Chapter 18
With Lily and Nikki already making their way up the frosty village street, chatting merrily as they went, Will offered to walk Cath the short distance home.
‘Thanks, that’d be nice,’ she answered, feeling apprehensive yet excited at the thought of it being just the two of them for a while. ‘What a wonderful night that was.’
‘It was indeed. They really are amazing hosts. They make it look so easy, but there must be so much work behind the scenes to put on a meal like that.’
‘Definitely. And they seem to love hosting and cooking so much; they make you feel so welcome.’
They’d come out still feeling that warm glow, having been spoilt with all the wonderful food. It had been so relaxed and sociable, even as they made plans for the Christmas event.
Will’s arm slipped gently around her, in a ‘more than friends’ kind of way, as they walked side by side. Cath snuck a tentative glance up at Will, and her eyes met his.
Where were they going with this faltering romance? Cath couldn’t help but wonder. And how was Will really feeling about her? And about life after Jane’s death? It was the trickiest of roads to navigate. The only thing she knew was that she wanted to find a way forward with him.
As they reached her door, she smiled up at him, looking into those dark sensual eyes. ‘Right, well thanks.’
‘Ah, you’re welcome …’ He was gazing back in such a serious, heartfelt way.
Tension hung between them, like a question.
‘Do you want to come in?’ She wasn’t quite sure why, or what she was asking, and she really didn’t want to scare him off again. But there was something different about tonight, about this moment. She didn’t want to lose the magic.
‘Okay.’ He nodded, still holding on to that earnest expression.
Her fingertips trembled lightly on her key as she unlocked the door. He followed her through to the hallway, where she took off her coat and hung it on the rack. Taking a slow breath, she turned back towards him, the tension still very much there.
‘O-kay.’ She resorted to chit-chat to take the edge off her nervousness. ‘How are your girls? Sorry, I didn’t get the chance to ask earlier,’ Cath asked.
Oh crikey, was it okay to chat about your children in the same space you were planning to seduce their dad? And is that what was happening here? For all her ‘I’ll let you lead it’, was Will in fact wanting, needing a gentle nudge in the right direction?
‘Ah, they’re doing well, thanks. Been chatting with Sophie today.
She’s fine. Full of her student life down in York.
More parties than studies these past few weeks, by the sounds of it.
Actually, that’s not fair, I know she works hard.
She always did.’ He gave a smile. From the way he talked about his girls, she could tell how much he thought of them.
‘And I popped down to see Maddie in Newcastle last week,’ he continued. ‘She had a couple of days off. Took her for lunch down on the quayside. There’s a great new Indian restaurant there. It was nice to catch up.’
‘Ah, that sounds lovely.’ One day perhaps she might get to meet these young women. But hey, one step at a time. She needed to calm herself, and of course, she needed to get to know Will more, firstly.
‘Yeah, we’ll perhaps have to go down to Newcastle sometime, have a meal or something.’ Will’s words included her.
She smiled. It was lovely hearing Will talk as though they had a future together. That there would be things to look forward to as a couple from now on. And the tension unwound just a touch, as Cath slowly felt herself start to relax.
‘I’ll just pop the kettle on.’
Catching sight of the kitchen clock, she saw it was almost eleven-thirty. And strangely, it felt like time was closing in on them. What happened – or didn’t – tonight might well change the course of their relationship.
She felt desire thrum through her. She wanted him, to know all of him.
Holding back these past few weeks had made her body yearn for him, even more.
Though she was scared, and the thought of revealing her fifty-something flesh naturally notched up her anxiety even more, she knew it was what she wanted.
But would he want to? Might he say a polite goodnight, head on home once more.
His heart and body still holding on to Jane.
The kettle began to hum to a boil.
‘Ah, I’m not sure if I need any coffee, actually.’ Will’s voice was soft.
‘Oh …’
And his arms came around her, turning her body gently but meaningfully to face him.
His lips were warm, sensual on hers. Kissing, so very passionately, with her back pressed up against the kitchen surface.
Taking her back to their crumble moment.
Nothing at all like the pecks on the cheek received from Trevor these past years.
Oh crikey, when had she and her ex-husband in fact stopped kissing like they meant it?
Many, many years ago. Anyway, this was no place for thoughts about bloody Trevor.
‘Shall we …?’ Will stood back, holding his hand out to her, as if to make for the hallway, the stairs? The bedroom? Yikes.
‘Ah, uhm, Will, are you sure about this?’ She’d hate for this all to come to a back-to-reality halt again.
Will nodded. ‘Yes, I’m sure. In fact, I wish I’d had the courage to carry on last time.’
Okay then, Cath chivvied herself. It’s now or never. Go, girl! Even with her middle-aged body, a full tummy, her mid-range soft-pink underwear from M&S and thankfully at least, freshly shaven legs, she took his hand. A warm, hopeful, yet slightly nervous smile played over her lips.
This was it. Her heart was thumping in her chest. And so to bed …
Up the stairs, in a careful dash. Reaching her cottage bedroom threshold, together.
Giddily crashing in through the white wooden door.
The bedside lamp she’d left on was giving a soft butterscotch glow of light.
Still far too revealing, for her middle-aged waistline and slightly saggy boobs. But hey, it was too late now.
‘Are you sure, too?’ Will looked so earnest, so bloody lovely, as they hovered just inches from her bed.
‘Yeah. You?’ Please don’t say no now. If they didn’t get their kit off right now, and do this thing, she feared they’d never find the confidence to go through with it ever again.
He nodded, adding a resolute, ‘Yes.’
It was happening. Yikes! Yabba dabba doo!
They landed on soft plump pillows and her cosy duvet. The white cotton sheets had been freshly changed just that morning. Ooh, had she had some sixth sense about this?
Nerves jangled, as anticipation and anxiety hit all at once.
Sex. Would it all come back to her? Was it like riding a bike?
But with someone new and after all this time.
With wrinkles and saggy bits, neither of them spring chickens anymore.
And oh my God, her dress was off and Will was unfastening the clasp of her bra.
All the while, that sensual pressure and the lingering red wine taste of his lips on hers.
The feel of his gentle yet passionate touch.
Fingertips brushing over her left breast, then his palm cupping the fullness of it.
His mouth travelling down, leaving her lips lonely, now tracing her neckline in a trail of warm tender kisses, her collarbone, down to her chest, until oh, her nipple was firm and taut in his mouth. Oh my.
An ache for him formed deep within her. A pulse of longing. She felt sexy, and wanted – a feeling that had been lost to her for a very long time. ‘Oh, Will.’ Words were lost to her after that.
Her confidence was growing, however, with every pleasurable second. She reached beneath the covers to touch him, his erection firm within her hand. Wanting to return that pleasure, too. She heard his gasp, which sounded so damn hot.
He must be nervous too, being with someone new after all this time, yet their bodies seemed to be bypassing that. And all those wonderful feelings from her youth, their young adulthood, swirled with the present in her mind, through her limbs.
Kissing once more, with abandon, delight, desire. The contours of Will’s muscles defined in the lamplight as he moved up and over her … and, oh my. Nothing was going to stop them now.