Page 28 of The Little Cottage by the Cornish Sea

‘It’s hard to make friends when you’re so busy with… life,’ he sighed. ‘You’d think that we’d make time for one of the most important things, right? But no, we have to go and put everything else first.’

‘I’ve done that, too,’ I confessed. ‘When my ex boyfriend and I started going out, my entire life changed. I forgot about my own interests, my friends, everything.’

‘Well, we certainly won’t be making that mistake again, will, we, Sophie?’

‘No, we won’t.’ What did he mean by we ? The chemistry was certainly there. I could cut through it with a knife. And, as far as I was concerned, I fancied him madly. But could he really fancy me as well?

‘Sophie?’ he whispered. I looked up into his dark eyes.

‘Yes?’

He studied me, then took a deep breath. ‘Oh, to hell with it, I’m just going to come out and say it.

I don’t know what’s happening to me. I mean, you come here to work and all I can think about is, what excuse can I make up to come and see you in your office?

I can only ask about the German account so many times.

And I don’t want to look like a tosser or come across as a creep, but…

these days with you? They’re wreaking some serious havoc with my serenity.

I think about you all night, in the morning, when I take Wolf for walkies, when I’m on the phone to my accountant, and it’s driving me bonkers.

’ I couldn’t think of a single thing to say back, too shocked by this seemingly impossible revelation.

He must have read my silence for fear, though, because he continued, ‘Sophie? I’m so sorry, I’ve scared the crap out of you, I know it.

Please say something so I know you aren’t going to run out of here screaming.

I’ll understand if you do. I just came across as absolutely obsessed.

But I do really, really, really have feelings for you. ’

I watched him, my mouth opening and closing. Piers had feelings for me ? Real feelings?

‘Sophie?’ he whispered. ‘Please say something.’

‘I… I… uhm…’ I stammered. Unable to speak, I simply nodded.

‘Oh my God, what does that mean? You have feelings for me, too?’

Again, I nodded. I just couldn’t believe it: he had feelings for me. The help. It was like in Cinderella. The girl who gets Prince Charming…

He slid off his stool. ‘Sophie, I… I should like to kiss you. May I?’

Kiss me? Piers wanted to actually kiss me? And he’d actually asked? I don’t think I’d ever been asked before, and it made me want it even more. I nodded again, still unable to say anything, feeling like an idiot, but fully aware of the magnetism drawing us together.

‘Sophie, please say yes so I know I haven’t misunderstood,’ he whispered.

I looked into his dark, liquid eyes, unable to believe this was happening to me. ‘Yes,’ I whispered back. ‘Kiss me.’

His mouth descended on mine delicately, tentatively, like a butterfly that had just been released from captivity; I was grateful for his hands cinching my wais, as standing on my own two feet had suddenly become very difficult.

What was happening to me? I hadn’t felt attraction like this for anyone, ever.

It had enveloped me like a thick fog and the intensity of it almost scared me.

After a long, thorough kiss, I came up for air. ‘I need to take it slow, Piers. I just got out of a horrible relationship, and I came to Starry Cove to get away from it.’ And that wasn’t even the half of it.

‘I know…’ he whispered, caressing my hair. ‘And I’m…’ he swallowed. ‘I’m a bit of a mess myself right now. I have been for years.’

‘I’m so sorry. Can I help you in any way? I’m a good listener.’

He chuckled, playing with a strand of my hair as his eyes flicked between my eyes and my mouth. He was an unique mixture of boyishness and maturity, so irresistibly sexy.

‘I promised myself that I would leave you alone, that I wouldn’t make your life even more complicated by dragging you into this, but… I find that I’m really, really happy when you’re around, Sophie, and I got the feeling that you might be, too?’

I swallowed. Busted . I nodded, not trusting my voice, and he lowered his lips to mine again Oh my God, it was like the first time I had ever been kissed!

The sparks everyone talks about, I’d never felt them before, but now?

My whole head was full of flying, bright colours, clashing, psychedelic rainbows and nothing else, while my legs shook and I literally had to hang onto him for support.

When had all this happened? When had I fallen for him so completely?

I had been in denial about the true depth of my feelings up until this moment.

I always negated my feelings, but now, after all I’d been through, I couldn’t hide from myself anymore.

I was terribly attracted to Piers. Reality had made me dismiss it as a tiny boss crush.

We all had those, right? I’d had one on Will and look where that had got me. But now I couldn’t deny it.

‘I’ll tell you my secret if you tell me yours,’ he whispered against my lips.

I bit my lip, pulling away an inch or two. ‘I— I can’t, yet, Piers. Please don’t take this the wrong way. I haven’t told anyone.’

He nodded. ‘Okay. You’re not ready, I understand. Perhaps it’s for the best. Maybe soon enough, we’ll share our stuff.’

‘What if we can’t?’ I asked in anguish. ‘What if it changed everything between us?’

‘Did you do something wrong?’ he asked. ‘Did you hurt anyone? Not that you ever could, Sophie, I know that.’

I shook my head. ‘Have you?’

‘No. But some people think so.’

‘Can’t you straighten them out?’

Piers looked down at me with infinite tenderness. ‘If only I could. But with some people, you just can’t change their minds.’

‘I know,’ I agreed. ‘But if you’ve never harmed anyone, what can be so horrible that we can’t talk about it?’

‘And you?’ he countered softly. ‘Couldn’t I argue the same thing?’

He was right. He could be trusted, I knew that. I nodded. ‘Just give me some time. Okay?’

‘Okay. Of course,’ he whispered, kissing me once more.

Perhaps it was much too early to start over again with love.

I still needed to heal, to make space in my life for myself and my baby.

I needed to attain the quality of a good, normal life.

My happiness did not depend on a man. I told myself this every day.

But every night, when I turned out the lights and huddled into bed, I thought about all the mistakes I’d made, and how the choice to stay in a relationship that resembled more a war than love had weighed me down.

And the sense of serenity that I had been feeling for almost the entire day would always dissolve into thin air. I was lonely, no doubt about it.

And I hated it, because I wanted to feel empowered like all those kick-arse women that didn’t need a man.

I was sure that they didn’t long to feel the joy of someone’s company over the breakfast bar, or that they didn’t mind returning to the echoes of an empty house.

How do you get to be strong and happy on your own when it was only natural to share your thoughts and your dreams with your loved ones?

Then I thought about the Coastal Girls. They were strong and independent and happy.

Nina was in love with an amazing man who kissed the ground she walked on.

Nat’s husband’s eyes lit up whenever she walked into the room, and Rosie’s husband couldn’t bear to be away from her.

Even Faith and Emmie’s husbands, Henry and Jago, were so obviously head over heels for their wives.

Hopefully, now with Piers around, I wouldn’t be lonely anymore.

The next afternoon, there was a knock on the door of my office. It was Piers carrying his laptop and the look on his face boded nothing good. By now, Trixie was used to his visits, but she could smell Wolf on him and sniffed his ankles. Had I done something wrong? Had we upset a client?

‘What’s wrong?’ I asked.

He stepped toward the desk, his face pale.

‘There’s, uhm, something I need you to see.’

‘What is it?’

‘It’s about your boyfriend.’

‘What? You mean my ex-boyfriend?’ I asked, my insides already liquefying.

‘It appears to be that he’s looking for you. Along with the police…’

My limbs went numb, the horror slithering up my thighs and settling into my stomach like a pool of venom. I should have known yesterday was too good to be true. How would Piers ever want to be with me now that all my lies had been exposed?

‘H-how do you know that?’

He looked up at me again, as if trying to gauge how resilient I was. ‘He’s posted a video on social media about you.’

‘ What? ’

With a long sigh, he put his laptop down before me and lifted the lid.

‘I had a tough time deciding whether to tell you, but here it is: “Missing: Kate Miller, twenty-five years old, last seen in London. Miss Miller is wanted by the police for theft and blackmail.” This is you here, isn’t it?’

There was no denying it was me, of course, and now I was sure that I was about to have a bloody heart attack. Months of pretending, hiding and hoping Will would leave me alone so I could build myself a new life away from him. And now this.

I nodded.

‘I’m sorry for lying to you, Piers. I am innocent.

Truly, I am. But I had to run away to protect myself and my baby from my him .

He stole confidential files on his clients at the firm we both worked at.

And he blackmailed them, framing me by planting a copy of those files in my home in London.

It’s a filthy mess but I’ve got absolutely nothing to do with it. ’

‘There’s more, I’m afraid.’

‘What? What could be worse than this?’

He took a long, deep breath and exhaled loudly, pushing Play and, much to my horror, Will came to life, showing the camera a picture of us on one of our very first dates five years ago. Oh my God…

‘This is my fiancée, Kate Miller. She’s been missing for some time now, but the police have no idea where she is. They don’t even know if she’s alive anymore!’