He put his hands in my hair and kissed me gently. I wrapped my arms around his neck and sent up a little wish to whoever granted wishes that this night could last forever. Don’t let this fly by, let me enjoy every moment.
He picked me up, carried me to the bed, and removed my dress.
“Still so beautiful,” he whispered as he kissed my neck.
I was torn between wishing he’d move quickly and stop teasing, and wanting to enjoy every moment and make the whole night slow down.
He left my underwear on and lay down next to me on the bed, running his fingers over my arms and hips. I shivered.
“You’re cold?” he asked, looking concerned.
“A little,” I admitted. “But it’s fine.”
He got up and pulled back the duvet. I climbed underneath it and he took his clothes off so he was down to his boxer shorts, and then got in beside me.
“You sure you want to…?” he asked, leaning towards me. I nodded.
He slipped the last of my underwear off, and covered my body in tiny kisses, each one sending a quiver of excitement through me, and then finally he rolled me on top of him and I began to move astride him, feeling like we were the only two people on the planet.
He’d certainly gained skills since the last time we’d done this. He seemed to instinctively know what I’d like. Sure, I may well be biased – being in love and all that – but I could swear at the time we were having the best sex that anyone had ever had, on the whole planet, since the beginning of time.
After he’d made me explode, I fell asleep on his chest, this time knowing it wouldn’t be the last time I’d get to do so.
Chapter Fifty-Eight
I woke up the next morning and my first thought was to consider that Will had definitely improved when it came to rocking my world. I mean, he wasn’t too bad in our school days by the time we broke up, anyway. But now, he had proper skills. He knew his way around my body like he’d designed it himself. He even seemed to know spots to touch that I didn’t know I had.
I woke up, in the same position with my head on his chest, much like our last night together on my holiday, except this time we were both naked. And I wasn’t worrying about Mandy, or Ross, or anything but being with him. I decided as I closed my eyes that if he wanted me to move to Glasgow, I would. Hell, if he wanted me to move to Antarctica, I would. I’d put up with all that snow and ice to be with the man I loved. And I quite liked penguins, so it’d be win-win. Maybe we could move somewhere in the middle, like Cumbria. I heard the lakes were beautiful. Wentworth and Fern would love it. We could go hill walking every day.
But was I really going to be able to move my business somewhere new? What about Will? What if he couldn’t find a veterinary opening anywhere I wanted to go? Glasgow was too far for a long distance relationship. Way too far.
I stretched and rolled away from him and onto my back. Reality kicked in. I’d spent the night with Will, and it’d been amazing. But tomorrow I was heading home and he’d be a long, long way away. The whole thing sucked. It sucked big time.
“Good morning,” Will whispered, rubbing my arm.
“You okay?”
“Yes,” I said, trying to sound upbeat. “You okay?”
“I’m very okay.”
I turned to look at him. Some stubble had grown overnight and he looked as good as ever.
“I had a lot of fun last night.”
“Me too.”
“I love talking to you.”
“I love talking to you, too.”
“Good.”
“Yes.”
I stared at him.
“I loved kissing you too,” he said, smiling.
“I loved kissing you back.”
“And … the rest. I loved that too.”
“Me too.”
“Jenny?”
I rolled onto my side and looked at him.
“Yes?”
“I love you.”
The stars and planets all aligned at once and I floated out of my body and looked down on us, all loved up, wrapped up in the sheets, and I smiled at myself.
“I love you too.”
“Really?”
“Truly.”
“I thought I ought to say it this time.”
“I wasn’t ready to be in love when I was seventeen.”
“I know.”
“But now … Will, I’ve been dreaming of this ever since we were here together that week.”
“Me too.”
I moved closer and kissed him gently. My stomach rumbled and I giggled.
“Hungry?”
“Starving.”
“Let’s go eat.”
I wrapped the sheet around myself and went in to the bathroom. Letting him see me walk around naked, wobbly bits and all seemed a bit much. It took me two years with Ross before I’d pass wind in front of him. Maybe that’s where I’d gone wrong, I thought as I stepped into the shower. I felt more comfortable with Will than I had Ross in the beginning. That had to be a good sign.
Before I’d rinsed my hair, Will climbed in beside me and we had delicious sex right up against the cold tiles, and I didn’t even care or think of penguins, or anything other than the way he made me feel. Which was incredible.
We walked into the breakfast room holding hands and no one seemed to bat an eyelid. It was no surprise to Hayley or Shane that we’d spent the night together and only when Will popped to the bathroom and Shane asked me what we were going to do come tomorrow when we had to go home, did I let myself deflate again and worry about the future.
“I’ve got no idea,” I told Shane honestly. “But he told me he loves me.”
“I’m very happy for you,” he said, smiling. “I’m not feeling so good.”
“I’m so sorry, I hadn’t noticed,” I said, taking him in. He did look a bit pale. “Hangover?”
“Maybe. I didn’t drink that much.”
Funny, we recalled that fact very differently.
“I’m going to lie down and read for a bit. Don’t worry about me today. Go have fun with your lover man.”
I grinned. Will was my lover man. Lucky me.
“You sure?”
“Defo.”
“Have you thought about Andrew?”
“I’m going to end it when I get back.”
“Oh Shane, really?”
“Yes.”
“Well, anything you need, anything at all, you tell me, right?”
“Thanks Jen.”
“See you later, yeah?”
“Yep.”
He grabbed a paper and headed back towards the stairs.
I watched Will walking back towards me, his eyes locked on mine, and with a silly, dreamy grin on his face. “What do you want to do today?” he asked me.
“Honestly?”
“Of course.”
“I’d love to go to Elgol, but it’s so dreary and cold.”
“We could go for a nice drive, sit in the car when we get there, look out. I’m happy with that.”
He went to ask the catering staff if they’d prepare us some sandwiches to take out and I went and found Wayne, who’d shown a few of my photos to his friend and was very happy to pay for them.
“You got any more?”
“Lots. If you give me your email address, I can share them with you.”
He handed me a card. “You’ve got a real knack for capturing the light. You ought to pitch yourself at travel magazines.”
“Oh, that’s very kind, thank you,” I said, flattered by the compliment. Maybe I didn’t have to stick to weddings for the rest of my life. The idea was quite appealing.
“I agree,” Will told me as he walked out to the car. “We’ll have to take some trips.” He winked and I got into the passenger seat.
Chapter Fifty-Nine
Talking just as much as ever, we drove back to the place I’d been happiest. The views were hampered somewhat but Will parked the car up with a reasonable view of the loch and we looked out a
nd talked about the dogs and how much fun they’d had together here.
“We had a lot of fun, too, if I remember.”
“I wanted to tell you then,” Will said, “that I loved you.”
“Well, you should have,” I said, undoing my seatbelt and leaning as far over as I could to lean on him.
“I thought I owed it to Mandy to try.”
“I know.”
“And you were confused and had lots going on anyway. Maybe it’s better this way.”
I nodded and looked back out at the view.
“What time do you leave tomorrow?”
“I don’t know yet. Morning probably. You?”
“Same I guess.”
“What are we going to do next?”
“I don’t know but we’ll figure something out.”
I turned my head up towards him and let him kiss me. I had to savour every moment I could.
We drove back before dark and had dinner in the hotel with Guy, Hayley and the other wedding guests. Hayley was happy as ever and I was glad to see it. Shane came down for a drink and said he felt a little better. He fell into easy conversation with Will and I was glad to notice they seemed to click better than Shane and Ross ever had.
Will didn’t ask if he could spend the night with me, he simply followed me into my room, shut the door quietly behind him and pushed me up against the wall, showering my neck with delicious tender kisses.
After the intense lovemaking, I put my head on his chest and listened to his breathing getting deeper and deeper. This could be our last night together for some time and despite talking all day, we hadn’t really talked about the future or what would happen next. The thought of leaving him tomorrow hurt more than the moment Ross had told me he’d been unfaithful.
When I woke up the next morning, he wasn’t there but had left a note on my pillow to say he’d just gone to pick up some clean clothes from his room. I got up and showered, then saw he’d texted me to say he was waiting for me in the breakfast room, whenever I was ready.
Shane was in the lobby, reading a newspaper when I came down the grand staircase. He looked better than yesterday and told me to take my time having breakfast with Will before we left. I gave him a warm smile and hoped I could be as good a friend to him over the coming months as he’d been to me recently.
I walked into the breakfast room and saw Will reading something on his tablet, as he sipped from a cup of coffee. We had to find a way to be together, somehow. We just had to come up with a good plan.
“Good morning,” I said, as brightly as I could manage.
“Hello,” he said, leaning across the table to kiss my cheek.
“How’re you this morning?”
“I’m good. Great.”
“Good,” I said, unable to resist smiling back at him.
“Can I ask you a question?”
“Sure.”
“What’s Frome Road like?”
“Frome Road?”
“It’s in Bath.”
“I know.”
“Well, would you live there?”
“What?”
He slid his iPad around so I could see the screen.
“I’m looking at houses to buy.”
My heart skipped a beat.
“Really?”
“I’ve also just found two veterinary practices that are recruiting down there.”
“Really?” I jumped up and went to sit in the seat beside him. He took my hands in his.
“I love you Jenny. I always have. So, let’s do this. I don’t want to be in Glasgow anyway, I never did.”
“And you’d move, for me?”
“Yes, of course.”
“I love you too.”
He kissed me and we started planning our future together.
THE END
Thank you for reading this Crooked Cat book. If you enjoyed it, please leave a review.
Find more great reads by Sarah Louise Smith and many other Crooked Cat authors at www.crookedcatbooks.com.
Independent Jenny Page 26
