Page 22 of A Fresh Start at Bramble Cottage
“That’s very kind of you.” Again that enigmatic glint. “What do you think of our little village?”
“I haven’t had a chance to see much of it yet, but it looks very pretty.”
Vicky sat watching them. She wasn’t sure whether to be irritated or amused — she chose amused. Jayde’s eyes were wide and glowing, her mouth a pretty pout. It was impossible to tell what Tom was thinking.
Up close and in the flesh...Phew — had it suddenly grown hot in here? Jayde’s words about him taking off his T-shirt were running through her head. Those wide shoulders, those hard biceps beneath his sun-bronzed skin...
Dammit, what was she thinking? She was engaged to Jeremy — she shouldn’t be drooling over another man, however attractive he was. And hewasattractive — she couldn’t deny that.
Well, okay — there was no harm in looking. Just so long as she wasn’t tempted to take it further. Not that there was much chance of that, she acknowledged wryly. He wasn’t remotely interested in her — all his attention was on Jayde.
Not that she was jealous, of course — even if she had been interested in Tom. Her sister never had any trouble in hooking any man who took her fancy. She was used to it.
Bill returned with their drinks. She thanked him with a smile, and he bobbed his head in shy acknowledgement as he sat down.
She studied him covertly from beneath her lashes. His shoulders were hunched, his gaze focussed on the table as if afraid that he might accidentally make eye contact.
So this was the guy who had a fancy for Debbie — the guy whose name could make her blush. She smiled wryly to herself. Given how shy they both were, they were likely to need a boot in the butt to get them to do anything about it.
She would guess that he was maybe a year or two older than her. He was almost as tall as Tom, almost as wide across the shoulders. But he was... wholesome, rather than attractive, with ginger hair and sandy lashes and soft ruddy cheeks.
Jayde was leaning forward, resting her arms on the table to display her cleavage to the best advantage. She was using every trick she possessed — but Vicky suspected that Tom might not be so easy to reel in.
Or was that just wishful thinking?
He turned on a smile that was all smooth charm. “So what do you do, Jayde?”
She preened, delicately sipping her wine. “I’m an influencer — on social media.”
“Oh?”
“I have a YouTube channel and a blog.” Her lashes fluttered. “And TikTok, Instagram — well, all of them, of course.”
“Of course.”
If Jayde had picked up the note of dry humour in his voice, she wasn’t disturbed by it. “I vlog about beauty products mostly.”
“Vlog?”
“It’s what we call a video blog,” Jayde explained kindly.
Vicky kept a covert watch on Tom as she sipped her wine. If he was aware that Jayde was patronising him, apparently under the impression that she was speaking to an unsophisticated country bumpkin, the only clue to his amusement was the slight lift at the corner of his mouth.
Jayde had picked up her phone, and with a few clicks she accessed her vlog. “See?” She showed him the screen. Vicky could hear her commentary — something about choosing the correct shade of lipstick.
“Ah.” He nodded, a hint of amusement lurking behind his bland expression.
Jayde clearly believed he was impressed, glowing with satisfaction as she showed him another one, about applying mascara, and then a third.
“Very interesting. I’m sure you’ll be a great success.”
Jayde beamed with pleasure. “What do you do?” she asked as if she hadn’t already done her research.
“I’m a farmer.”
“Oh — with cows and things?”
“Cows mostly.”
