Page 23 of The Perfect Blend
When he finally spoke, it was just one word, "Mistletoe," he said, his voice husky.
My head was foggy and my brain slow. He could hardly expect me to function after a kiss like that. "Pardon?"
He smiled and bent down for another kiss, this time a slow, soft kiss that made me glad that I was leaning into him, for my knees weren't working so well.
"You always said you wanted your first kiss under mistletoe," he said, eyes glancing upward. There, hanging from the archway he had dragged me under, was a bunch of mistletoe, beautiful and ghostly in the moonlight.
I was stunned. This man did not just one-two punch me with lust and gentleness. Did he want me to fall in love or something?
"You remembered?" I asked, soft puffs of heated breath visible in the cold night air.
"Of course,” he said, hand gently stroking down my back. “It's a long held regret of mine that we couldn't find any mistletoe for our first kiss."
All those years ago when we were just kids, I'd told Zach my idea of being kissed under mistletoe just like in a romantic Christmas film. He'd surprised me by asking for my first kiss underneath the closest thing to mistletoe he could find. My teenage self thought it was the most romantic thing in the world, and my little heart had fallen hard for him at that moment. Over ten years had passed, but I was beginning to realise that my heart had never truly recovered from that fall. Maybe it had been paused, waiting all this time to start free-falling once again.
"That was still so special,” I said with a smile. “The holly was a good substitute.”
"But this is better,” he said, leaning closer as he spoke.
"This is definitely better," I agreed, pushing up onto my tiptoes to meet him halfway. In the warmth of his arms as we kissed once more, I fervently hoped that this time things would end very differently. I wove my hands into his thick hair and let myself go. Zoe was right, there was no point holding back out of fear of things going wrong. Life was for living, and in this moment I felt truly alive.
Zach kissed me passionately, skilfully, and I found myself smiling against his lips. He pulled back gently.
“Happy, Miss Bell?” he asked, voice low and intimate. We may have been standing in a public place where anyone could stumble across us, but he made me feel like we were the only two people in the world.
“Very,” I murmured back, “but you already knew I would be, given what you overheard in the pub.”
He gently stroked my cheek. “I’m sorry to have embarrassed you like that, I didn’t intend to eavesdrop. But I’m glad I did, otherwise this wouldn’t have happened, not like this anyway.”
“Oh, it was definitely worth it, even if I felt like I wanted the ground to swallow me up not ten minutes ago,” I said.
“As I was helping her find some friends she’d lost, Sheila was telling me how nice the pub was decorated, that there was even mistletoe hung up out here in the beer garden. And then we walked past your table. Once I heard all the, what was it,steamy,things you wanted to do with me-”
“Oh my gosh, stop it, I said it was worth it, not that I wanted to relive it!” I interrupted, the echo of prior mortification running through me.
He laughed and said, “Once I heard that, I wanted nothing more than to take you out here to stand under the mistletoe and kiss you how I should have kissed you right from the start.”
I looked at him, handsome features cast half in shadow by the moonlight, and felt my pulse race once more.
“Maybe we can focus on this market, and once it's over, we can explore this properly. I'd like to delve deeper into those dreams you’ve been having, Robin. In detail. And then I can show you all the things I’ve been dreaming about.” His voice had dipped lower, and he sounded sinful.
“I’d love that,” I whispered. “Let’s make sure the market is a great success, and then we can figure out the rest after.”
“Sounds like a plan. First business, then pleasure.” He lightly ran his thumb across my bottom lips and I felt the visceral urge to shove business out the window and focus on this first. But no, the farm-warming mattered to me and to him. We would make that a success, and then we could figure out how to balance whatever was between us with our business plans afterwards. Even so…
“Maybe,” I said, pressing myself more tightly against him, “we can put that plan on hold for a few more minutes?”
He smiled wickedly. “You are temptation itself, Robin Bell.” Before I could reply, he’d kissed me again. This time our hands were sliding over skin, grasping each other's hair, exploring the other's body as much as we could before we had to pack it away and pretend to be professionals. It was good that the tall shadows of the garden shrubs would hide us from prying eyes because I was pretty sure we looked incredibly indecent. I certainly felt indecent. When we finally pulled apart and straightened our clothes, I was gratified that we were both breathing heavily. We shared a mischievous look, and I laughed.
“Come on, let’s get inside.”
“I’ve got to be off, actually, I’m meant to be meeting an old friend of mine,” he said. “But, I look forward to what comes after the market.” He gave me an intimate smile which I returned with a bite of my lip.
“Me too, Zach.” We squeezed hands goodbye, and I headed back towards the pub entrance as he turned in the opposite direction, heading towards his car.
∞∞∞
I walked back into the pub a very different woman than the one who had followed Zach outside, veins still buzzing from that kiss, to catch Zoe chatting with none other than Sheila.
