The Second Chance Tea Shop (Little Somerby)

by Fay Keenan

  ‘You promised me you’d only do a bit of it, and you’ve been on for virtually the whole game!’ Meredith’s voice was trembling with anger and relief.

  ‘I know, sweetheart, but it seemed the right thing to do,’ he shook his head. ‘I’d have made it, too, if I’d been a bit quicker!’

  ‘You did great,’ Anna found her voice. ‘But I think someone needs to look at that wrist.’

  Matthew nodded and, very carefully, reached out and wrapped his injured arm around her shoulders. ‘Let’s get it over and done with, and then you can stretcher me off to die in a corner somewhere!’

  After a quick check in with the medic, who confirmed a bad sprain and thankfully not a break, Matthew chucked on a hooded top and waited for the presentation.

  *

  ‘You nearly gave Meredith a coronary, you know,’ Anna chided that evening.

  ‘I thought she was more worried about me having one,’ Matthew winced as he picked up his glass of red. ‘But she must have been a little bit proud of me, too.’

  ‘Maybe,’ Anna said. ‘But you might need to make that your last game, if you want to spare us all further injury!’

  Matthew sighed. ‘I think I just wanted to prove to everyone I wasn’t past it. Some hope!’

  ‘To everyone, or to yourself?’ Anna asked gently. ‘You don’t have to prove anything to Meredith. Or me.’ She turned so Matthew could see her expression. ‘We think you’re amazing, just the way you are.’

  Matthew leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on her lips. ‘You are very, very good for an old man’s bruised ego,’ he said huskily. ‘Why did you wait so long to come back into my life?’

  Anna smiled. ‘Perhaps timing is everything.’ She snuggled back against him.

  ‘Christ, I’m going to be a wreck tomorrow,’ Matthew muttered, shifting on the sofa. ‘I’d better get off to bed soon and lick my wounds.’

  ‘I’d offer to do it for you, but Meredith’s expecting you back tonight at some point. She’ll only worry if you don’t come home.’

  Matthew sighed. ‘You’re right, as always. I guess I’d better get an extra grovelling session in with her before she goes to sleep.’ He checked his watch. ‘But she won’t be expecting me back for a while yet.’ His eyes met Anna’s, and he gave a school-boyish, suggestive grin.

  ‘Are you sure you’re up to it?’ Anna asked. ‘After all, you’ve been in the wars a bit today.’

  ‘Oh, I wouldn’t worry about that,’ Matthew murmured. ‘I can assure you that all necessary parts are unscathed and in perfect working order.’ Taking Anna’s wine glass out of her hand, he put both glasses safely down on the table beside the sofa.

  ‘I’ll be the judge of that,’ Anna said playfully. She moved off the sofa and positioned herself in front of Matthew, sliding in between his legs. She ran her hands underneath Matthew’s untucked blue T-shirt, raising it slightly so she could see the full extent of the damage he’d inflicted on himself. A variety of lividly coloured bruises dappled his torso, dotted from ribcage to waist, with a smattering of circular red stud marks for good measure.

  ‘I’ll never understand the attraction of rugby,’ she murmured. Exchanging hands for lips, she very gently began to kiss Matthew’s exposed and sore flesh, working her way from the highest point of the first bruise downwards. Matthew shifted on the sofa, his breathing becoming shallower. Teasingly, she ran her tongue over the stud marks on his abdomen, feeling the roughness of the lacerated skin. ‘Let me know if I hurt you,’ she said.

  Increasing the pressure of her mouth on one particularly nasty bruise, he flinched.

  ‘That’s a little tender,’ he murmured.

  ‘Consider that a reminder not to rush back to the pitch,’ Anna looked up.

  ‘Harlot.’

  Running her hands back down Matthew’s abdomen, Anna’s mouth hovered suggestively over the exposed skin by the waistband of his jeans. Placing one hand on each of his thighs, she slid her hands up the inside seams of his jeans, and further upwards, feeling Matthew raise his hips in response.

  ‘Now this is the kind of medical attention I like,’ Matthew said, a tremor of desire in his voice.

  ‘So you’re in full working order, are you?’ Anna teased. She began to unbutton the fly of his jeans, the sting of her own desire becoming deep-rooted as she breathed in his scent. Her warm hands soon found what they were looking for, and Matthew shifted back in his seat, legs parting. Her lips quickly joined her hands in their explorations, and as she stroked, tasted and teased, Matthew’s left, uninjured hand ran slowly through her hair.

  ‘Yes,’ he sighed, ‘Very much yes…’

  As Anna caressed and stroked with hands, lips and tongue, Matthew lay back and surrendered to the sensations.

  ‘I see what you mean,’ she said as she paused for a moment in her ministrations. ‘Nothing injured here.’

  ‘You have no idea how good you are at that…’ Matthew trailed off again as Anna resumed her caresses. Soon he was drawing deep, ragged breaths, hips thrusting upwards, guiding Anna towards where he desperately needed to go. Anna moved with him, their rhythm driving him on until he shuddered, gave a throaty moan and came.

  Kneeling between his thighs, Anna looked up at him from under her lashes. Matthew’s head was thrown back, his eyes were closed and sweat glistened on his forehead. Anna felt a rush of pure, unadulterated lust. She’d never have admitted it in a million years, but bringing such a man to a shuddering climax, tasting him on her lips, gave her an unbelievable erotic charge.

  After a long, delicious, self-indulgent moment of observation, Anna got up and took a deep pull from her wine glass. ‘You were right,’ she said mischievously. ‘You’re clearly fine where it counts!’ She sat back on the sofa beside him, luxuriating in their closeness as Matthew put an arm around her. ‘I could get used to this,’ she said softly.

  ‘So could I.’

  ‘Which part?’

  ‘All of it.’ Suddenly serious, Matthew leaned down and kissed Anna’s lips. ‘You are the best treatment for bruises I know.’

  Anna smiled. She might not have any physical scars, but there was no doubt her emotional ones were healing. ‘You’re not so bad yourself.’ Breaking away from his kiss, she pulled back to look him in the eye. ‘And much as I’d love you to stay the night, you really should get going.’

  Matthew kissed her again, then, heaving himself up from the sofa, he groaned. ‘I might need you to walk me home, after all.’

  ‘No can do, Mike Tindall!’ Anna laughed. ‘Sefton’ll have to be your guide dog tonight.’

  ‘I’ll see you soon,’ Matthew said as they walked to the door.

  Standing on the doorstep, watching him amble out into the night, Anna knew for sure something she had suspected for a little while. Seeing Matthew injured on the rugby pitch that afternoon had made it fall into place even more. As he turned the corner and headed back to his house, and his daughter, Anna knew she couldn’t deny it any longer. She was falling in love with him.

  SUMMER

  22

  The apple blossom in the orchards was already fluttering to the grass as May turned to June. Anna had been successful in sorting out the tea shop’s accounts, and she was already wondering if Brian and Ursula would consider extending her appointment beyond the year she’d signed on for. She was finding the routine of the tea shop, and the baking, really therapeutic, and it already felt as though she’d been doing it far longer than she had. Lizzie was a capable and dependable waitress, and their shift patterns had, so far, worked out very smoothly. There had been one minor hiccup when the electricity had gone off after Western Power had drilled through an underground cable line, but with the help of the gas kettle and the patience of her regulars, she’d got through it. The same couldn’t be said of the batch of gooseberry and elderflower cupcakes she’d had in the oven at the time, but Lizzie’s pet bantams had enjoyed them the next day.

  After a particularly hectic shift, Anna decided she would
take a chance and pop in on Matthew on the way back home. A month ago she wouldn’t have dreamed of infringing on his workspace, but since the May Fair, she felt a little more comfortable with testing the old, established barriers. Gathering up a couple of the remaining slices of fruited tea loaf that wouldn’t survive until the next day, at five o’clock she did her final check around the tables, hung up her green apron on the hook by the kitchen door, cashed up and locked the tea shop. She had to pick Ellie up from nursery in twenty minutes, but she figured she had just about enough time to walk down to the Carter’s Cider offices first, if she picked up her pace.

  Jen, Matthew’s PA smiled as Anna entered the outer office. About to go home, she handed Anna Matthew’s cup of coffee that he’d requested with a smile and an efficient apology. Anna knocked on Matthew’s door and then pushed it open.

  ‘Thanks, Jen – can you just stick it on my desk?’

  ‘Hey,’ Anna said softly. ‘Isn’t it about time you took a break?’

  Matthew looked up in surprise. ‘I don’t know which I’m happier to see more, you or that coffee you’re holding.’ He got up from his desk, took the coffee out of Anna’s hands, popped it down on the windowsill and took her in his arms.

  ‘I’ll take that as a compliment,’ Anna said as Matthew pulled her close to him. He was dressed in dark pinstriped trousers and a white shirt, the sleeves of which were rolled up. On some men, the smart attire would have seemed incongruous, given his propensity to dress in jeans and a jumper, but Matthew had the stature and grace to carry off the suit beautifully. Anna felt the crispness of his shirt under her fingers as she placed a hand on his chest.

  ‘God, I’ve missed you,’ Matthew murmured into her hair.

  ‘It’s only been a day or two,’ Anna replied, surprised by his admission.

  ‘Has it? It feels like years.’ He planted a kiss on her lips. It was brief, but enough to set her heart racing. ‘This American deal is making my eyes bleed. I can’t believe how much detail there is to go through.’

  ‘Anything I can do to help?’ Anna asked.

  ‘I don’t think so,’ Matthew replied. ‘One of the benefits of my legal studies is that I can interpret the jargon myself, without having to pay some hotshot legal team to do it for me. Although, of course, I do have a proper solicitor on board to make sure I’m not getting too out of touch!’ He gave a laugh that wasn’t entirely one of levity.

  ‘Do you regret not practising?’ Anna asked, surprised Matthew had made reference to his past career choice.

  ‘Sometimes,’ he said. ‘But it couldn’t be helped. Life has a habit of dealing the cards in the way you least expect.’ He shook his head. ‘But that’s a conversation for another time.’ He paused, then brightened. ‘Meredith’s away tonight; Duke of Edinburgh Award overnight expedition, I think. Perhaps I could…’ he dropped his head and started to kiss Anna’s neck.

  Anna groaned, partly in pleasure and partly in frustration. ‘I’d love that, but no can do. It’s Charlotte and Simon’s wedding anniversary and I’m having Evan for the night.’

  ‘Understood,’ Matthew replied. ‘Just try not to think of me all alone, lying in my bed, wanting you…’ He kissed her lips again, slowly, teasingly.

  Anna pressed herself against Matthew and felt him harden in response to her. He ran a hand down her back, drawing her closer. She pulled his shirt tails out touched the bare flesh of his chest.

  ‘Do you have any… idea… what you do to me?’ Matthew groaned.

  ‘I’m getting the picture,’ Anna murmured. She stood on tiptoe and kissed Matthew’s neck, delighted as he arched closer to her. She gasped as Matthew manoeuvred her so her back was against the wall, his hands running all over her, seeking entrance through her clothes to the warmth of her body. One thigh either side of hers, he kissed her, making both of them gasp. For a moment Anna luxuriated in the sensations, pulling him closer and stroking the bare skin under his shirt. She could feel how aroused he was through the lambswool pinstripe of his trousers, and allowed herself to push back against him, meeting his hardness with her own soft, yielding body.

  ‘Steady on,’ Anna murmured, pulling back regretfully after a moment or two. ‘I’ve got to go and get Ellie from nursery in a minute.’

  Matthew groaned again, in frustration and amusement. ‘So you’ve just come here to inflame my lust and then leave me.’ He ran a hand through his dishevelled hair. ‘And it’s no good, anyway, I’ve got at least three more hours chained to my desk before I can get away.’ He grinned. ‘It would be a whole lot easier if you didn’t make me feel like a horny teenager every time you came near me!’

  Anna laughed. ‘I’m flattered I have that effect on you.’ Buttoning up her cardigan, which Matthew had managed to pull open, she kissed the tip of his nose. ‘Don’t work too late.’

  ‘I’ll be lucky if I can concentrate at all after that!’

  ‘See you soon,’ Anna said, handing Matthew his coffee from the windowsill.

  ‘I’d better,’ he replied, tucking his shirt back in. He raised a hand to Anna’s cheek. ‘Now go home before I lock the door and don’t let you out until you’ve made good on your teasing!’

  *

  Anna was just about to turn in for the night, safe in the knowledge that Ellie and Evan were fast asleep when there was a tap at the living room window. Jumping in fright, she relaxed when she saw Matthew’s amused face on the other side of the glass.

  ‘What are you doing here?’ she hissed as she opened the window.

  ‘I’ve been thinking about you all evening,’ Matthew said huskily. ‘Thanks to that little stunt you pulled in my office, I’ve been craving either a cold shower or a roll in the hay for hours now. And I blame you entirely!’

  ‘Well, you’ll have to go for the cold shower,’ Anna said. ‘Evan’s a light sleeper and it would traumatise him for life if he walked in on the two of us in flagrante.’

  ‘Then lock the living room door, and bloody well let me in!’ Matthew said. He started to open the window further.

  ‘You’re not seriously going to come through that window, are you?’ Anna laughed. ‘Are you insane?’

  ‘Absolutely mad,’ Matthew replied. ‘Mostly with lust, so get over there and lock that door.’

  Somehow, Matthew made it through the window in one piece and hastily pulled the curtains. Anna padded out to the hallway and listened. Hearing nothing out of the ordinary from the children upstairs, she crept back into the lounge. No sooner had she turned the key than Matthew had grabbed hold of her and was kissing the life out of her.

  ‘You are entirely too delicious to be legal,’ Matthew murmured between kisses. ‘And all I’ve been able to think about, when I should have been concentrating on the US distribution, is ripping off your clothes and having you on your living room rug.’

  ‘I can see how that might be a problem,’ Anna replied, hastily unbuttoning Matthew’s dishevelled white shirt. ‘After all, you need to give that deal your full… ah… attention.’

  ‘Damned right I do,’ Matthew said, kissing Anna’s neck and then pulling her jersey over her head. ‘And yet I find I’m thinking more about what I’d like to do to you, how I’d like to part your thighs and get between them… aah… than the most recent… sales… projections… oh God…’

  ‘So really… you were duty-bound to come over here and… focus on one thing at a time.’ Anna whispered. She wriggled out of her jeans and then reached for the fly of Matthew’s trousers. Hastily he stepped out of them and they collapsed on the rug by the fireside. Anna pushed Matthew back against the hearth rug and wrapped her legs around him. She began to move, arching her back as he slid into her.

  ‘How can I ever concentrate on anything when all I can think of is this?’ Matthew groaned. ‘You make work impossible.’ He grabbed her hips and ground her down closer to him, thrusting further and deeper. As he began to quicken his pace, he rocked her backwards and forwards, until with a stifled cry, he came.

  For a
moment, neither spoke. Then, Anna raised her head to look at him. She brushed a lock of silvery black hair from his sweaty forehead.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ Matthew said. ‘That was selfish of me. Come down here.’ He began to caress her, until the circling motions of his fingers were driving her towards the edge of her own orgasm. His feather-light touches increased in pressure until the pleasure within her reached a peak, and as the throbbing warmth gave way to a shuddering climax, Anna lay back and rode the waves, thrusting her hips towards his expert fingers.

  A little time later, when they’d both come back down to earth, Anna grinned. ‘I think we were quiet enough.’

  Matthew grinned back. ‘Let’s hope so.’ He grabbed his clothes and started to pull them back on.

  ‘I’m not sure what it’s customary to offer after your lover has climbed in through your living room window and had you, but I’ll go with a cup of tea, if you want one?’ Anna pulled her jersey back over her head and reached for her knickers and jeans.

  Matthew grinned. ‘You are lovely, but I’m parched in another way, now. Can I trouble you for a glass of water, and then I’ll go back from whence I came.’

  ‘Love me and leave me tonight, is it?’ Anna quipped.

  ‘You’re the one who said Evan was a light sleeper!’

  ‘You’re right, of course. But are you sure you don’t want anything else?’

  Matthew gave her a knowing look. ‘Nothing you can find in the kitchen, I’m afraid!’

  Anna stifled a giggle and crept up the stairs to see if the children were still sleeping. Evan was snoozing peacefully, and Ellie was doing the same. Sneaking back down the stairs, she grabbed a glass of water and padded back to the living room. Opening the door, she could only see the top of Matthew’s head just above the back of the sofa.

  ‘Here’s your water,’ she said softly. As Anna approached the sofa, she could see in the firelight that Matthew was slumped, fast asleep. His face was calm, although the recent work stresses had etched deeper lines around his eyes and mouth. A lock of hair fell forward onto his forehead, but Anna resisted the urge to brush it away. She toyed with the idea of waking him, but he looked as if he needed the rest. Grabbing a blanket that was slung over the armchair by the fire, she sat on the sofa and wrapped it around them both.