The Cornish Village School--Summer Love

by Summer Love (retail) (epub)

‘Not if you didn’t come back to the classroom. I think they’d rather have you than postcards.’ Kam knew he would. They clambered down the steps, Pippa taking her shoes off again, making him smile as he remembered the first time they had done this, and wandered across the sand for a couple of minutes before she came to a halt.

  ‘Shall we sit here?’ Pippa waved her hands, indicating a smooth set of rocks hidden within the curve of the cliffs.

  ‘Can do.’ Kam kicked away the dry seaweed at their base and sat down on the side to give her plenty of room to sit, without them needing to touch, still very aware that he didn’t want to muddle the boundaries.

  ‘Oh for goodness sake, come in closer.’ Pippa clearly had no such concerns as she sat down and dragged him across the few inches between him and her. ‘I’ve got your jacket, but this rock is hardly toasty, so we’re going to need to cuddle up to keep warm. Don’t tell me you haven’t sat out on the beach late at night before!’

  ‘Of course, I have. I spent most of my time when I lived up north on the beach at Saltburn and then there was my time on the surf circuit but that was usually with a fire and a gaggle of people.’

  ‘Well, right now it’s only you and me.’ She smiled up at him and then pointed to the moon, huge in the sky and hovering over the calm sea, draping its glory over the water and enchanting everything with its light. They sat in silence for a moment, just breathing in and listening to the rhythm of the waves, and Kam couldn’t have been happier.

  ‘Isn’t this the best?’ She grinned and lay her head on his shoulder. ‘The sound of the beach at night is so calming. There is nothing better for the soul. My brother and I used to sneak out sometimes with one of Mum’s Tupperware boxes and just go and sit on the beach in Penmenna. There’s something about it, the dark and the sounds of the waves continuing to crash onto the beach regardless of time of day or year. It makes you feel like such a little cog in a great big machine and really secure, all at the same time. It makes my soul happy.’

  ‘Mm… huh,’ Kam answered, too blissed out to think of anything more meaningful to say. This was the perfect way to end such a busy evening; it had combined the two extremes of Cornwall, and he was so pleased to be here.

  They sat like that for some time, all curled up together and keeping each other warm. Pippa turned to him again and looked him square in the eye instead of out to sea. He looked back. Had this been any other girl he would have taken this as the perfect time to move in. But this wasn’t any girl – this was Pippa – so even if he overcame his shyness, he couldn’t overcome his principles, Rosy’s words still clear in his mind.

  Pippa smiled mysteriously and leant forward and gave him a peck on the lips. She sat back with a look on her face that was partly proud of her own bravery and partly nervous in case she had overstepped boundaries. He could feel lust whooshing through him at a rate of knots but still felt frozen to the rock. How he wanted to lean in and kiss her properly, feel her mouth on his, not merely a peck but a full-bodied, fully intent kiss.

  But not only was she his colleague, she was his drunk colleague. It would be wrong. He felt himself clench as he tried to hold back on everything that every particle of his body was urging him to do. To cup her face with his hands, pull her close and not let her go. To run his hands through her hair as he pulled her face to his, to feel her back arch against him.

  Instead he did nothing.

  Pippa tentatively smiled, held eye contact and leant forward and pecked him smack on the lips again. He loved her courage and felt such a sham of a man. But if this were to happen, it had to happen right. And whilst sitting on a moonlit beach was pretty damn perfect, it couldn’t be. Not tonight.

  Kam held his hand out and stroked her face, fighting the pull, his body, his heart and his soul were screaming at him to lean in and lose himself in her. But she was still very drunk. Kam had never taken advantage of a woman in his life, and a woman encouraging him, having drunk the amount of tequila that Pippa had, was not what he considered to be consent. Damn the romance of a moonlit beach, and double damn himself for having principles.

  Chapter Thirty-six

  Pippa couldn’t believe what a fool she had made of herself on the beach. Not only had she leaned in and given Kam a peck on the lips – with the hope it would lead to considerably more – she had done it twice and been rejected each time!

  In fairness he had been very gracious and moved the conversation along seamlessly, making her feel less awkward than he could have done, but still she was gutted. And majorly embarrassed. She had hoped it had all the ingredients of the perfect romantic moment: the moonlight, the sea crashing on a beach that was empty apart from the two of them. You only got one first kiss and this one was staged beautifully. It was just unfortunate that Kam didn’t want to play.

  It had taken a lot of courage to move in like that, but the tequila had helped. The alcohol had freed her, made her consider taking the advice so freely given to her over the last couple months, to take a gamble, to trust her instincts, to know that no one on this planet knew if things would work out but that you would never discover if you didn’t try. Besides, she wasn’t planning on jumping into a full-on relationship – she hadn’t sorted out that many issues in the course of one evening – but she would be happy right now with a one-night thing, see if anything developed over time. So, lots of deep breaths, a fair few shots and the most romantic of settings had made Pippa bold. She wouldn’t be doing that again! She’d heard it said that ‘Faint heart never won fair lady’. Tonight, she had learnt that the only thing Pippa’s boldness had won was a whole ton of mortification. So much for instinct and old sayings.

  They wandered back to Kam’s apartment block with him keeping up chatter as if nothing monumental, like the baring of her soul, had happened. Pippa kept her hands to herself this time. Why the hell had he held her hand as they walked to the beach, and then let her cuddle in, if he wasn’t interested? She was just flipping it over in her mind and wondering if there was more to it when she stopped still in her tracks.

  Damn. She couldn’t have just seen that? Surely not?

  She had assumed that at this time of night they could wander around without being seen by anyone they knew. She should have known better. This was the trouble with living in Cornwall: everyone knew everyone and talked and if there was no rumour to be had, one would soon get made up. But she certainly hadn’t expected to bump into the Chair of Governors at gone three in the morning.

  In fact, thinking about it, what the hell was Richard Marksharp doing sneaking out of the apartment block? She shot a look at Kam to see if he had noticed who it was that had just left through the front door and he raised his eyebrow in acknowledgment. For a man struggling to find time to come to Cornwall to spend time with his family in Penmenna, it was certainly odd that he had the time to be sneaking around Treporth Bay in the middle of the night.

  Oh damn, now he had seen them as well. This was all she needed. She nodded at him as formally as she could and hoped he wouldn’t say anything to Marion. If Marion got wind of the fact that Pippa was heading back to Kam’s apartment in an itsy-bitsy dress and stratospheric heels at this time in the morning then the whole village would know by breakfast and if Rosy found out…

  Ding!

  Was that why Kam had been reluctant to kiss her on the beach? She knew about and respected his five-year plan, but was the reason he had said no to a one-night thing because he was aware that nothing stayed secret in Cornwall for long? Was it not that he found her sexually repulsive but rather that he just was trying to protect their professional relationship? That made more sense. Not in an ego driven how-could-he-resist-me kind of way – Pippa hoped she wasn’t that person – but you kinda knew – had a sense, or hoped you did – when someone liked you back, and she was pretty sure that Kam did. They had been flirting now for months; she caught him looking at her all the time, and not with disgust either. There had been moments, like on the path to Porthcurno, when she had been sure he’d wante
d to kiss her, his desire had been shooting out of his eyes like laser beams. Then on the dance floor tonight, the way they danced together, the music throbbing as they matched it beat for beat… how could that not be a precursor to having sex? She certainly had never danced with anyone else like that. In fact, for a man who was usually super shy in the real world, Kam was certainly adept on the dance floor. That boded well.

  All of her thoughts were jumbling in her brain, which was beginning to bang, and bang loudly, as if an army of dwarves were mining right at the very front of it. Ouch!

  She needed to stop thinking and get herself to bed.

  The trouble was once she was there, after Kam had very gentlemanly shown her to the spare room, she could not get thoughts of him out of her head. He was just on the other side of the wall. Was he lying there awake thinking about her as well? What was he wearing? Ugh, she sounded like some sleazy heavy breather, but still… did he sleep in just pants, pyjama bottoms, or nothing at all? It was as if imps had taken control of her fingers and they were itching to get next door and peel that duvet back.

  How had she turned into such a letch? But was he lying there wondering the same thing? Should she shout through the walls that she was naked?

  No. No, she most definitely shouldn’t!

  Pippa lay there for some time, trying to get some order in her head amongst the thumping. If he had turned her down because he didn’t want their first kiss to be public, then maybe he was waiting for her to come in and try again? Should she get up?

  Or maybe he is just not interested. You’re drunk, horny and with a crush that’s out of control. Maybe you should let the man sleep in peace instead of prowling his house like a mini Marion Marksharp, dribbling at the thought of fresh young man flesh.

  Nah, I could drink all the tequila and never be that bad, Pippa sank back into the pillows, smirking before she fell asleep.

  * * *

  Pippa woke up the next morning to a gentle tap on the bedroom door. She shook her head a little, just to test it. By rights she should have the hangover from hell but was it possible that she had got lucky and slept through it? Maybe her headache before she fell asleep was the beginning of it. That would be a result. It would appear, however, that her drunken decision to ‘trust her instincts’ and try and get into Kam’s pants was still was still in place this morning. Although this time she had enough awareness to know she hadn’t been ‘brave’, just lustful.

  She heard another gentle knock. Oh, this was almost as good as waking up next to him. She wriggled up in bed, tried to smooth her hair down and put her most sultry smile on. Hopefully when he opened the door she would be sitting there, slightly mussed and oh so sexy. No harm in being hopeful.

  ‘Hello, come in.’ She tried for her breathiest Marylin Monroe tones, although she was aware that; having seen her squawking across playgrounds for the last half term, he may not buy it.

  ‘Are you decent?’

  Absolutely not. Very definitely indecent and very hopeful, she thought.

  ‘Yep,’ was her slightly more sensible reply.

  He poked his head around the door and she was hit with the enticing aroma of fresh coffee as well as a slam to the pit of her stomach as lust washed back all over her.

  He looked delicious. She was right about the way his hair stuck up slightly first thing in the morning the way she had always imagined it would. He stood there in pyjama bottoms and she wasn’t sure where to look first. She had always had a thing for men with strong upper arms and shoulders, and he very definitely had both. And then there was the downy line from his chest all the way down to the top of his trouser. She remembered how in secondary school she and her friends all had giggled about that bit, calling it the pathway to paradise.

  Now that damn phrase was stuck in her head, her eyes on that line of hair, and she was struggling to speak.

  ‘Argh, um, arghhh.’

  ‘Go back to sleep. I can bring you coffee later.’

  ‘No!’ she squeaked the word, high pitched and desperate, and as he turned back to face her she patted the duvet next to her, feeling spider-like – come into my web, little fly.

  She had to make a decision. She was, she assumed, now sober and had to work out what was more important to her: saving face or finding out the truth. Luckily, she had never been particularly shy. She may never get this chance again.

  ‘Are you sure?’ Kam asked.

  Oh yes.

  ‘Mm, coffee would be great. This is so kind of you.’

  ‘That’s okay. You’ve been bringing me coffee every morning since we started working together. It’s only fair I get to return the favour. How’s your head?’

  ‘Surprisingly good actually. I think my hangover kicked in early.’

  Kam sat down on the bed next to her and she had to use all her self-control not to take the coffee from him and run her hand up his arm.

  She looked up at and saw that he was looking at her in a way that made her feel brave. She knew she was right. She knew he liked her as she liked him. Was she brave enough to try again? The worst that could happen was that he would reject her again and put distance between them for the remaining half term. Was that worse than dragging this out even longer? The not knowing. She could deal with rejection but she was fed up of this limbo. As far as she could see she liked him and he liked her, and right now he was sitting at the end of her bed, well, his spare-room bed, wearing very little. She could do this. She wasn’t suggesting forever. Nothing had to change. She knew he was shy; his entire family and Ben had taken great pains to tell her this at every opportunity. Shy was fine. She could take charge. But how should she pitch it? How to do it in a way that enticed him in and didn’t make him run a mile? She could feel her tummy squirming with nerves and the rest of her squirming with something altogether different.

  She wouldn’t just lunge this time. She’d try and pitch it in a Kam-friendly way. If only she could come up with the right words.

  ‘Are you alright. You’re looking at me a bit oddly. Do you need me to get you some aspirin?’

  ‘No, don’t go anywhere,’ Pippa squeaked as she quickly tried to refocus her eyes to look more normal.

  ‘Now, you look like you’re having a stroke. Have a quick sip of your coffee. See if that helps.’

  ‘I’m not having a stroke. That’s so rude.’

  ‘I’m not trying to be rude.’

  Pippa wished he bloody was.

  ‘I’m really grateful that you let me stay the night. What are your plans for the rest of the day?’ For goodness sake, this was small talk. She’d be asking about the weather next.

  ‘Chill out really. I’ve left the day blank because I thought I might feel a bit rough after a night of clubbing. What about you?’

  ‘Same. Do you want to spend it together?’ That was good. Bold. Confident.

  He looked straight at her and grinned, as if all his wishes had been granted. In that smile, she saw the boy who had sprayed plaster between his fingers, and nearly melted. This man.

  ‘Yes, please. That would be great.’

  ‘Okay. Can we clear something up from last night?’

  ‘Go on…’ Kam’s tone was tentative now but he was still looking at her, and without knowing what she was doing, as if she had no control over her body, her arm jerked up and she found herself stroking his face.

  Oh sugar, she thought about pulling back but he hadn’t flinched. If anything he was smiling. Okay, this was good. Um… she still needed to sort out last night.

  ‘Okay, I want to apologise for kissing you on the beach yesterday.’ She did try and move her hand away now, but Kam reached up and clasped it, keeping her hand on his face.

  ‘I’m so sorry. I didn’t want to pull away. I really didn’t. I spent most of last night lying awake and regretting it. But Pips, you were so drunk, and I care about you so much I didn’t want a drunken fumble to spoil our friendship. You’ve become my friend and I was terrified we would mess that up. Not to mention the wh
ole working together thing.’

  They both dropped their hands down from his face, but their fingers remained entwined, resting on the duvet.

  She knew it! He did want to kiss her. Stars and unicorns and silver sparkles were all exploding in her head.

  He did want to kiss her. He was just being a bloody gentleman.

  Well, there was a time to be gentlemanly and a time not to be, and this surely was the latter.

  ‘I’m not drunk now.’

  ‘Sure?’

  ‘Pretty sure. Not drunk and still very keen.’

  She looked at him.

  He looked at her.

  He was stroking her hand in little circles as it lay there. Was this going to be it if she leaned in this time?

  Pippa leaned forward and said again, ‘Kam, I’m not drunk but I am right here.’

  Kam leant in, ‘Pippa, what if we mess work – us – up?’

  ‘And what if it we don’t? What if we just forget all our worries, every niggle about the future and our plans and just enjoy now? Right now.’ She lent even closer and he moved to meet her.

  She shut her eyes, and as she did so she felt his lips touch hers, tentative at first and then deeper, more searching and a lot bolder.

  Oh, Kam Choudhury, not such a gentleman after all!

  Chapter Thirty-seven

  Kam stood in his doorway giving Pippa a long, lingering kiss goodbye. He had one hand on the small of her back and was holding her so close that you couldn’t have fitted a whisker between the two of them. He’d quite like to keep it this way forever.

  The weekend had been spectacular. They had spent the whole of it inside his flat, with him only nipping out to buy bits and bobs with which to treat her, cooking for her as she wrapped herself in a sheet and watched, occasionally getting up to help him or to kiss him. They would fall into bed again giggling, eyes never off each other. Dinner took three hours from conception to completion so good was she at helping.

  They had spent the rest of it entangled together, making love and talking about everything under the sun. He had felt before that they knew each other; after this weekend he was convinced he knew no one better and that no one knew him as she did. His plans for his future shelved, Pippa was what he wanted his life to revolve around now, but he knew she had talked sense when she had broached their next steps, when she had turned her blue eyes on him – the same bright blue as the sea that day in Porthcurno – and reminded him that they needed to be careful, that if they weren’t, gossip would spread like wildfire. She had asked if it would affect his job prospects and he’d told her about Rosy’s warning. At this, she had laughed as she imagined his embarrassment; and then she had became serious as she told him how she would love for him to stay at Penmenna, and how this weekend, if known about, could make that less likely. He knew she was right and he wanted to say he didn’t care. But he did care, he wanted to stay.