Seren smiled. “I might do that.”
Back at the house, Mirren topped up their wine glasses and Seren seemed more relaxed as she exchanged banter with the boys. When she left an hour later, Kit got a lift back to town with her, and they all said their goodbyes, knowing they wouldn’t see each other before Keira and Noah flew home the following day.
“That was a fun evening,” Keira said, when she and Noah walked into the cottage not long after. “Your family are very entertaining.”
Smiling his agreement, he pulled her into a passionate kiss. “I’ve been waiting all evening to do that.”
“Me too.” She led him to the couch and they dropped to sit close beside each other. Her chat with Seren had left her feeling much more confident about where her relationship with Noah was headed. Clearly it wasn’t just a fling, and from what she could tell there wasn’t any reason why he couldn’t stay on in Bristol.
They also had another month to figure out their feelings for each other, but her keeping him at arm’s distance for that time wouldn’t help. She needed to put her fears aside and trust that things would work out. There was just one thing that bothered her slightly, so when he leaned to kiss her again, she stopped him with a hand on his chest.
“I need to ask you a question,” she said, not wanting to break the mood but knowing she couldn’t fully relax until she asked.
“What is it?”
She pulled her legs under her. “I need you to be honest.”
“I’ll try, but it sounds as though you’ll expect me to lie … which is a bit worrying.”
“I was thinking about how hard it was for you yesterday with the boat race …” She caught the tightening in his jaw but couldn’t stop now. “And I wondered if you invited me to come here so you’d have an excuse to leave earlier and get out of the race.”
He placed a hand on her leg. “No.”
“But on Friday evening when we were talking about staying longer, it seemed as though you were happy to have me as an excuse to leave.”
“I was.” He stretched his neck and leaned his head back. “It only occurred to me after I invited you that it would mean I had an excuse to leave before the race, but it was a bonus, definitely not the reason.”
She nodded, believing him.
“Can I kiss you again now?”
She nodded again and smiled as his lips landed on hers.
“Why are you laughing?” he asked.
“I want to ask you another question, but I think you’re getting sick of them.”
“How about you ask one more question and then we get back to kissing?”
She pursed her lips and affected a look of deep consideration. “If you give me three questions, you can kiss me as much as you want for the rest of the night …”
“Fine.” He rolled his eyes and flopped back on the couch. “They better be quick questions!”
“I can make them quick.” She quirked an eyebrow and held out her hand to count the questions off. “One: Can we continue kissing upstairs? Two: Can I sleep in your bed again? Three: Can we do less sleeping than last night?”
He stared at her for a moment, a look of deep longing in his eyes. “Yes, yes and yes.”
With a mischievous grin she pulled him off the couch and led the way upstairs.
* * *
When she woke, Keira felt a rush of blissful happiness. The sound of the sea rolling onto the shore drifted through the open window as her mind flashed back to her passion-fuelled night with Noah. Currently, his naked body was tangled with hers and it felt fantastic.
“Morning,” he whispered, his warm breath tickling her neck.
“We have to leave today,” she said sulkily. Turning in his arms, she looked at his sleepy features. Automatically, she dragged her hand through his mussed-up hair. “The weekend has gone far too quickly. I don’t want to leave yet.”
“I’m afraid we have to since we both have to work tomorrow, but I’m really glad you’ve had a good time.” He trailed a finger along her collarbone, making butterflies dance in her stomach. “I’m so glad you came with me. I loved having you here.”