Page 26 of You Had Me At Pumpkin Patch

Rosie wondered if Zain had speed-read the dictionary of dating etiquette as he offered her a stable hand into the boat.

It wobbled beneath her slipper-socked feet, nonetheless.

She swiftly sat to avoid a woman-overboard situation.

Zain stepped in steadily with the supplies, almost like he’d been practising his newly found finesse.

‘I prepared us a meal,’ he declared, still not sounding quite like himself.

Rosie guessed it was nerves, which made her heart melt for him even more.

He’d gone to such huge lengths to do something special for her.

Something way out of his usual, people-repelling comfort zone.

Just like her feelings for him had been growing, maybe his had too.

Though if she pondered the thought too much, it would terrify her.

She reached over and squeezed his arm. ‘Thank you. And it’s OK to just be you.’

He gave her a strange look. ‘I... I am. I just don’t want to get this wrong.

’ His hand inched towards his pocket and then snapped back.

‘I’m sorry. This is not my usual thing.’ His dark eyes looked lost for a moment.

‘My usual thing is pretty rubbish.’ He blinked, perhaps not meaning to have said the last bit.

Rosie reached over for a double squeeze, rocking the boat again.

‘I love your usual thing.’ The bat boxes, the quirky pumpkin facts, his passion for things she’d never even thought about.

She was coming to see that she really meant it.

His way of seeing the world was stretching her imagination, and his kindness beneath the grumpy exterior was warming her more each day.

But it was far too soon to start spurting all of that. So she settled on: ‘It’s cute.’

Did he seem the tiniest bit disappointed with cute ? If he did, he quickly reset himself.

Zain used the oars to row them further into the middle of the lake, his arms moving rhythmically, the water swishing gently in tune.

Rosie let her fingers trail along its dark, glassy surface, the autumn coolness calming the unexpected date nerves that were starting to build.

No one had ever done anything quite so special for her and she could barely get her head around what it meant.

‘Hope you like pumpkins.’ Zain’s random statement broke through her thoughts.

‘Pardon?’

‘Sorry, I’m getting this all backwards.’ He put the oars down inside the boat and blinked at her.

‘I was meant to say that tonight’s meal will whip you up into a whirlwind of pumpkin deliciousness.

Get ready to sample the delights of pumpkin hummus with a light and fluffy pumpkin bread, followed by a baked pumpkin fondue, and finished off with a pumpkin and ginger cheesecake that will set your taste buds racing.

And luckily, your friend Bonnie thrust her wine at me, because I didn’t have time to think about that. ’

He began pulling supplies from the picnic basket and arranging everything on the makeshift table between them.

‘I thought your retreat people might enjoy getting into nature for some seasonal foraging too, with a little guidance.’ He smiled at her.

‘As long as they don’t kill themselves on a poisonous mushroom. ’

‘Always better not to.’ Rosie chuckled. ‘This is incredible.’ She cast her eyes over the spread being laid out in front of her. ‘And you’ve actually cooked your own pumpkins? I thought there would be strict rules about that sort of behaviour.’

He shrugged. ‘There are rules about who gets their hands on my special ones. But I have a whole lot of pumpkins.’

Wow. He was changing.

‘Where did you get these tasty recipe ideas?’ she asked, willing her thoughts not to wander to where her hands dreamed of drifting to.

‘They’re all my own,’ he said quickly, not for the first time that day.

Rosie added inspired menu choices to his list of unexpected talents.

‘And the food’s nothing much. Just simple stuff.’ He motioned for her to try something.

As she sank her teeth into the soft, sweet pumpkin bread with its delicate nutty flavours, she thought her taste buds would dance straight to heaven. ‘Where did you learn to cook like this?’

‘It’s just basic. I grew up looking out for myself.’ His quietening voice was almost swallowed by the night. ‘But my complex life is another story.’

‘I’d like to hear it,’ Rosie said softly.

‘But it’s not part of... tonight.’

‘We’re not sticking to a script. Are we?’

‘No, of course not.’ He cleared his throat.

‘I grew up in care. I was bounced around from foster home to foster home and although the people were nice enough, I rarely felt... wanted . You know? More like I was an inconvenient spare part. My mother was an addict of anything and everything. She was born and lived in the south-west of England – but never anywhere stable. I never properly knew my dad. He was from Montana in the US, from a long line of pumpkin farmers. His family and my ancestors were good, honest people. But I came to learn that he’s nothing like them.

’ He shook his head. ‘Not that I know much about him.’

‘And you? Did you manage to settle anywhere?’

He looked at her as if he was weighing things up.

Like he’d already said more than planned.

‘There was one family I nearly stuck with. They were kind. Dennis taught me to care for the land, to sow seeds and watch them grow. To listen for the call of the birds.’ His voice faltered.

‘But I messed it up. Like I always do. I break things before...’

‘They have chance to break you?’ Rosie completed Zain’s sentence when it seemed he’d lost the courage to finish it.

‘Yes, that. Stupid hey?’

‘Not at all.’ Rosie wished she could clamber over the boat and hug him.

Maybe a date on the water wasn’t that convenient when you didn’t like falling in.

‘Some of my relationships have been interesting. You’re not alone.

’ She wasn’t going to confess they’d all ended in full-scale disaster, or that her favourite one so far was her fictional version, with a hot hero called Cain who was very much inspired by him.

‘Look, I’m sorry if I was quick to judge you as just another townie, and if I spent too long fighting against your retreat plans. Maybe life has conditioned me to be wary and expect the worst. But you. You’ve shown me that people can be genuinely good. And not just because they want to use you.’

Did she see that flicker of pain across his face again? It disappeared quickly but left her wondering what else had happened in his past, and perhaps feeling a touch guilty about the Cain-Zain thing, even if she didn’t class it as using him, exactly.

‘Anyway, forget my history. I just wanted you to know that now I’ve looked into it, I guess having people here on retreats could have its positives.

A chance to encourage folk to care for the land.

I could even consider showing them the ropes of pumpkin farming and make it more hands on. It’s worked in other places.’

‘I love that idea.’ Rosie could feel the excitement of it bubbling up inside her, the boat swaying a little more every time she nodded in agreement. ‘You looked into it?’

‘No,’ he said quickly. ‘Not exactly. It’s not like we even have Wi-Fi. I just... had a think about things.’

He rubbed his temple.

Rosie grinned. ‘It looks like all that thinking hurt.’

His eyes sought hers, across the flicker of the lantern. ‘I’ll admit being wrong was painful. You turned up here, all well groomed and bossy, and you tested my views. Thank you for waking me up from my slumber. For being... you .’

Rosie let the words hang in the air. Was he really thanking her for being her?

Not that she was sure about the bossy bit.

‘Well, nobody’s ever called me well groomed.

’ She gave an embarrassed laugh and rearranged her scruffy ponytail.

‘I could never work my straighteners, and I usually had lip gloss on my teeth. It’s refreshing not to worry about those things anymore. ’

‘Whatever you’re doing now, it suits you,’ Zain said simply.

Rosie would usually have put herself down and pointed out her ill-suited pyjamas or the fact her nails needed a date with a nailbrush. Though tonight, she allowed herself to accept the easy compliment.

It felt like they had been out on the lake for hours, eating and talking by the light of the moon, and sampling Bonnie’s elderflower wine in tiny cups.

Maybe they had been. Time rarely seemed to matter here, other than the metaphorical clock that ticked above them, against which they’d need to race to get the retreats up and running by sometime next month.

Though nothing about this night was being rushed.

It was like they were floating, somewhere between ‘before’ and ‘after’.

When it was time, Zain rowed them back to the jetty and helped Rosie out of the boat. She wasn’t going to argue with his chivalry, even though she knew he’d have passed over the oars if she’d wanted them.

‘Need me to carry you again?’ Zain pointed down to her slipper socks. ‘Or I could lend you my boots?’

‘How about a piggyback to my cabin? If it won’t ruin your suit.’

Zain smiled and shrugged off his jacket, taking a moment to open his slightly too tight white shirt a little more. Rosie felt a flush of heat to her cheeks. If he undid any more buttons, it would be the undoing of her.

‘I’ve never worn anything less comfortable. Climb on.’

Rosie beamed as she clambered onto Zain’s back, trying not to get too excited about the firmness of his muscles through the cotton as her hands grabbed his waist and shoulders, trying to find somewhere good to hold.

Except that every part of him was far too good.

He was solid and warm, and so ridiculously stable for someone who would swear they were the opposite.

She trusted him. And was it wrong that she wanted to climb onto him and never get off?

‘Who knew you’d end the evening being my valiant horse? I’m sorry.’

‘Who says this is how we’ll end it?’ His voice rumbled deep against her body as she wrapped herself around his back.

She heard herself sigh involuntarily at the thought. If he knew what he was doing to her, who knew how this night would end, or whether they’d even make it as far as the cabin. Suddenly Rosie felt like she was wearing far too many clothes.

Each step Zain took towards her door vibrated through her, making her cling more tightly.

His body felt warm as his muscles worked hard to support her.

Her own body was almost melting. The anticipation of what those steps meant was building with every second.

Did getting closer to her hut mean she was about to be dropped off chastely?

Or was this the beginning of a journey that would end who knew where?

Before she could work it out, they were at the bottom of Rosie’s steps.

Zain climbed them swiftly, as though she were weightless.

When he got to the top, he twisted his arms and swivelled her from his back to his chest and held her against his front.

Their faces were almost touching, his hands gripping the tops of her thighs to hold her steadily against him.

She gave him a gentle, breathless nod to let him know that everything he was doing was more than OK.

He took one final step to rest her back against the door, and she used its firmness to push herself into him.

‘Is there a leaf in my hair?’ she asked with a gentle tease, as he looked at her in that intense way of his.

‘There was never any leaf in your hair.’

And then his mouth found hers in the half-light, their lips sinking together and moving like the ripples of the lake, gently and rhythmically, making her feel out of control and yet safe. Her whole body was trembling, and she wanted more.

She pulled at his shirt buttons, eager to put her hands on his naked flesh, to feel his firm, tight muscles against her.

His chest half bare, she wrenched up her top, groaning as her skin touched his.

He glanced down, his eyebrows rising at the sight of her bra and the swell of her nipples beneath it.

His mouth opened as if he wanted to taste one but couldn’t quite reach.

Then his eyes were drawn back to her lips, and he kissed her again, deeply, like everything was about this moment.

He rocked his body against her in a slow, tempting rhythm as their mouths moved.

Her legs still wrapped around him, she was now pulsing, tingling, aching to be touched.

Ohhhhhhh.

When the kiss came to an end, Zain’s arms shaking and Rosie’s wrapped around his neck, it was like returning from another world.

‘Not yet,’ he whispered into her hair, as though he knew she was equally desperate for more.

As out of character as deeply indulgent sex on her doorstep was, she would have welcomed it then, in this shadowy, secluded space, the chill of fresh air against her skin, the calls of the wild echoing in the distance. ‘I want to know you first.’

‘OK,’ she replied, reluctantly, taking a moment to get her breath back.

She knew he was right. ‘I know what Juliet meant now when she told Romeo that he kissed by the book. Where did you learn to sweep a girl off her feet like that?’ Not to mention the other parts of her that had been willingly drawn to life.

‘Seventy-four per cent of people surveyed would have just had their worlds rocked.’

Zain placed her down gently and they smiled at each other for a moment, as though their kiss had unlocked a secret that was just for them.

Then he straightened himself and gave his crumpled clothes a pat-down.

‘I feel like you’ve got this all figured out,’ said Rosie.

‘How do you mean?’

‘A perfect plan for the retreats, a flawless date on the lake. A pretty exciting finale. You’re full of surprises.’

‘I’m not sure I’ll ever have it all figured out.’ He sighed. ‘Like I said before, I just came up with a few logistics. I can throw the shell together, but it’s you who knows how to make the people inside it feel treasured. Does that make any sense?’

This time their kiss was softer. And like time had stretched out when they’d been out on the lake, she wasn’t quite sure how long it lasted.

She just knew that with every moment, he was filling her with something treasured.

And when it ended, he watched her go inside and went back to his own hut, alone.

He’d whispered in her ear that he didn’t trust himself to stay and that the best presents were unwrapped slowly.

As agonising as not rushing things was, she knew exactly what he meant.