The Waffle House on the Pier - Tilly Tennant Page 0,70

Although, she wasn’t sure if she herself was in any state to offer support to someone else as unstable as her.

Her reply seemed to help him find solid ground, and he returned her smile with one of his own. ‘I have to move quick; I have a feeling there’ll be plenty of competition.’

‘Trust me, there isn’t,’ Sadie said. She reached to give him a quick kiss, but he placed a gentle hand on her neck to hold her for longer.

‘Oh, Luke…’ she murmured as he let go and she opened her eyes. ‘You really can’t do things like that to me when I have a full day’s work ahead and hours before I can see you for more.’

Kissing him was like a magic spell, and whenever his lips touched hers she had to fight off the trance that she felt herself drift into. It was delicious, but it sometimes felt a little dangerous too, like she might lose control, though she wondered whether that might not be the sexiest bit about it. Would it be so bad to lose control with him? To let him do what he wanted? And what he wanted couldn’t be so far from what she wanted.

Reluctantly, she pushed him back through the door. ‘I have work to do.’

‘Temptress,’ he said.

She laughed. ‘You’re the one doing the tempting. Go and build a shelf or something – whatever it is you do all day. Come back later like you’re supposed to.’

‘I can’t,’ he said. ‘Every time I try to do something I start thinking about you and then I get all useless.’

‘Well you’ll just have to try. If I’ve got to manage today then so can you.’

With a last shove and a laugh, she closed the door on him and locked it. He pressed his face against the glass with a forlorn look and she laughed even harder, so tempted to open it again and drag him in.

‘Go!’ she said and turned away. But when she got back to the counter she looked up and he was still there. ‘For God’s sake!’ She let out a giggle that brought April to the doors of the kitchen.

‘What’s the matter?’ she asked.

Sadie was about to answer, though she didn’t know what she was going to say, then she glanced back at the window. At least Luke had had the good sense to see that April’s appearance might be a good time to make his getaway, because he was already walking down the pier towards the promenade.

‘Oh, just something funny someone said to me yesterday,’ Sadie said, turning back to her grandma. ‘I just thought about it and it’s still funny.’

‘That’s alright,’ April said. ‘It’s just that I thought I could hear someone else in here and I thought it can’t be opening time already because I’ve only just started mixing.’

‘Don’t worry, Gammy, you can get back to it and you have a little time yet.’

April bustled away, and Sadie’s gaze returned to the window. By now, Luke was out of sight. Gone, but definitely not forgotten, and she couldn’t wait to see him again later.

* * *

During the morning, Sadie didn’t feel too tired, despite her late night, but by the lunchtime rush she was flagging, and by two o’clock she was desperate for her bed. But she kept going and she kept smiling for the customers and, as her grandmother had predicted, the good weather brought them in larger numbers than other days. Most popped in for an ice cream to take away as the queues at the parlour were enormous, but many stayed for the full works. There wasn’t a moment where the dining room was empty, and that only added stress to Sadie’s day because, as the orders came in thick and fast, she had to keep checking on April in the back to see that she was managing and, more to the point, wasn’t flying off to fairyland. It was a cruel way to look at it, but in the cold light of day and with a full restaurant, it was the only way Sadie could look at it. But, to her great relief, it seemed that April was having a better day than of late and handling the kitchen with cheery efficiency. That, and the fact that she was looking forward to meeting Luke later, was all that was keeping Sadie on her feet by mid-afternoon.

By three the customers were thinning a little, but the waffle house was by no means quiet, and by

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