Page 51 of The Mended Hearts Bookshop

Once back on their street, Pen rushed into the bakery to relieve Lucy who’d been watching the cafe for her and George went to tell Ash the good news.

Five minutes later, just as Lucy left, Ash came rushing in. “That’s amazing,” she said, a bright smile on her face.

“Making for two amazing things in one day,” Pen said.

Ash stopped. “Um, what’s the second?”

“The fact that you, little miss grump, have just walked into my shop uninvited for the purpose of gossiping rather than, say, buying coffee or a bun.”

“I could buy both a coffee and a bun if that would make you feel better,” Ash said.

“No,” said Pen, coming around the counter. “It actually makes me feel good that you can just drop in. I like that.”

“Which does not give you full permission to just walk into the bookshop whenever you feel like it,” Ash said, eyes twinkling.

“Does it not?” asked Pen. “What about if I walk in to do this.” She stood up on her tiptoes and brushed her lips against Ash’s. “Or this?” She let her lips brush against the soft skin on Ash’sneck. An alarm buzzed from the kitchen and Pen jumped back. “Oops, I’d better get that.”

Ash followed her into the kitchen and Pen could feel her eyes on her as she lifted a tray of warmed buns out of the oven. She carefully placed the tray down on a cooling rack, then turned back to Ash.

“So…” she said, unsure now of where this was going. She didn’t want to pressure Ash or influence her in any way.

“So?” Ash said, taking a step toward her. “Weren’t we in the middle of something?”

Pen grinned. “Yeah, we sort of were, weren’t we?”

Ash put her hands on Pen’s waist and bent to kiss her, letting their lips touch softly, then more urgently. Pen felt Ash’s hips start to push into her and her heart was beating harder and her pulse was starting to race and she was responding to Ash in ways that she hadn’t responded to anyone in a long time.

It was intoxicating.

But she pulled back anyway.

“Are you okay with this?”

Ash’s face was flushed, her hair was falling over one eye, she was breathing a little fast. And then she was smiling. “I’m more than okay with this. In fact, um, I was sort of thinking that this is what I might be wanting. If that was alright with you? I mean, are you okay with this?”

“Are you kidding?” Pen asked, warmth flooding her core and her legs starting to feel wobbly.

“Not even a little bit,” Ash said. She looked down at Pen. “I like you, Pen. I have feelings here. And, well, we’re both grown ups, we’ve been doing all this kissy stuff for a while now and it might be time to take things a little further.” She grinned. “I do own a romance bookshop, so I’m somewhat of an expert in these matters.”

“Are you?” Pen asked, laughing. “Alright, well, I’m definitely a consenting adult, and you assure me that you are, so I could close the shop up for a little siesta.”

“That sounds… fun,” said Ash.

Pen tilted her head to look her directly in the eyes. “We stop whenever you want, there are no expectations here, Ash.”

“Good,” Ash said. “Because I have no idea what I’m doing, just that I want to do it.”

Pen was standing up on her tiptoes again, wrapping her arms around Ash’s neck when the front door of the bakery dinged open. Immediately, the sound of children’s chatter filled the room. Pen groaned. She pulled back. “Just a second.”

“Oh, Pen, I’m really sorry to ask,” Moira said as Pen came out into the front. “But Harley has an ear infection again and I can’t drag all of them to the doctor. Is it alright if I leave these three with you?”

Pen looked at the children who were already sitting on chairs and looking up at her with happy shiny faces. She bit her lip and turned back to Ash, who was standing in the doorway to the kitchen. Then she took a deep breath.

“Of course you can leave them,” she said to Moira. How could she leave her in the lurch? It wouldn’t be fair and honestly, the kids had to come first, didn’t they? She crossed her fingers that Ash wouldn’t be cross with her.

“Thank you, thank you,” Moira said, dragging Harley by the hand.

“You’re not cross are you?” Pen asked, turning back to Ash.

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