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‘She wants you to write about it?’
‘Kind of. I know, it’s a bit much—’
‘Laura, I get it, it’s a great story. Love at first luggage.’ Jasper moves his hand through the air, as though envisaging the words on a billboard somewhere. Why does everyone keep using that line?
‘The thing is, my boss got slightly over-excited – she wants to do a photo shoot…’ I pause, checking his face isn’t reading ‘horrified’. It isn’t. ‘I know it’s all a bit nuts, but it would just be a few pictures to go with the article …’
‘Do they want a shot of me getting down on one knee or something?’ he asks. I’m pretty sure he’s joking, but I shake my head nervously anyway.
‘No, no, nothing like that, just a few photos of the suitcase, of us together – they want to do it on Monday.’
I pull my shoulders up around my ears, making what I imagine to be the facial expression of someone who’s spent ages twiddling light bulbs on the Christmas tree to find the one loose connection, and now they’re about to turn the power back on, to see if they’ve done enough to make it work.
Jasper reaches out to put a hand on each of my shoulders.
‘Whatever you need, Laura, it’s not a problem for me.’
‘Thank you, Jasper. I wouldn’t want you to feel awkward, I can always tell her no if you’d rather not …’
‘Listen, I’ll be honest with you. I’ve been ready to meet someone for a while now. I’ve just turned thirty, I’ve got a great business, a beautiful house that’s too big for me, I’m going to need a Mrs Contessa Kitchens at some point, perhaps some Baby Contessa Kitchens, too.’ He grins, closes his eyes, then when he opens them, he says, ‘When you knocked on my door – Well, let’s just say I wasn’t sure I believed in love at first sight until yesterday …’
Wow, this is intense. The mention of Baby Contessa Kitchens just made my palms start to sweat. My mouth emits a high-pitched humming sound. But I can hardly berate the guy for getting ahead of himself when I’ve just asked him to do a Hello-style photo shoot with me.
‘That is so sweet, Jasper, but um,’ I swallow, my mouth dry, Maude’s words of warning heavy on my mind. ‘We have lots of time to get to know each other better, especially if you come to London sometimes. I wouldn’t want to put too much pressure on something that’s just beginning.’
‘Sure, I know. Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that.’
Jasper’s face contorts with boyish embarrassment and he scuffs his shoe against the concrete step. Now I feel terrible that I’ve made him regret his lovely, romantic words. Isn’t this exactly what I’d hoped to hear? Wasn’t I the one telling everyone yesterday that I thought I’d love him before I’d even met him? Dee’s words ring in my ears, about how I sabotage things, so I lean in to kiss him, determined not to let myself ruin this.
He pulls me gently into his arms and kisses me back. His lips are comforting and firm. It’s a good kiss, definitely an enjoyable experience, and I try to push all comparisons with Ted’s beach kiss from my mind.
When the kiss eventually ends, my mind feels exhausted from the pressure of trying to think the right thoughts, rather than the unhelpful ones.
‘So, I was thinking,’ Jasper says, holding me gently by both shoulders. ‘Perhaps we could do the photo shoot in one of my kitchens?’
‘Oh?’ I say, wondering how Suki would feel about that.
‘I think the Malala would convey the right atmosphere, don’t you?’
