Chapter 64
‘I can’t believe you booked a room in the pub when you can see your own cottage from the bedroom!’ Bella undid the catch on the sash window and leaned out.
‘I didn’t want to crowd you,’ Noah said softly. ‘I know how important having that security is to you, especially after Joel came crashing in. And I didn’t want to presume that, well, that we’d end up where we are now.’
‘In a room above a pub, you mean?’
‘No. Looking out of the pub window together, hopefully about to make very good use of that comfortable bed!’ Noah’s tone was playful, and as she turned back from the window, she felt her stomach disappear when he walked towards her.
Sliding into his arms, she leaned back slightly so she could see him properly.
‘You’re a daft bugger, Noah Hathaway.’
‘I know. But I’m a daft bugger who’s completely mad about you.
’ He dipped his head and their lips met, in the first proper kiss of that evening.
The kiss deepened, and Bella was taken back to their first under the stars.
It had felt so right, then, as if everything was falling into place.
She should have trusted her instincts. Now, she had no such qualms. As she pressed closer to Noah, feeling herself growing warmer and more aroused, she felt him hard and excited against her.
‘I’m glad we’re here, and not at the cottage,’ she murmured. ‘And, in a weird sort of way, I’m glad we waited.’
‘Me too,’ Noah responded between kisses.
Bella took hold of one of his hands and led him to the bed.
In a few more moments, they had shed their clothes and were beneath the crisp white cotton bedlinen.
Bella was relieved to find that Noah made love as expertly as he kissed, and as she let the physical sensations overtake her, she remembered a few tricks of her own.
Feeling his back arching as he reached his own ecstatic peak, she realised that this would never, ever go out of style.
Some time later, when they’d both come back to earth, Bella reached for a glass of water by the bed. Noah was dozing, but when he felt her move, he opened his eyes.
‘Are you OK?’ he murmured.
‘Never better.’ Bella smiled down at him. ‘I can’t quite believe I’m here.’
‘Well,’ Noah propped himself up on one elbow, ‘here’s to many more nights like this. It’s not often you get to go to bed with a musical superstar!’
Bella snorted. ‘That’s over-selling it, even for an estate agent.
’ She leaned back on the deep, comfortable pillows and made a mental note to congratulate Jen on her soft furnishing choices.
‘But seriously, what happens now? Are you shooting off back to London tomorrow night? Will I still need to get out of the cottage?’
‘I will have to get back for Monday,’ Noah admitted. ‘But, if everything goes to plan, I should be spending a whole lot more time down here in a few months.’
‘Really?’ Bella sat up in bed. ‘Why?’
As Noah filled her in on the agreement between himself, Mollie and Martyn Fellowes, Bella’s heart started to beat faster. Noah’s expertise really had come through for Purrfect Paws, and, even more excitingly, it meant that he really was serious about being with her, too.
‘So I guess that means I’ll have to find a way of sticking around in Lower Brambleton myself,’ she said as he finished explaining.
‘Why, were you planning on going anywhere?’ Noah raised an eyebrow.
‘Taylor Swift called while you were getting the drinks in. She wants me to join her next world tour!’
‘Well,’ Noah laughed. ‘With an offer like that, between us we’ll be able to keep Mollie’s cats in Dreamies until the next century!’
Bella giggled. ‘A girl can dream, but I think, with what Jason and I raised tonight, it should keep the wolves from the door of Purrfect Paws for a while longer, until Taylor really does call. Paddy reckoned it was a good few grand, and that’s not accounting for the donation buckets on the door at the end. ’
‘That’s great news.’
Noah looked serious again, and Bella knew she had to ask the question. ‘And this? You and me? This is what you want?’
In answer, Noah rolled her beneath him and kissed her hard. ‘This is what I want. Now, and forever, if you’ll have me.’
‘I think I can manage that.’ Bella smiled up at him. ‘Something tells me that Monty would have approved, too.’
And somewhere outside, as a shooting star streaked across the sky, there was a grumpy, and possibly ghostly, yowl of agreement.