Page 51 of One Cornish Summer With You
‘Probably not, but there’s a big tide running today so you never know.’
‘OK,’ he said, rising to his feet languidly as if he didn’t care at all. ‘Just howdowe get out of here?’ he asked with a sexy glint in his eye. ‘Not that I mind being trapped in a cave for six hours with you.’
Tammy’s heart skipped a beat, taken aback. This was a different man from the one who’d first followed her to thesecret cave. A more confident man. A man with not just hopes but expectations …
Her stomach fluttered. This was serious. This was big.
‘There are some rocky steps at the back of the beach,’ she said. ‘They were cut into the cliff in Victorian times and even some locals don’t even know they exist, but they definitely will be cut off if we don’t leave soon.’
He sighed. ‘OK.’
She looked him up and down, fighting to tame the urge to feel his heartbeat next to hers again, forget everything and lose herself in the heat of the moment. She fought it down and went for humour.
‘I recommend you put some clothes on before we climb back up. I’m enjoying the view, but you don’t want to get arrested.’
With that, she forced herself to walk out of the cave without looking back. She knew he’d follow. She knew how much she wanted him to follow, forthisto go on, and that was terrifying.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Ruan drove himself and Tammy back to Tremain House in the evening sun, and – to his relief – this time it was via the normal roads. While they’d been at the festival, the Porthmellow Garage breakdown truck had towed her van to its repair centre in the town. The owner had known Tammy and her father for years and had made her a priority.
Fortunately, her van wasn’t a write-off and it would be back on the road in a couple of days. In the meantime, Ruan had offered to ferry her to the second installation at the festival.
‘My, this is posh,’ she said, wide-eyed, as they drove up the drive that led to Tremain House. ‘You do have friends in high places.’
Ruan laughed. ‘I only met Polly this morning. I was amazed when she dropped everything to ride to the rescue.’
‘It’s a shame she isn’t here so I can thank her in person, but she said she was going out to dinner with her daughter,’ Tammy said. ‘I must send her some flowers and a card.’
‘You could send some flowers to Lucifer,’ Ruan said. ‘She’d probably appreciate that more.’
Tammy laughed. ‘If you hadn’t been here early for your meeting, I’d have missed the first design.’
‘Let’s not think about that. Everything turned out just fine.’ He leaned over to kiss her and his body reacted to the touch of her mouth on his. If only they could repeat what happened in the cave here and now.
‘More than fine …’ she said, smiling at him with the kind of happiness he hadn’t yet seen from her. She’d let down her guard a little bit for him, but he guessed he was still on probation.
He drove her back to Porthmellow and dropped her outside the Harbour Gallery. The lights were just starting to come on in the cottages around the pocket-sized port. The outside tables at the Atlantic pub were full of drinkers in T-shirts and dresses, and from the opposite side of the harbour, music spilled out from the Blue Dolphin Bar.
It all seemed so idyllic, as if anything was possible. Ruan felt caught up in the vibe of the summer evening, of a post-sex glow, and of a happiness he hadn’t felt for years.
Was this what falling in love felt like? He definitely hadn’t experienced the same intense feelings for his ex.
‘I’ll pick you up tomorrow, then? Let’s go super early and grab some lunch at the festival. Kane’s doing tacos and cocktails at the bar and said we’d be welcome.’
‘I’d love that. Let’s hope there’s no drama tomorrow. On Sunday, after the last design, we can let our hair down. Lola and some of my friends are coming and it should be a real party with the bands. It’ll be fun.’ Shekissed him softly on the lips. ‘Thanks for offering to be my chauffeur.’
‘No problem,’ he said, looking forward to being introduced to her gang. It felt like a big step on the road to being accepted into her life.
‘I’d like to meet your friends properly, rather than just seeing them flying over the water, as long as they don’t try to persuade me to do it,’ she said with mock sternness.
‘Oh, I can’t promise that. They think everyone ought to be a kitesurfer. Can’t understand why some people don’t fancy being attached to a board with some string and being dragged above the water at thirty knots.’
She grimaced. ‘Nooo!’ she said, half laughing, half horrified.
‘But if they do, ask them to join you in doing a design. That’ll freak them out.’
‘It didn’t freak you out,’ she said, more seriously.
