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He took my hand and we walked by the lake and through the trees to the back of the restaurant.
‘This is the old walled garden,’ said Kurt, opening a wooden gate and ushering me inside. ‘It dates from the beginning of the last century. The original house is long gone, but Laura and Tony have restored the kitchen garden.’
‘Oh, this is lovely!’ I gasped, gazing around me.
A large square plot in the centre of the garden had been given over to spring vegetables, the green shoots unfurling through the soil in neat rows, and beside that, a series of wooden-sided raised beds held an abundant and colourful display of herbs and different varieties of salad leaves. On the far side, a row of fruit trees was bursting into life, the young leaves a vibrant green against the mellow orange-red bricks of the old wall surrounding the garden.
‘I bet the food Laura makes with all this fresh produce is fabulous.’
‘It’s pretty special,’ agreed Kurt. He smiled down at me and took my hand, and we wandered around the garden, enjoying the feeble warmth of the March sun on our faces and breathing in the fresh country air.
‘Lettuce,’ remarked Kurt, pointing at a raised bed.
‘Er, you’re right, it is. Lots of it.’
‘No, but I brought you here specially.’ He leaned closer, slipping his arm around me. ‘I thought it would be quite a romantic thing to do.’
I laughed, loving the feel of his hand on my waist. ‘Okay, so you thinklettuceisromantic?’
He grinned. ‘It was how we met, remember?’
‘We met when I knocked over your bin.’
‘And you ended up with lettuce in your hair.’
‘Ah, yes! Lodged behind my left ear, if my memory serves me correctly.’
‘Wasn’t it your right ear?’
‘No. I’m sure it was the left.’
‘Need to get the story straight in case we end up having to tell the grandchildren.’ His eyes sparkled with mischief. ‘Like you do.’
‘Grandchildren! Heavens, Kurt, have you ever heard of taking things slowly?’
He smiled. ‘Happy to take things slowly. Or at any pace you like, really.’
‘Nice.’ I turned to him, reaching up on tip-toe to plant a kiss on his extremely kissable mouth. ‘Slowly. But nottooslowly,’ I murmured with a cheeky smile.
‘Interesting.’ He moved closer, our bodies together, and a shiver of desire rippled all the way through me. ‘So would it fit with your timescale,’ he said, ‘if I were to kiss you properly, right here, right now?’
‘You’re saying my kiss wasn’t proper?’
His mouth curved into a smile. ‘It was a good kiss. But I think we could improve on it, don’t you?’
‘We could give it a try.’ I shrugged, feigning nonchalance on the outside, while on the inside my heart was beating a frantic rhythm at the feel of his body next to me. ‘I mean, with all this lettuce here as a reminder of that very first leaf we shared...’
‘Behind your right ear.’
‘Left. It was most definitely the –’
He silenced me then with a long, soft, lingering kiss, and when we pulled apart, I started to laugh.
‘What’s so funny?’
‘Nothing. I’m just . . . happy,’ I said truthfully.
‘Me, too.’ He glanced away at the horizon, a funny little smile on his lips. ‘So...’ He turned back to me. ‘How happy would it make you to find out that we’re dining here tonight?’
