Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 89183 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 446(@200wpm)___ 357(@250wpm)___ 297(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89183 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 446(@200wpm)___ 357(@250wpm)___ 297(@300wpm)
From the look on everyone’s faces, he might as well have announced their engagement.
“I knew it!” his mother said, throwing her arms around him.
“No, don’t misunderstand me,” he said once she let him go. “We’re just friends.”
“Just friends, my arse,” his grandmother said.
Fortunately, right then, Josie and Aria returned to the group. “We read the book again, and we each made up voices for the characters this time,” Aria said.
Josie smiled down at Aria. “You’re such a good reader.”
Aria beamed with pride.
Mathilda said, “Aria’s an exceptional reader. Her teacher said she’s one of the best in the class. We always read together when she comes to me for the afternoon, don’t we, darling?”
Josie looked very happy. “I was like you, Aria. I loved to read from when I first learned my letters, and now books are my friends and my work.”
“I want to have a bookstore just like Mari when I grow up,” Aria announced.
Malcolm had a feeling his precocious niece might end up in the book trade. It clearly ran in the family.
“I know you’re very busy with the cottages,” his mother said to Josie, “but we would be delighted if you could join us for Sunday roast this weekend. Everyone in the family who’s available comes, and you would be a wonderful addition.”
Josie flushed with pleasure at the invitation. “I’d love to, thank you.”
At this rate, his mother was going to propose to Josie for him. Malcolm said, “We should probably get going. We have a really early start tomorrow.”
She nodded, looking regretful. “He’s right. We do have a lot to do. It was so wonderful to spend time with you all tonight, and I’m really looking forward to Sunday,” she said. “I’m just going to say good-bye to Mari, and then I will meet you by the door, Malcolm.”
He couldn’t take his eyes off her as she went to give Mari a hug.
Mari had finished signing books, and there were only a few left. Malcolm was so happy for the woman he suspected would soon be his sister-in-law. And the fact that Mari and Josie got on so well made him just as happy. If Josie ever did decide to move to the UK, she’d have a ready-made best friend.
“Man, you’ve got it bad,” Tom said under his breath beside him.
He couldn’t honestly disagree. He did have it bad for Josie.
Strangely, the worse he had it for her, the better he felt.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
As soon as they were out of the bookshop, Malcolm took her hand. They both agreed that they were thrilled to see Mars at the Beach already looking like a success. Josie told him that she’d asked Mari to keep a few copies for the reading retreat guests.
Suddenly, he blurted, “I’m going to miss you when you’re gone.”
She squeezed his hand. “I’m going to miss you too.”
It was as close as either of them had come to talking about having feelings for each other.
Malcolm was more tempted than he had ever been to add that he didn’t want her to leave. Or that even if she did, what if they tried having a real relationship and continuing it long distance? But the same part of him that had always held back kept the words inside.
Though he couldn’t get the words out, he needed her to know how much she meant to him. That he would more than miss her. That he would long for her.
They didn’t say anything else as they walked beneath the moon down the towpath to his boat. Once they were inside, just like nearly every time before, they fell into each other’s arms.
His mouth was on hers and hers on his. But this kiss was different. This kiss was about more than just hot sex or the thrill of finally getting to be with someone he’d fantasized about for so long. This kiss was about expressing something that he’d always kept way deep down inside. Emotions that he’d never let run free. In the light of day, he knew he might regret it, but tonight he couldn’t hold back.
He whispered her name between kisses. And every time he spoke those five sweet letters, she melted even more against him. He ran kisses over her face and then back to her lips, slowly undressing her, needing to strip her bare long before they made it to the bedroom. This dress was one of the easier outfits, as it just unzipped at the back and then slid off to pool around her feet. Yet again, she took his breath away, whether with clothes or without.
“So beautiful,” he said in a low voice, following up his words with the stroke of his hands over the bare skin of her arms before threading his fingers with hers and pulling her close to kiss her again. He tasted her mouth, the fullness of her lower lip, their tongues tangling, their breath coming faster now. He lifted her, still in her bra and tights and heeled boots, in his arms and carried her astern to the bed.