Page 51 of The Secret Holiday Kiss

‘No, they can go off to the side.’ She gestured behind her. ‘I want something … magical. Something for the whole of Mistingham to admire. Something that, in amongst the dancing and the drinking and the laughing, will blow them away.’

Avery stood, legs wide, tap-tapping his lower lip. God, he was sexy. ‘Any clues?’

‘Not yet,’ she admitted. ‘But I’ve got a couple of weeks. It’s only the first of December. I can think of something.’

‘In amongst the work for Mary and Winnie, and your client in Norwich, and the disaster zone that is your London flat?’

‘Hey.’ Daisy laughed. ‘It’s good to keep busy.’

‘Yeah.’ Avery was still staring at the table. ‘I guess that’s true.’

‘You’re not exactly twiddling your thumbs,’ she pointed out. ‘You’re running the house build, creating all these treasure hunt sculptures. You go back to Norwich regularly to do whatever it is you do there.’

‘I guess we have that in common, then. But I’m getting on with things just fine. In fact, I think—’ He turned to face her, brushed a hand down her arm, his progress slow and smooth, leaving a trail of sparks in his wake.

‘Even whatever you’re doing in Norwich?’ Daisy said, her body lighting up at his touch.

‘Norwich is nothing,’ he said. ‘Norwich is checking on my flat.’ He moved closer.

Daisy angled her head up, anticipation thrumming through her, but her mouth was intent on ruining the moment. ‘Do you have a cat?’

‘No.’ Avery slid his hands around her waist. ‘This OK?’

‘It’s very OK,’ she said. Then, ‘So you check on your flat, that you’re no longer living in, once a week? Must have a lot of house plants that need watering.’

‘Me and house plants don’t mix. Do you want me to kiss you?’

‘Yes,’ Daisy said, deciding to give up her questioning. ‘I would like you to kiss me.’

‘Good.’ Avery tipped his head down, his breath coasting over her lips, a promise of what was to come, and Daisy’s eyes fluttered closed, because how could this man make her feel like this, make her body respond so intensely, before he’d even done anything?

‘You know,’ she murmured, her mind screaming at her to stop, to give up this derailment of what was about to be an exquisite kiss, ‘if you did have plants or pets, there are these people called neighbours. They can often be quite helpful.’

Avery stopped, his head paused on its journey to meet hers, his fingers stilling on her waist. His breath stopped, too. Daisy stared up at him, but he was too close, now, for her to read his expression. She tensed, preparing for him to step back, to lose his touch and the promise of his kiss. She had ruined it.

But then Avery spoke, his words low and urgent, his brows drawing together. ‘My neighbours are the best. They don’t need me messing things up for them.’ Then, before Daisy had a chance to reply, to work out why asking them to water his plants would mess things up for them, he kissed her.

It wasn’t a slow, gentle kiss. He didn’t explore her mouth with his own, tentative and careful like they had started last time. This was an all-in kiss, a claiming kiss, and after a beat of surprise, Daisy returned it. She pressed herself against him, tightening her hold on him so they could be as close as possible. She slid her tongue into his mouth and revelled in his rough stubble against her jaw, the warmth of him all the way down her body, the way they seemed fused together.

‘Daisy,’ he murmured, his hand cradling her head the one gentle thing, as he changed the angle of the kiss. ‘Daisy Anderly.’ She waited for what came next, but he must just have wanted to say her name, to claim her with his words as well as his touch.

‘Avery Hudson,’ she said against his lips, pushing up on tiptoes so she could look into his eyes. A small part of her brain snagged, remembering that she was supposed to be finding clues, but there was nothing in his gaze except lust and want and appreciation, and Daisy felt it all the way to her toes. ‘This,’ she said, ‘is not very professional.’ She closed her eyes when he moved his lips to her neck.

‘What’s not?’ His words vibrated against her soft skin.

‘Leaving your team on site to stay here and kiss me.’

‘This is a very important business meeting,’ he murmured. ‘I am debriefing one of our most valued contractors.’

Daisy laughed, breathless. ‘Do you debrief all your contractors like this?’ She had meant to sound flirtatious, but she remembered what May had said, about him sticking to short-term relationships.

Avery slid his lips up her neck, along her jaw, and then stopped. He looked her in the eye. ‘I am not debriefing anyone else like this,’ he said, his tone serious. ‘I’m not kissing anyone else, if that’s what you’re worried about. If that’s why you keep asking me about Norwich, about my neighbours. I am not doing this with anyone else, and I don’t want to be, either. OK?’

‘OK.’ It was all she could say.

‘Good.’ He kissed her once: a full stop on the lips.

‘Just for the record,’ she said, ‘neither am I.’