A Perfect Cornish Escape by Phillipa Ashley Page 0,63

think about you.’

He smiled. ‘Of course you don’t … but I can’t get you out of my mind. You’re there every moment. Well, not when I’m on a shout, obviously …’ He grinned. ‘But most of the rest of the time. I would really like it if we could call a truce and simply behave like two adult human beings who want to take things further than a sophisticated playground sparring.’

Her Prosecco glass wobbled. He didn’t have to touch her to ignite a fire deep inside her, the words were enough, uttered in that deep, delectable accent.

‘I’d love it if we could get out of here now and negotiate a ceasefire.’ He was right by her ear. ‘Preferably in bed.’

‘Mmm …’ She couldn’t wipe the grin off her face. Dirk’s words were the equivalent of warm honey being drizzled over her naked body. God, what was she thinking? She’d gone full-on E L James and what’s more she didn’t care that people were only feet away. If they’d had the infra-red camera on her, she’d have been glowing white from head to toe. Evie Carman caught her eye and Tiff smiled back.

‘Bear with me. I’ll see what I can do,’ she said, then whispered, ‘Meet me outside Gabe’s restaurant in five minutes.’

With that, she left him and sashayed over to the artist, thanking her for the invitation and promising to write up the feature, which would appear in the September issue of Cream of Cornish. She avoided making further eye contact with Dirk or even looking in his direction. She only hoped he was suffering the molten, naked desire that she was.

She left the gallery and walked onto the quayside, stopping by the Net Loft where she pretended to study the menu board. It could have offered roasted tarantula for all she knew, because her mind was on the delicious prospect of having Dirk Meadows for supper, as a nightcap and for breakfast.

It was actually nearer ten minutes before he joined her.

‘What kept you?’ she said, curling her fingers so he wouldn’t see that they were shaky.

‘Evie spoke to me and I didn’t like to rush off. I had to put on a good show.’ He grinned. ‘Why? Thought I’d changed my mind?’

‘I was about to go home, actually,’ she said haughtily.

‘Sure you were.’ He grinned. ‘My place, I assume?’

‘I think so. I love Marina to bits, but this is one occasion I don’t want to share.’

She’d never climbed the steps up to the cottages so fast. She hadn’t realised she could go that fast, but months of practice had made her fitter than she had been for years. Not to mention she was also fuelled by the desire to rip Dirk’s clothes off, and he even gave her a hand once they were out of sight of the gallery.

Out of breath but laughing, they almost fell through the cottage door and into the sitting room. She wasn’t sure who pulled who down onto the sofa, but clothes were being ripped off. A shirt button pinged against the hearth and Dirk swore but didn’t pause.

‘Bloody cuffs,’ he said, laughing while trying to pull his shirt off in the semi-darkness.

Tiff dealt with the buttons on his jeans. Once they were free, everything came off or down swiftly and she had his beautiful body against hers, his hands, a little roughened by work, gently exploring her. She closed her eyes and gave him everything.

Chapter Nineteen

Marina had been wrong about Lachlan – she’d wondered if he’d changed his mind about asking her to dinner, but he called her the very next day after their talk with an invitation to Gabe’s restaurant later that week.

During the meal, they caught a few curious glances from local people. Marina nodded to a few but she tried to focus on her dinner companion. They talked more about Scotland, about her college job and his new business with Aaron, about the food … it was all light and friendly talk, which made a refreshing change from their previous intense conversations.

No one bothered them and it was a relief to simply focus on a relaxed evening out with a friend … maybe this was the moment when their relationship might become more?

After their dinner, they strolled up to her cottage and stopped outside. Lachlan surprised her by immediately asking, ‘Could I tempt you to a wee dram? Unless it’s too late?’

‘Well, it’s a school night … but a very wee one won’t do any harm, so why not?’ Marina