off each other?’
‘Sounds about right to me,’ Sam laughed.
‘Great,’ Joe said, leaping up and dashing around the table before lifting Hope off her feet, wrapping her in his arms and kissing her deeply.
‘This has been like a Shakespearean comedy,’ said Sam, reaching across the table for my hand.
‘You’re not wrong,’ said Joe, when he finally came up for air.
‘But this is it, right?’ I said, lacing my fingers through Sam’s and revelling in the sensations that his warm skin touching mine kicked off. ‘There really are no more muddles?’
‘No more muddles,’ everyone chorused but it didn’t escape my notice that it was Sam and Joe who were looking at one another when really, they should only have had eyes for me and Hope.
Chapter 27
I don’t think that Hope, who was experiencing that heady rush of love all over again, picked up on the fact that the guys hadn’t been as resolute in our ‘no more muddles’ announcement as we had. Unfortunately, there was neither the opportunity to point it out to her, nor the time to spend catching up on the kisses I had missed out on during the last few weeks because the wheels of everyday life were still turning and the minutiae had to be attended to.
No sooner had we got everything settled than our intimate moment was interrupted by Sam’s delivery from a local brewery and Joe announcing that he’d had a text from Charlie who was about to leave the farm to collect him.
‘Let’s all meet tonight then,’ suggested Sam. ‘After closing time, down at the beach by the rockpools.’
We all agreed that was a wonderful idea and having spotted Joe and Hope saying a very tender goodbye, Sam pulled me close to him and rested his hands low on my waist. The action literally made my knees weaken and I had barely a moment to become ensnared in his emerald eyes before he was closing them and lowering his lips to mine.
His kiss was purposeful and full of promise and when I felt the tip of his tongue caress mine, I thought I was going to pass out. I let out a lust-filled gasp, so quiet that only he could hear it, and in consequence his hands held me tighter and he kissed me harder.
My light-headed feeling from earlier had only just settled back down and I knew that if he carried on like this for the duration of my remaining time in Wynmouth, I would be a physical wreck by the time I had to leave.
Instinctively, my hands then reached for his hips and I pulled him right in to me, his breath catching as the gap between us closed.
‘Bloody hell, Tess,’ he murmured, pressing himself close enough to leave me in no doubt that he was enjoying the moment too.
Had we been alone, I’m not sure where we would have ended up, but the sound of Joe clearing his throat restored our decorum and we slowed the moment down.
‘I see you’ve learnt a few new tricks since our assignation behind the huts,’ I whispered.
Our first kiss had been perfect and I was pretty certain the second one had been too, although the influence of Sophie’s rum punch had ensured certain details weren’t quite as focused as I would have liked, but there was no doubting the quality of the third one.
‘Shall I let you into a secret,’ he said, punctuating each word with another kiss, ‘that night down at the beach huts all those years ago, was my first kiss too.’
‘Really?’ I smiled.
‘Scout’s honour,’ he smiled back.
‘Hey guys,’ I heard Joe say. ‘I’m sorry to break things up, but you’ve got barrels to sign for, Sam.’
Although disappointed to feel his hands move away, I knew we were going to have plenty of opportunities, and more private ones than this, to carry on where we’d left off.
‘I’ll see you tonight,’ Sam whispered. ‘And we’ll do more of this very soon.’
‘Lots more,’ I agreed, ‘lots, lots more and very, very soon.’
‘And don’t you even think about leaving Wynmouth,’ he commanded. ‘You go back to the cottage and unpack right now. Do you hear me? You need to stay put in Wynmouth for at least a few more weeks.’
I very much liked the sound of that and I didn’t need telling twice. Hope and I walked back to the cottage together, still giggling about the mistake I had made in assuming she and Sam were a couple, and when she left, I hastily unpacked again and