Chapter 26
26
The eve of launch day soon came around. We’d been really busy over the last couple of weeks. The guest list was huge. There was no way that everyone who had been invited would fit in if they all turned up. I’d spent hours trawling social media, inviting influencers who might not have the biggest followings, but those who looked like they really did love books. A number of Cornish authors had also agreed to come, along with Pep the Poet, who did a lot with local schools and was totally awesome.
Mum and Dad were staying away on the night before the launch event. I think maybe on purpose. They never went anywhere, but they said that they were going up to the lodge to see Dan, making a point of saying they would be staying overnight. While Mum didn’t give away any more than that when she told Dennie to look after me that night and make sure I got home safely, I was pretty sure she was insinuating there would be no one else in the house.
Dennie and I had been struggling to keep our hands off each other, necking in the car or in the back of the shop like teenagers every chance we got. Ridiculous really. I was twenty-seven and he was a good ten years older.
We’d been rushed off our feet all day so I said I’d cook for us at mine. I’d showered and curled my hair, put on some light make-up, and hoped he would notice the change from the tatty old dungarees I’d been wearing all day. I uncorked a nice bottle of red wine and was nervously cleaning the already perfectly clean wine glasses when there was a knock at the door.
Taking a deep breath, I opened the door and Dennis thrust a bouquet of flowers at me.
‘These are just to say good luck for tomorrow.’
‘That’s so lovely, Dennie, thank you.’ I reached out to kiss his cheek and inhaled the expensive woody scent. Everything about Dennie exuded style and money. He was everything I thought I hated in a man but right then it was far from hate that I was feeling for him. ‘I’ll go and put these in some water.’
We danced around each other in the kitchen, both a little nervous again, and I fumbled to put the flowers in a vase while making idle small talk. As I turned to him, he shook his head at me.
‘Nancy, I don’t think you know what you do to me.’
I looked at my feet and he strode across the room and lifted my chin with his finger. His lips were suddenly on mine. Gently at first, but then more demanding, more passionate than I’d ever known him. Mid-kiss, he lifted me from the floor so that I was above him, and I could feel him pressing into me.
‘How long till dinner?’ His voice was deep and low, and oh-so incredibly sexy.
‘It’s ready now but just keeping warm in the slow cooker. We can have it whenever we want.’
‘Maybe we should put a hold on it. I can think of something much more interesting to do than eat dinner. Much as I feel like I’d quite like to throw you on that table, how would you feel about going up to your room? I don’t trust your brother not to interrupt us again but I really need to be inside you right now.’
I shivered and laughed nervously but nodded. We’d struggled to keep our hands off each other over the last couple of weeks, snatching moments to grope each other like kids in the storeroom in the back of the shop. There was nothing that had ever felt more right in my life. As he suddenly grabbed me and picked me up, I gave a little high-pitched squeal and he practically ran up the stairs with me in his arms, stopping only briefly to put the lock on the front door. He grinned as he placed me down on my bed, which I was very glad I’d changed earlier that day, as well as having made a huge effort to tidy my room.
Kicking the door shut behind him while shedding his coat, which he hadn’t even taken off yet before our kisses, he still hadn’t taken his eyes off mine. As I reached out to him and slowly removed every single piece of his clothing, before he did the same for me, he waited for my approval before showing me just how much he wanted me.