Page 47 of Best Summer Ever

‘Given that it’s actually Sam’s bedandsofa,’ I reminded him, ‘and it was Sam I was talking to, you should be grateful for that. He wouldn’t have been pleased to think of either going up in flames, would he?’

‘I suppose not,’ Josh laughed, flicking me with the towel, ‘but I still would have preferred a better review.’

‘Consider it something to work towards.’ I grinned, skipping off towards the beach hut. ‘Let’s see if we can get you up to five stars by the end of the summer, shall we?’

‘You’re on!’ he shouted, scooping up his clothes and chasing after me.

Even though I was willing to start working on Josh’s sexy summer ranking immediately – not that he needed it because he already was a five – I was determined that nothing was going to make me late for accepting Penny’s deliveries to the café and their subsequent unpacking.

‘I’ll come and help you, if you like,’ Josh offered, once he was dry and dressed and we’d kissed and made up. A lot.

I really wanted him to come with me, but café chores hardly felt like the sort of task anyone would willingly want to undertake while they were on their summer holiday.

‘Surely you must have something more exciting to do?’ I said.

‘Don’t you want me to come?’ Josh pouted.

‘Of course, I do. But it won’t be very exciting, watching me signing for a few boxes and then lugging them to the café and unpacking them.’

‘Itwillbe exciting actually,’ he said, ‘because it’ll be you doing it.’

‘And the award for cheesiest line ever goes to…’

He silenced my drumroll with a kiss and I quickly retracked my statement.

‘Come on then,’ I said breathlessly when we finally drew apart, ‘let’s go.’

Had I not helped Penny on Sunday afternoon, I would have thought she’d ordered far too much stock, but having seen how depleted supplies were and how in demand the lollies and so on had been when the sun was shining down on Wynmouth beach, I didn’t question the amounts of everything that she’d ordered, even if it was a struggle to carry some of it from the end of the lane, which was as far as the vans could get, to the café kitchen. However, having Josh to help me sped up the lugging and unpacking process considerably, even if we did keep stopping to kiss while we were doing it.

‘So, how are you settling into life back at Wynbrook Manor?’ he asked, while we were waiting for the last order of the day.

It was mid-afternoon and Penny had messaged to say that I could help myself to anything I fancied for a late lunch as she was aware that I was going to be there for the long haul. I’d made the amount of food I would normally eat and split it with Josh, so still felt a little hungry. Kissing him seemed to eat up more calories than kissing Laurence. Not that I wantedto be thinking about kissing my ex or comparing his technique to the outstanding one of my current beau.

‘Um,’ I said, thinking how I could answer diplomatically and then decided I didn’t need to be tactful, not with Josh. ‘It’s harder than I thought it would be.’

‘Why’s that?’

‘Well, for a start I very nearly got the whole “while you’re staying under our roof” speech during breakfast yesterday,’ I told him.

‘Oh, crikey,’ he grimaced. ‘That’s never good.’

I had wondered if that would translate, but it obviously did.

‘What else?’ he asked.

I thought about Algy’s faux pas about the book, but didn’t want to get into that.

‘Just churned up memories, you know.’ I shrugged, playing it down. ‘Inevitable, but still uncomfortable.’

‘Um.’ He nodded, looking thoughtful. ‘As you say, inevitable when you’re revisiting old territory.’

‘You’ve experienced that too?’

‘I have,’ he said, leaning forward in his seat and looking deep into my eyes. ‘Because, you see, the thing is, Daisy—’

A long blast on a van horn along the lane made us both jump.

‘Hold that thought,’ I said, jumping up. ‘That’ll be the last delivery. The driver was supposed to message so I could be up there waiting for it.’

---