Page 16 of Promises & Petals in Nettleford-on-the-Wold (Escape to… Nettleford-on-the-Wold #1)

‘ S hall we?’ He indicated the living room.

‘Yep.’ Hannah nodded as she led the way towards the sofa. Sitting down, she placed her chip parcel on her lap, the hot chips quickly filtering through the denim to her skin. Looking up, she watched as Josh headed towards her grandad’s armchair opposite the small two-seater sofa. ‘Don’t sit there!’

‘Sorry.’ Josh quickly walked across the living room towards the sofa and sat down next to her, their knees almost touching as he shifted position. ‘I didn’t think.’

‘It’s okay. I know that one of these days someone will sit in it. Heck, I’ll need to sell it or give it away when I sell up the cottage.’ She shuddered. ‘But that’s something I don’t really want to think about right now.’

Josh unwrapped his chip paper to reveal a large fish surrounded by fluffy golden chips. ‘He was a good man, your grandad. One of the best.’

She smiled sadly as she unwrapped her chips too. ‘He sure was.’

‘We’re making good progress.’ Josh glanced up at the ceiling. ‘And the thatch isn’t in as bad a state as I first feared it was. We should be able to patch it up perfectly fine rather than stripping it and replacing the whole roof.’

‘That’s good news.’ Hannah looked down. His knee was resting against her leg, and he’d made no move to shift over away from her.

Not that there was much spare room on the sofa.

Perhaps he was as far against the arm of the sofa as he could be.

She could perhaps move an inch or two, but. .. ‘What were you going to tell me?’

Looking at her, Josh frowned. ‘When? About the roof?’

She shook her head. She’d got this far, so she might as well finish what she’d started, however painful and embarrassing it might be. ‘In the kitchen, before the delivery guy turned up with the chips.’

‘Oh, then.’ He lowered his head, suddenly super interested in his dinner laid out across the paper on his lap.

‘Yes, then. Why don’t you want me to go on a date with Freddie?’

Snapping his head up, he caught her eye. ‘I thought you said you didn’t want to go for coffee with him?’

Picking up a chip, she held it between her thumb and forefinger, stalled in mid-air. ‘I don’t, but that’s not the point. What were you going to say?’

Slowly wrapping his chips up again, Josh placed them on the coffee table.

‘You’re not hungry anymore?’ She frowned. Why had he ordered them if he wasn’t hungry?

‘I am, but I need to talk to you about something.’

‘Okay.’ Hannah could feel a knot forming in the pit of her stomach.

This didn’t sound good. What was he going to say?

Had he noticed how awkwardly she’d been acting around him?

Was he going to tell her he could no longer work on the roof?

Who would she be able to employ instead? At such short notice too?

‘Do you remember the last time we spoke? Before you left the village?’

‘Umm...’ And there it was again, the fierce flush of heat radiating from her chest all the way to the tips of her ears. Please don’t bring this up, Josh. Please leave it in the past.

‘You told me that you...’

Closing her eyes, she barely recognised the voice that escaped her throat. ‘Please don’t. I shouldn’t have said anything. I was drunk and upset. So drunk and so upset. I even remember what I said to you.’

‘You don’t? Okay, if you really don’t remember or if it was the drink talking, then I guess we don’t have to speak about it then.’

She opened one eye and then the other as she breathed a sigh of relief. ‘Thank you.’

Josh ran his palm across his face, his skin dragging against the coarse stubble covering his chin. ‘But if you did mean it, then I think I’d like to talk about it.’

Hannah squeezed the chip in her grasp, the soft potato spilling from the split skin. ‘Why?’

‘Because I feel the same about you.’ His voice came out a whisper.

Blinking, Hannah slowly wiped the potato from her finger onto the paper in her lap. ‘What did you say?’

‘I feel the same. I have feelings for you too.’

‘You did?’ Hannah widened her eyes.

‘I still do.’ Josh shifted position on the sofa, a gap forming between their knees. ‘But if it was just the drink talking, or the events of that day and the time running up to it, then I understand and I won’t say another word about it. It can lie in the past, permanently buried in our memories.’

‘And if I had meant it? What then?’ she wiped her palms, now clammy, down the leg of her jeans. Was this really happening? Or was she dreaming? Was her mind playing a cruel trick on her?

Josh tucked his forefinger beneath her chin and gently tilted her head, so she was looking straight into his deep green eyes. ‘Then I’d have to ask you if you want this as much as I do.’ He looked pointedly at her lips.

Stunned into silence, she nodded. She did.

She wanted it. She’d been waiting for this for decades now, hoping for something that she was so sure would never happen.

Closing her eyes, she leaned forward until she felt his warm lips against hers and then, suddenly, she knew she wasn’t dreaming.

She was actually kissing Josh Morgan. Or more accurately, he was kissing her.

She felt his touch as he placed his hand on the nape of her neck.

After what felt like hours but was likely seconds, she felt him pull away from her.

Opening her eyes, she brought her finger to her lips. ‘You didn’t go back to London...’

‘Because of you. As soon as you’d voiced your feelings, everything seemed to make sense. I could suddenly see what had been in front of me all along.’

‘You did? But then I left... why didn’t you tell me? Why did you let me leave?’ She didn’t understand. If he’d felt the same way, then why on earth had he not told her? Stopped her from leaving? Been honest?

‘Because I was in a relationship, albeit on a break, and we all know how those end, but I couldn’t tell you how I felt. I’m not that person. I had to finish things off properly with Tasha before I could...’ He waved his hand between them both.

‘So you just let me leave thinking I had just completely embarrassed myself? And then you turn up here to fix my roof and not say anything to me?’ She shook her head. She wanted to believe what he was telling her; she really did, but could she?

‘In my defence, I didn’t know you’d be travelling for four years, and you left pretty much immediately after you’d told me how you felt.’

Hannah shifted position on the sofa, bringing her leg up beneath her.

That was true. She did literally run from the conversations he’d had with him, even if it had been to order a taxi to the closest B she’d want him to be happy too, but she’d made it clear time and time again that her brother was off limits. ‘Not like this. Growing up, she hated the idea of anyone she was friends with dating you.’

Lifting his hand, Josh ran the pad of his thumb along the edge of her jawline. ‘We’re not in school now. I’m certain she’ll only be happy for us.’

‘I don’t know.’ Hannah shrugged. It was possible. ‘Do you mind if I’m the one to tell her?’

‘If that’s what you want.’ leaning forward, Josh touched his lips to hers again.

She closed her eyes, trying to push the million thoughts whirring through her mind away and instead to enjoy the moment. He’d waited for her. He felt the same about her as she did about him.