Page 52 of A Secret Cornish Wish
‘Yes, all right,’ I say, trying to look with annoyance at them both, but in a way that Rob can’t see. ‘Why not?’
Rob and I make our way outside through some French windows onto a large terrace which has seats, tables and sun loungers on it. From our position high up on the hill we can still see the sea and the coastline a little way in the distance.
‘Do you want to walk around the gardens or have a seat?’ Rob asks.
I look around. There’s quite a few people milling around outside, mostly chatting in small groups. A tall, elegant woman wearing a bright sea-green dress and razor-sharp black stilettos watches us with interest while she sits at a table smoking a cigarette. I noticed her in the church earlier – then she’d been wearing a huge black hat that looked like a flying saucer perched on the side of her head.
‘A walk would be good, I think. Too many people out here.’
We take a slow meander around the large gardens that surround the hotel. Everywhere we go is lit by tiny little lights set into the paths and borders.
‘Did you think when we were fifteen that we’d all be back here again when we were twenty for someone’s wedding?’ Rob asks as we walk.
‘I never really thought about it,’ I reply honestly. ‘Too many other things on my mind when I was fifteen.’
‘Like what?’
‘Oh, I dunno, my hair, my skin, my schoolwork – fitting in, you know?’
‘I don’t think any of us ever really fitted in, did we? That’s why you christened yourselves the Misfit Mermaids.’
‘Youchristened us the Misfit Mermaids, if I remember rightly.’
‘Did I?’
‘Yeah, when you wanted to join us on stage that time?’
‘I don’t remember giving you the title, though.’ Rob stops walking, so I do too.
‘You did. Don’t you remember it was after our first date, when we were walking back to my house?’
Rob doesn’t say anything. He simply turns towards me.
‘Of course I remember, Frankie,’ he says in a low voice. ‘How could I ever forget that night.’ He reaches out his hand and his fingers gently tuck a stray piece of my hair behind my ear.
‘Just like in the movies,’ I joke, feeling unsettled by his closeness.
‘What is?’ he asks, still in the same hushed voice.
‘They always do that hair thing in films before . . . ’
‘Before?’
I shrug.
‘Before they kiss?’ he asks.
I nod.
Rob leans in towards me and as I feel his lips on mine for the first time in five years I don’t resist. But unlike when we were two school kids having their first nervous dalliance with the opposite sex, we’re both older now. We’re both more experienced.
Rob’s arms move around my waist, and I allow him to pull me closer, so I’m now pressing up against his firm torso.
‘You look amazing tonight,’ Rob murmurs, beginning to kiss my neck now. ‘Incredibly sexy too. Quite unlike I’ve ever seen you before. Why do you hide your beauty, when you can look this good?’
‘What do you mean?’ I ask, my brain only just managing to override the intense feelings stirring inside my body right now. I pull back just a tad so I can look up at him. ‘What do you mean, why do I hide my beauty?’
‘Nothing,’ Rob says, obviously keen to continue more physical rather than verbal explorations.
