‘I’m taking you back to my place!’ said Will without missing a beat.
‘Wow!’ Leah laughed loudly. ‘Nice to see your old confidence is back in full force.’
Will shook his head. ‘I didn’t mean…it’s just… Hattie’s cooking dinner for us, and I’m having it delivered to the cliff house.’
‘Blimey!’ said Leah. ‘You really did ransack my bucket list, didn’t you?’
‘Yep,’ said Will with a grin. ‘All the way down to the last item on the agenda.’
‘What was that?’ said Leah. She didn’t need to ask, though. Leah knew exactly what that last line said.
‘An afternoon nap,’ said Will, holding her gaze. ‘Lucky for you… I just happen to have a very comfortable king-sized bed.’
CHAPTER 15
WILLIAM
Will’s fingers danced across the keys with the lightest of touches. The notes flowed like a dream… describing the sweetest of afternoon naps.
Leah was still fast asleep in the bedroom, tangled in the cool white sheets of the cliff house’s king-sized bed as the sea whispered to her from beyond the window.
It had taken all his willpower to carefully untangle himself from her snoozing frame and leave her warm body resting gently, but the music had started again. It wasn’t really surprising after everything, though, was it?
Will closed his eyes, his fingers not letting up even as snatches of the most perfect day played like a film behind his eyelids.
Leah, laughing on the beach, grabbing her cushion to wallop him for being cheeky.
Him, tracing a finger over her cheek to brush away flecks of golden sand. Him, feeding her strawberries and telling her tales of his childhood as the Seabury sun beat down on them both, warming the glossy berries in the little basket she carried.
Leah, long, lean and brown, stretched out beneath him on crisp white sheets.
Leah, gasping his name.
Leah falling asleep in his arms.
Will’s fingers flew, but he kept his eyes firmly closed, chasing the crescendo he knew was coming. He wanted to commit this perfect day to memory—to music—so that nothing and no one could ever take it away from him.
The notes came harder and faster, the melodies weaving and complex. And then a pause… a held breath before the end.
Will knew he was almost there. One more kiss from Leah, and this movement would be complete.
CHAPTER 16
LEAH
Leah surfaced to the sound of the waves beyond the clifftop windows mingling with notes from a piano being played in the next room.
Will.
She smiled, turning onto her back and reaching out to stroke the pillow next to her. It was still warm from his cheek.
He was gone from her side again… but this time, it didn’t sting, because she knew why. He wasn’t really gone at all, he was just capturing their time together in the best way he knew how.
Letting out a yawn, Leah stretched luxuriously. As promised, Will had helped her tick off another item from her bucket list—the afternoon nap to end all afternoon naps. She’d slept long and deep… not that it was a surprise. All that sea air and sun as they’d fed each other strawberries had worked like magic.
By the time they’d arrived back at the house, they hadn’t been able to keep their hands off each other. They’d barely managed to get through the front door before they were tugging at each other’s clothes, stealing hungry kisses, and tripping over each other in their haste to get inside.
Leah turned over and grinned into the pillow as Will’s playing became louder, faster and more insistent. It was like he was reliving the same moment!
