Chapter 62
CHAPTER 62
B y the time they broke away, Gemma was breathless. If she had thought a drunken kiss had been fireworks, then this sober one had been atomic. It was as if touching Kent’s lips against hers set every one of her cells on fire. It had never been like this with Robert or with any of the men she had dated sporadically since then. In fact, when kisses like that existed, it was hard not to believe what Kent and his parents said about love at first sight. Or at least love at first sober kiss. The minute the thought rose, Gemma quashed it. She wasn’t in love. Not even close. She didn’t know what she was. All she knew was that it made her feel happier than she had in a long time.
“So, I guess you’re staying for a drink, then?” Kent said with a grin.
“I guess I can manage one.” Gemma grinned back. “Although I think I need to stay off the alcohol. A lemonade would be perfect.”
Two lemonades and an orange juice later, Gemma didn’t have any desire to leave. The evening had taken on a chill, and though they could have gone inside, she didn’t want to move. She didn’t want to change anything about the way things were. Thankfully, Kent had given her his jacket to wear.
“If you could visit anywhere, where would you go?” Kent asked.
It had been a constant back and forth of questions and not once had they struggled for things to talk about.
“Hay-on-Wye,” Gemma replied, not needing any time to think about the question.
Kent’s gaze narrowed. “Hay-on-Wye? In Wales?”
“That’s the one.”
“So I asked you where in the world you wanted to visit, and you said Wales?”
“I didn’t say Wales,” Gemma protested. “I said Hay-on-Wye. You know, there are over twenty bookshops in that one little town. And it really is small. It’s got a population of two thousand. Maldon is over sixty thousand. By their calculations, we should have hundreds of bookshops. Besides, what’s the point of travelling anywhere in the world if you haven’t seen the best bits on your doorstep?” she replied.
She was about to carry on talking about all the other places in the world she wanted to see when she noticed the way Kent was staring at her in disbelief.
“What? What is it?” she said.
Was he disappointed? Had he wanted her to say somewhere exotic? After all, his parents had met on a river cruise in the jungle. That was probably the type of person he was interested in being with, too. Someone adventurous.
“You’re never going to believe this,” he said, pulling his phone out of his pocket.
“You’ve been there, I take it?”
“Hold on, one second.”
A minute later, he handed the phone to her. On the screen was the picture of the cutest little house she had ever seen, with a thatched roof and wisteria vines climbing up the outside wall—it was the epitome of a chocolate box cottage.
“What is this? Where is this?” she asked, confused about the sudden detour the conversation appeared to have taken.
“It’s a cottage in Hay-on-Wye,” Kent said. “And it’s mine. I own it.”