Page 47 of The Cotswold Christmas Bookshop

She laughed, impressed that he’d remembered her telling him about that. She liked that he was a good listener and appeared to be genuinely interested in her. Some of the men she’d met on dates could barely remember her name, let alone any other details about her life.

‘Now there’s an idea, although I feel my skills are definitely on the publishing side, rather than the creative-writing side, but never say never.’

She chewed that thought over as she finished her meal, which had been absolutely delightful. Pushing her empty plate to one side, she gave Guy a smile of thanks, her gaze running over his handsome features. She could have sat there all night with Lottie at her feet, the fire glowing to one side of her and the Christmas tree glittering on the other side, simply drinking in the finer details of his face. Of course, she’d looked at him when they’d been walking the dogs together, and she’d noticed the cut of his jaw when he popped his head around the door of the shop and she’d lit up inside at the sight of his wide, beguiling smile; in the bar, when he’d run his hand through his thick brown hair, and observed her with those dark, questioning eyes. Being here tonight though, sitting opposite Guy gave her the perfect excuse to look more closely at him, to become really familiar with his undeniably gorgeous face, until she realised he was doing the same. He was watching her, his gaze running over the features of her face, those expressive eyes holding a myriad of questions. She’d been caught out staring, so she glanced away, her attention landing on the Christmas tree again, Guy’s previous comment playing over in her mind.

Writing a book was something she’d had in mind to do one day, one day far into the future. She gave a wry smile, her mind ticking over mischievously. She could write a romance about a girl who loses her job and returns to her home town to work in the cosy bookshop where she meets a handsome property developer, although whether or not she would find her happy ending still remained to be seen.

In her book, that would certainly be a given, but as she knew from bitter experience, real life rarely matched up with the high expectations of romance novels…

29

It was a good job Jake would be coming to collect her later because the wine had been flowing freely all evening, which had helped to make the conversation and laughter flow more easily too, shaking her out of her earlier niggly mood. Ordinarily, Isla wasn’t much of a drinker. She enjoyed a glass of wine or two if she was going out, but this week had been one of total overindulgence. Not that she regretted a single moment of it. After all, if you couldn’t give in to the treats on offer at Christmas then when could you?

It had been such a glorious experience to be in Guy’s stunning home tonight, enjoying his attentiveness and hospitality. Something she could definitely get used to, given half the chance.

‘Right,’ he said, standing up to gather the plates. ‘I have some home-made mince pies for pudding with some vanilla Madagascan custard.’

‘I am impressed,’ she said, nodding her head eagerly.

‘Notably, they are home-made, but not by me, or in this home, but from the baker’s in town. I can’t imagine they will be anywhere nearly as delicious as those from the bakery of Isla and Diana, but I hope they’ll be an acceptable substitute.’

‘They sound perfect, although you should have mentioned it,’ Isla said, laughing. ‘I could have brought some along with me.’

He gave a grin as he went across to the oven and pulled out the mince pies which immediately filled the room with the scent of warm pastry, fruits and spices. He allowed them to cool for a few minutes before serving them in bowls and pouring rich, velvety custard over the top.

‘These are really very good,’ said Isla after she had eaten a couple of mouthfuls. The pastry was flaky and melted in the mouth, and the fruit filling was rich and flavoursome. ‘Excellent in fact, although don’t tell Diana,’ she said with a conspiratorial smile.

When she finished eating, she pushed her empty bowl to one side, knowing she couldn’t manage another morsel. ‘Thanks, Guy, you have amazing cheffing skills.’

‘Ah, you see, I am a man of many talents,’ he said self-mockingly.

‘So I am discovering!’

‘Come on, let’s retire to the sofas,’ he suggested. ‘It’s much more comfortable over there.’ He took her by the hand and led her across to one of the sofas where she sank down into the squashy cushions and Guy sat down beside her. She was very impressed by Lottie, who had been so well behaved this evening and had now settled down in front of them, basking in the heat of the log burner. If Ollie had been here then he would almost certainly have been up on the sofa, worming his way in between the pair of them, demanding belly rubs.

‘You know I meant what I said about us continuing to see each other if you go back to London?’

Isla shifted her body to look at Guy who, with one arm thrown casually over the back of the sofa, was looking relaxed, comfortable and oh-so attractive.

‘If…?’ she ventured. ‘It is where I live.’

‘Okay then. When you go back to London. I mean, it’s not a million miles away. I’m sure we could make it work. Somehow. If we wanted it to. If you wanted it to…’ He paused, his gaze scanning her features intently, making her toes curl. ‘Do you, Isla? Do you want to see if we can make something of this?’

‘I think so,’ she answered non-committedly.

It wasn’t that she didn’t want to continue seeing Guy. She really liked him and enjoyed his company, but her head was telling her not to get carried away by the romance of the occasion. It was Christmas and everything seemed heightened and magical at this time of year, but could their relationship be sustained if she was back in London giving her absolute all to a new and demanding job? She sighed. If her head was warning her to be cautious then her body was working to another agenda entirely.

‘Well, okay, it’s not exactly the effusive response I was hoping for, but you know, it’s a start,’ he said with a bemused expression.

‘No!’ Now she felt bad. ‘It’s not that I don’t want to see you; it’s just that everything is up in the air at the moment with my job so I don’t even know where I’m going to be or what I’m going to be doing in the new year.’

‘Well, I’m sure we can find a way to stay in touch, and make some loose plans, if that works better, in the meantime. Do you reckon?’

She nodded, looking across at him with a meaningful smile.

He held out his arm by way of invitation and Isla didn’t need asking twice. She shifted up closer to him, snuggling into his embrace, slipping her shoes off and tucking up her feet beneath her. His arm wrapped around her and it felt like the most natural thing in the world. Like something they’d done on many occasions before. They stayed like that for several minutes, staring into the flames of the log burner, chatting easily, and all the time Guy ran his finger down up and down the length of her arm, igniting all her senses. That light scent of his aftershave that had so enticed her seemed achingly familiar now, but annoyingly just out of reach still. She turned to look up at him, reaching a hand to his face, eager to feel the strong contours of his jaw, their eyes locking together in understanding. She wanted to experience his kisses again as she had in the shop doorway, so briefly and intensely, but filled with promise too, and she could remember her disappointment when they’d had to pull away to make a run for the taxi. Now they were making up for lost time. He wrapped his other arm around her waist and hoisted her up so that her body was against his and their lips met together in a kiss that at first was gentle and tentative, as they both kept their eyes open, gauging each other’s reactions, until she could resist no longer. Her eyelids fluttered closed and she gave into the intense pleasure his touch elicited under the barrage of his kisses. She felt his hands explore the curves of her body, sending her desire even higher, and it was a revelation to discover feelings and longings that had lain dormant within her for far too long.

He pulled back to look at her, his face flushed with passion, his eyes awash with tenderness, and it lit up her whole being to see her own desire reflected in his expression. She cupped her hand around his face, wanting to consign that moment of his obvious longing into her memory.