Page 32 of Sun, Sea & Strawberry Shortcake
‘But what exactly?’
He looks at me and sighs. Then he gives me a lopsided smile.‘We hit a snag that’s meant we’ve needed a speedy change of plan. And gettingthe right people in to do the job at short notice is proving a lot trickierthan we expected.’
‘Is there a time deadline for the job?’
He nods. ‘It has to be finished by the end of the week.’
‘Phew. No wonder you’re busy.’
He grins. ‘Not busy now, though. So... theday is all ours. What shall we do?’
‘Ooh, I don’t know.’ I smile, feeling brighter already. ‘Howabout we try another picnic on the beach? At that deserted cove through thewoods? Or maybe we could walk along the rocks this time?’
‘Sounds good.’ He extracts the mug from my hand and placesit on the bedside table. Then he lies down on his side, his arm around mywaist, gazing up at me with that sexy, wolfish smile of his. The one I cannever, ever resist. (Even if we’re in the middle of an argument, he only has tosmile at me like that and I instantly feel my hackles returning from whencethey came.)
‘I haven’t cleaned my teeth,’ I mumble, as he rolls on topof me.
‘Don’t care.’ He brushes my lips with his. ‘You taste goodto me.’
‘Well, that’s a relief.’ Giggling softly, I slide my handsaround his neck and start kissing him back. And then things start getting hot.And I mean,hot!We haven’t had sex since we arrived, what with onething and another, so the passion sizzling between us is soon heading for off-the-chartscorching.
Needing to feel him inside me, I move so that I’m straddlinghim.
But my knee slips off the edge of the mattress, and with ashriek, I grab onto the wooden headboard to stop myself falling off the bed.
Fatal mistake.
The dodgy headboard finally parts company with the frame andthe bed collapses. We end up tangled together in a weird position, the bed at astrange angle which tends to suggest that one of the legs has given way as well.
‘Your elbow’s digging into my ribs,’ I pant, trying to extractmyself but finding it hard because I’ve suddenly been hit with an attack of thegiggles.
‘Sorry.’ He moves away but manages to lose his balance andends up falling off the wonky bed onto the floor.
Then he lies there on his back, grinning up at me because Ican’t stop laughing. ‘Do you think we’re jinxed here? This is some romanticbreak away.’
Tears are running down my face and my giggles have beenreplaced by hiccups.
‘You know what?Hic!As long as I’m here with you...hic!... every day is a romantic day.Hic!’
‘You say the sweetest things.’
‘I know. I’m full of it.’
‘You’re very sexy when you get the hiccups.’
‘Yeah, right.Hic!’
He grins, getting up off the floor. ‘I’ll get you somewater.’
‘See, now, thatisromantic!’ I call after him.‘You’d better search for a hammer. I think we’ve got some bed reconstruction tocarry out today.’
‘Who needs a picnic on the beach when there’s big tools to playwith?’ he shouts, and I lie on the broken bed amongst the crumpled linen,smiling and reflecting that sometimes the unexpected can be just as much fun asthe plans you’ve made. Especially when you happen to have a gorgeouspartner-in-crime at your side...
*****
The bed is fixable, thank goodness. Although we decidethat for the rest of the holiday, it’s probably out of bounds as far as anyfurther bedroom athletics are concerned.
‘Thank goodness. I’ll be able to get some sleep instead ofhaving you pestering me for sex all the time,’ jokes Hudson.
