but a fond memory.

‘Right,’ said Guy, interrupting her thoughts as he cleaned his hands with the paper towel. ‘I will leave you in peace. Thank you for the book and for the cake. They’re both great. I’ll tell all my friends to come along.’ He flashed her that teasing grin again.

After he left, she worked on autopilot, wrapping orders, placing books on shelves and serving customers, but really she couldn’t concentrate on anything, her mind filled with thoughts of Guy, and the discovery that he was very much single. She couldn’t ignore the warm sensation that spread through her body; it put an entirely different slant on all their previous interactions.

Later, as she was getting ready for the busy lunchtime period, Henry joined her at the front counter, returning his mug.

‘That was most enjoyable. Thank you. You need to be careful that you don’t make it too comfortable around here or else you’ll never get rid of me.’