Page 78 of Coming Home to Maple Tree Lodge

‘I agree,’ said Walter.

In fact, everyone stood up apart from Lily and Ben.

‘We’ll close up down here,’ said Ben.

Hannah, Beth and Ella gave Lily a knowing smile and she could feel her cheeks beginning to grow pink.

‘Goodnight,’ they all said to each other and then it was just Lily and Ben alone in the lounge.

Someone, she suspected Hannah, had switched off the overhead lights as they left and now it was just them in the soft light of the fire, the candles which had begun to burn low and the fairy lights strung around the oak beams across the ceiling.

‘How are you?’ he asked, with a smile. ‘I think I’m still in shock.’

Lily laughed softly. ‘Actually, I’m half exhausted and the other half is totally buzzing about what a success it was. Did you get to talk to that hotel reviewer? The one with the red jacket that Ella managed to contact?’

Ben nodded. ‘Briefly. What about you?’

‘I showed her the bedrooms and she promised to come back for a proper stay very soon,’ Lily told him. ‘She seemed to have a lot of followers on Instagram.’

‘That’s great,’ he said, leaning back on the sofa and closing his eyes. ‘What a relief it went well.’

‘Absolutely,’ she murmured.

She allowed herself the luxury of looking at him, studying the dark eyelashes and handsome face as it relaxed.

She didn’t know how long she looked at him until he suddenly opened his eyes and caught her staring at him.

‘Well, we’d better start shutting everything down,’ she began to say.

But he caught her hand and stopped her from getting up from the sofa. ‘You look lovely tonight,’ he said, reaching out his other hand towards her.

She found she was holding her breath as he held a long lock of hair in his fingertips.

‘Thank you,’ she managed to murmur in reply.

‘I feel like we should somehow celebrate our success,’ he said, sitting up so that they were much closer now.

Her pulse was racing as his hand moved from the lock of hair around to the back of her neck.

‘We should,’ she managed to say.

But she could barely think of anything other than the feeling of the touch on her skin as he stroked her neck.

‘Perhaps we should have had one of Frankie’s cocktails,’ he said, leaning closer.

She shook her head. ‘Too potent,’ she whispered, unable to stop herself from leaning towards him.

‘There’s something to be said for intoxication though,’ he murmured, his face within inches of hers now.

‘There is,’ she agreed.

And just when she couldn’t bear it any longer and was about to pull him to her, he reached for her instead.

Their lips met instantly and she was lost. Powerless to stop herself from kissing him back as she wrapped her hands around his shoulders and pulled him even closer.

It began as a soft, gentle kiss. Then it grew deeper as her senses reeled with the touch of his lips and the blessed feeling of being in his arms at last. It was the kind of kiss that she had never had before. It was a kiss that she never wanted to end.

The kiss was all-encompassing, stronger and more passionate than any that they had shared so far. She didn’t know how long she stayed in his arms until finally he drew back a little.