Christmas at Lilac Cottage - Holly Martin Page 0,75

a moment and then slid in beside her.

‘You believe me?’

She nodded. ‘Actually I do. I have no reason to doubt you.’

‘You have no reason to believe me either.’

She moved closer to him, so close their faces were nearly touching. His hands moved to her waist, pulling her against him though she stopped him getting too close with her hand on his chest. ‘You can tell a lot about someone from their eyes. Fear, anger, shock, deceit and love are some of the many emotions that come from the eyes.’ She stared at his silvery grey eyes filled with warmth for her. ‘Your eyes are telling me that you’re speaking the truth.’

He smiled with relief as he pulled her closer and this time she let him. ‘What are my eyes telling you now?’

She laughed. ‘That you want to do all kind of wicked and dirty things to me.’

He kissed her, sweetly, his hands caressing over her body. Her body filled with need for him but before she could get too carried away, he pulled away slightly, his eyes filled with regret.

‘I can’t stay.’

She smiled, stroking his face. ‘I know, it’s OK.’

‘She’s only just gone to bed. She could get up and find I’m not there. I shouldn’t have come but I needed to see you.’

‘It’s OK. Go, I’ll see you tomorrow.’

He leaned his forehead against hers for a second, kissed her briefly and then slipped from the bed, giving her a smile before disappearing from the room.

They had to come clean with Daisy soon, this sneaking around was killing her.

Chapter Fifteen

Penny grabbed her coat and took her time doing up her shoelaces. She had put off doing this for the last few days but she knew she needed to do it now.

The sun was shining through drifts of fog, drying up all the rain from the night before and making the sea below Lilac Cottage glitter like gold.

She hadn’t been into town since Tuesday when everyone had decided to help her get ready for her big date. Who knew that the tiny piece of satin that she had been forced to buy would end up having such a devastating effect on both her and Henry? Despite telling everyone that listened that it wasn’t a proper date, that they were just friends, she knew that they would all be giving her that knowing look today or grilling her about Henry’s skill between the sheets. And with Henry desperately trying to keep their relationship hidden from Daisy there wasn’t a lot that she could say to the people of the town, not that she would share anything anyway but now she needed to be even more careful. With only five days before the Christmas Eve ball, the town would be filled with people doing last-minute shopping. She sighed.

Suddenly the connecting door flew open and Henry stormed towards her.

‘Daisy is in the shower and I have to go to work but I just wanted to give you something before I left,’ Henry said.

‘What?’

Henry gathered her in his arms and kissed her deeply. Good lord, she’d suddenly forgotten all plans for that day and only wanted to whisk Henry back to bed. When would be the next time she could make love to him? She knew any length of time would be too long. She wrapped herself around him, holding him tight and kissing him hard, but he just as suddenly pulled away.

‘I really have to go to work, I can’t be late on my first proper day as much as I’d like to right now. But there’s something for you to think about on your hot date with Fabio tonight.’

Penny laughed. ‘I’m not…’

‘It’s OK, I get that the lure of a man in leather trousers is too much to resist but just remember whose name you were screaming the other night.’

She smiled. ‘I don’t think I could ever forget. When are we going to get a repeat performance of that?’

‘When you stop dating men in leather trousers.’

He kissed her on the head and walked out the back door. He turned back and gave her a wink. ‘Soon, I promise.’

She smiled as she watched him go, that incredible kiss setting her up for the whole day.

She got in the car and drove down into town, the streets a hive of activity as people prepared for Christmas. In the foggy morning the Christmas lights that were strewn from the trees and hung from the lampposts and the fronts of buildings looked magical, even in the daylight,