Page 49 of Best Summer Ever

‘I’m kind of hoping Daisy will stay with me,’ said Josh, coming to her rescue. ‘That is, if she’d like to.’

‘She would,’ I confirmed. ‘She’d like that very much.’

‘Don’t forget to let your mum and dad know then,’ Penny said to me, as she walked back into the café again. ‘I rather think I put my foot in it when I called the cottage on Sunday, didn’t I?’

‘Just a bit,’ I agreed. ‘I’ll ring them now before I get… distracted.’

Josh raised his eyebrows at that and bit his lip. He looked so sexy, I was tempted to bite his lip, even with Penny still in viewing range.

‘But they won’t pick up at this time, will they?’ she called out of the door. ‘They’ll still be at work.’

‘Exactly.’ I grinned, pulling out my phone. ‘I’ll just leave them a message on the landline.’

So much for previously wondering who in the world still called them.

‘I’ll see if Penny needs a hand,’ said Josh, leaving me to reel off the message.

I simply said that I was staying overnight with a friend in the village. It was enough to let Mum and Dad know I wouldn’tbe back but not so detailed that they would work out I was flinging with a Wynmouth summer visitor.

‘Right then,’ said Penny, when she strode out of the café with Josh behind her. ‘Let’s lock up and reconvene in the pub at six, shall we?’

‘Excellent idea,’ I was happy to agree.

‘Well, come on then,’ Penny urged when I didn’t move. ‘You’ve got the keys, Daisy. Or at least I hope you’ve got the keys.’

‘Oh, yes,’ I said, reaching into my shorts pocket as she shook her head and rolled her eyes. ‘Of course. Here they are.’

‘So,’ said Josh as we waved Penny off to her end of the village and he unlocked the door to Crow’s Nest Cottage, ‘what are we going to do to pass the next hour or so?’

‘Um,’ I said, tapping a finger to my chin in thought, ‘well, we could start by getting you in the bath, couldn’t we? You swam in the sea this morning so you must still be all salty.’

‘That’s a very good point,’ he said, ushering me in ahead of him. ‘How would you feel about washing my back?’

It turned out that I was rather keen to wash Josh’s back and as a thank you, he returned the favour, which made us late in turning up at the pub.

‘Hurry up!’ urged Penny, when we finally arrived. ‘We want to get started.’

The place was surprisingly packed. I had thought the Tuesday evening games night popularity had been talked up, but apparently not.

‘Why’s your hair wet?’ she asked me.

I looked at Josh.

‘Oh, never mind,’ she said, blushing. ‘Sit down and drawyour counters and I’ll tell Nick what you want to drink. He’s at the bar.’

‘I’ll tell Nick,’ I said, ‘you stay here. What would you like, Josh?’

‘A pint of the usual as you won’t be pouring it.’ He grinned and I gently cuffed him as I walked away.

It turned out neither Sam nor Tess were potentially going to be pouring it either.

‘What can I get you?’ asked a tall, sun-bleached blonde woman I hadn’t seen before.

Her accent was undeniably Australian and it grated a bit. Was everything in Australia so perfect, I wondered?

‘Oh…’ I mumbled, pointing at Nick who was standing further along the bar. Unlike a few of the other customers, he didn’t seem mesmerised by the goddess in front of him. ‘Um… I’m with someone. I’ll get him to add what I want to his order.’

‘Right you are,’ she beamed, looking rather intently at me before moving away. ‘Who’s next?’

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