Page 76 of Tricks & Treats at The Cosy Cornish Bakery

Making love on the sofa had been a glorious, passionate release but hadn’t been entirely comfortable. They lay under the throw in a tangle of entwined limbs and a strange assortment of clothes half ripped off in their haste to get at each other’s bodies.

‘Couldn’t wait. Told you I was desperate to touch you.’ Josh twirled a lock of her hair round his finger. ‘Besides, this sofa is comfy enough.’

‘Liar.’

She sat up and pulled her T-shirt back into place. Somehow it had ended up around her neck. Not the most dignified look. But then Josh wasn’t looking at his most elegant either, sprawled on the sofa, shirt unbuttoned and half off, and only one leg in his chinos. It had been a mad scramble to press flesh against flesh and to have him inside her. She’d come instantly and with force. Giggling, she added, ‘If your fans could see you now.’

‘Not looking my best?’

‘Hair’s a mess, you’ve got bags the size of suitcases under your eyes and, although I quite like the stubble, it’s played havoc with my skin. Need to get some aloe vera on it.’

Josh, affecting a northern accent, said, ‘’Allo, Vera! Sorry. Family joke. I can’t wait for them to meet you. Sorry,’ he repeated. ‘Told you I don’t make sense when I’m jet-lagged. I’m an idiot.’

‘Yes, you are.’

‘But I’m your idiot. Fully, one hundred per cent yours. Do you believe me?’ Josh’s eyes were half closed, not entirely disguising the glazed love.

‘I’m beginning to.’ Ginger’s breath hitched.

‘I’ve never seen you look more beautiful. You’re such a beautiful person, inside and out. Come back here. I need to kiss you again.’ He pulled her to him and held her face between his hands. ‘Oh, Ginger, I’m never going to get tired of kissing you. I’m going to make it my life’s work to kiss all of your freckles.’

‘Might take a while. I’ve got a few.’

‘Then may it take a lifetime.’ They paused and gazed into each other’s eyes as his words sank in. He nuzzled her neck. ‘There’s a freckle here and one here.’ He pushed up her T-shirt. ‘Ooh, and I like this one here. Think it’s my favourite.’ He kissed the one on her breast and then rolled his tongue around her nipple, licking and nipping gently until it hardened.

Ginger’s head lolled back and she moaned with pleasure. ‘Where’s all this energy coming from? I thought you were jet-lagged.’

‘Must be the chamomile tea.’ Josh laughed, his voice muffled from underneath her clothing. ‘Or I’ve drunk from the cup of love. Speaking of which, there’s another freckle I want to investigate again.’ His head disappeared between her legs and for a while the only sound was of Ginger’s laboured breathing as she reached her juddering climax, one hand deep in Josh’s hair, the other gripping the arm of the sofa.

A long while later, they again lay close together. This time practicality and a cold kitchen forced them to get dressed.

‘I’ll make some more tea, or cocoa. We didn’t get around to drinking the last,’ Ginger mumbled, not moving.

‘Let me.’

She opened one eye. ‘You make cocoa?’

‘One of my many talents.’

Ginger giggled weakly. ‘You’ve just shown me some of them.’ She watched as he heated milk and stirred it into the hot chocolate paste. He looked perfectly at home in her kitchen. Always had. Little aftershocks of pleasure rippled through her as she remembered the feel of him inside her. She gave an enormous stretch, giggling again. She’d never regard this slippery, battered leather sofa in quite the same way again. He loved her. He really loved her! Joshua Ralph, movie star, had fallen in love with Melissa Ginger Guppy, owner of The Sanctuary bed and breakfast.

Josh returned, carrying two steaming mugs. Passing her one, he said, ‘We need to talk.’

‘Talk more? That’s all we’ve been doing.’ She caught his eye and blushed. ‘Well maybe not all.’

He leered comically. ‘And give me five minutes and we can do it some more.’

‘Honestly, anyone would think you were just after me for the sex,’ Ginger joked, wrapping her hands around the mug of cocoa.

‘About the sum of it.’ Josh sat down next to her. ‘Complaining?’

‘I’ll cope.’ Ginger grinned into her mug.

He kissed her temple lovingly. ‘Seriously, I don’t know what got into me back then. Must have been that chamomile tea. Are you a witch or something?’

‘I’m a proud Cornishwoman and Celt. We’re all witches.’

‘Better treat you well, then.’