‘I’ll have the same as you, if that’s all right,’ I requested. ‘Why don’t you go and get them while I whizz Nell around the block and I’ll meet you back at the house?’
‘Sounds good to me,’ he said, lingering to give me a soft, sweet kiss before letting me go. ‘I’ll see you in a bit.’
* * *
‘Oh my God,’ I groaned, ‘you weren’t wrong, were you?’
Blossom’s breakfast rolls were every bit as delicious, full and tasty as Finn had described and I had been hard-pushed to finish mine. Even Nell was in seventh heaven because he’d got her some cooked sausages to snack on.
‘They’re good, right?’ Finn smiled, wiping his mouth with a sheet of kitchen roll.
‘So good,’ I groaned again.
‘And just what we need to keep us on our feet, because I have a packed itinerary for today.’
We both stood up to get ready to go.
‘I can’t wait,’ I told him, wrapping my arms around his waist and kissing him again. Blossom’s roll might have sated my hunger, but I still had plenty of appetite for Finn. ‘By the way, how did lunch with the family go yesterday?’
‘Do you know,’ he said, his voice full of wonder, ‘it was actually all right. Dad kept the digs dialled down and he couldn’t believe it when Zak whipped his phone out to show him what I’d been working on. Mind you, I was pretty shocked by that too. I had no idea he’d taken such an interest.’
It was a total turnaround, but a most welcome one.
‘And what about you?’ Finn asked. ‘You were going to tell me what you said to your mum.’
‘Oh, I’ll tell you later,’ I swallowed, quickly diverting the focus of our conversation from family to friends. ‘But Peter rang too and his call was much more exciting.’
‘Oh.’
‘He rang to tell me he’s engaged.’
‘Well, that’s lovely news.’
‘It is,’ I agreed, ‘and he wanted to see if I still had the hots for you, of course.’
‘And what did you tell him?’ he grinned, kissing me softly. ‘Did you tell him that you had to carry a fire extinguisher with you everywhere now?’
‘Something like that,’ I chuckled, between kisses.
‘And did you tell your mum about me, too?’
‘You might have got a mention.’
I still didn’t go into details, but then, given the way our kiss quickly deepened and my body melded itself to his, I couldn’t have focused on details even if I’d wanted to.
* * *
It was only just after nine, but the city seemed to be waking up earlier and earlier in the run-up to Christmas. With just a couple of weeks to go until the schools broke up, harassed-looking parents were striding out with lengthy lists, all wearing stern expressions and carrying multiple reusable shopping bags.
They weren’t exactly exuding festive joy, but fortunately for us, Finn and I had the luxury of unlimited hours and could take things at a more leisurely pace when it came to enjoying the sights, sounds and scents of the season, of which there were many.
‘Let’s start at the market,’ he suggested. ‘The Christmas one,’ he hastily added, ‘not the permanent one.’
‘I don’t mind either now I’m coping with my claustrophobia,’ I told him, keeping tight hold of his hand as we wove our way through the rapidly growing crowds. ‘And it doesn’t feel quite so tight for space there during the day.’
Both the area in the front of the Forum and outside the shopping mall were packed with little wooden stalls selling festive treats. My favourites were the wreath and garland stall (the orange and pine scent of which you could catch from metres away), the one selling quirky and kitsch festive decorations, and the German Schokokuss, or chocolate kisses, stand. Neither Finn nor I could resist those and we both purchased a few, even though we were still full of Blossom’s breakfast.
‘Have you decided when you’re going to put your decorations up yet?’ I asked Finn, as we made our way along the wonderful cobbled Lanes, which housed a variety of unique artisan shops and boutiques.
‘I’m not sure I’ll bother, to be honest,’ he told me. ‘As you know, the studio flat isn’t exactly all that roomy.’
‘But you have to have something,’ I insisted.
‘Even if it’s just a bunch of mistletoe?’
‘Absolutely,’ I said. ‘Any excuse for a Christmas kiss, right?’
‘I don’t need mistletoe for that,’ he said, pulling me to one side and proving the point.