Page 30 of Never Date a Celebrity

She wasn’t sure who leaned in first, maybe it had been mutual, but they closed the gap in one smooth transition, and Amelia closed her eyes as the softest of lips touched hers. The kiss was tentative at first, a soft caress like they were testing the waters. But then Imogen gently stroked Amelia’s cheek with her fingertips, and her lips began to move slowly against her own. The gentle, unhurried kiss was intoxicating—the tender movements, the taste of the wine still lingering, the peaceful soundtrack of only the wind and the sea in the background. Amelia couldn’t get enough. She cupped her hand behind Imogen’s neck to pull her nearer still, and as their bodies pressed together more firmly, Imogen moaned the faintest of moans into her mouth. The quiet sound was enough to set Amelia’s body on fire, like she had been on standby waiting for the slightest spark that would ignite the flames inside her. Imogen was that spark. Amelia had known it since they’d met. Imogen parted her lips, and Amelia pushed her tongue into her eagerly accepting mouth. Their tongues tangled and caressed in the most sensual of ways, as the kiss seamlessly deepened from tender to hungry. By the time they pulled apart—only by an inch or two—Amelia could feel that her lips were swollen, and her breaths were laboured.

Imogen looked at her with darkened eyes. “Okay, so you’re really good at that,” she whispered and leaned her forehead against Amelia’s.

Amelia smiled and ran her hands up the length of Imogen’s back, revelling in finally getting to touch her properly. “The charming insurer strikes again.”

Imogen breathed out a laugh. “I’m a bartender now, remember. The charm’s part of the package. But the fact still remains that you kiss like a goddess.”

Amelia leaned in close. “Maybe it’s more of a case that we kiss really well together.” She felt Imogen smile as she pressed their lips together once again. This time they kissed without a hint of their original shyness or trepidation, confident to explore each other’s mouths while their hands wandered freely over warm skin and soft fabric. They just about managed to keep it PG.

“What were you going to say before?” Imogen asked when they eventually broke for air again many, many minutes later.

Amelia rolled her lips in, savouring the taste of Imogen that remained. How could she possibly tell Imogen the truth in that moment? With Imogen still holding her in her arms and looking at her in that affectionate way? Amelia would ruin everything with a single sentence.

The stakes that had already felt so high had become insurmountable now that they had kissed like that. There was something between them—something rare and special, and, most importantly, something real. And living in a world that was plagued with insincerity and falseness, one where she had been scorned too many times, Amelia knew real when she saw it.

What was the harm in waiting a little while longer? Allowing this to blossom some more? Amelia was still herself. She shouldn’t have to be defined by her job when it was only one part of the whole person she was. And Imogen hadn’t asked, so maybe that was a sign to wait. The right time would come to talk to Imogen, to explain herself, but this wasn’t it. “I was just going to ask when I can see you again?”

Chapter Six

That Sunday, Imogen felt like she was floating on the highest of highs as she walked through the bar with its log fire blazing and its upbeat music pumping. It felt like she hadn’t stopped smiling from the moment she and Amy had parted ways the day before. Parted ways after the best kissing session of her life at the top of Lucks Bruach, holding hands and laughing the whole way back down the trail, and stopping for some more incredible kissing at the bottom. Then Amy was regretfully driven away in the back of a Mercedes that looked way too fancy for the uneven dirt tracks that served as roads around Ballyluck. Imogen guessed that it was probably one of the same cars that the studio let the big stars use too, judging by its high-calibre design and entirely blacked-out windows.

They had agreed to see each other again as soon as Amy could get some more time off work. She wasn’t sure when that would be, but thankfully they had exchanged numbers this time and Amy promised to be in touch. What Imogen hadn’t expected, was for Amy to be in touch before she had even made it back to the Wishing Well. Imogen had just been approaching the circle—inaccurately referred to as the square by the folks in Ballyluck—when Amy called her. That’s right, called. She didn’t shoot off a twenty-second text message, which let’s face it, was the most common form of communication in the day and age they lived in. When Imogen answered the call, Amy told her what a great time she’d had in her soft voice and addictive American accent.

She’d had a great time too. The best time. Imogen thought back to first dates that she’d been on in the past, with Chelsea and the few other women she had dated before her. They had all had the very common theme of awkward. Of course, Imogen knew that first dates were renowned for being awkward, but the thing was, her date with Amy had been anything but. It was like Amy was this near stranger who had seamlessly slotted into Imogen’s life as if she had already been there for years. How was that possible after only a few hours together?

So, yeah, Imogen was smiling. A lot. And nothing seemed to be able to stop it. Two smashed glasses by a couple of tipsy young women? Imogen smiled while she brushed up the glass. Their most popular beer running out when the order wasn’t due until the next day? Imogen smiled through the customer complaints and calmly recommended some of the other brands. Someone leaving a bunch of paper towels in the sink while the tap was running so the bathroom floor flooded? Well, her smile had momentarily faltered with that one, but she had grabbed the mop and sorted it with minimal despair.

“And there’s another chair totally banjaxed,” Piper said in frustration as she walked past the bar with the cushion of the broken chair under one arm and its snapped legs under the other. She narrowed her eyes at Imogen. “Are you humming?”

Was she? She felt pretty hummy, and Taylor Swift’s new album was playing, so she probably was. “I hadn’t realised humming was a crime.”

“It’s a crime when the place is falling down around us,” Piper said. “Seriously, could anything else go wrong today?”

Imogen pointed up at the massive crack in one of the wooden beams above their heads. “The ceiling could cave in.” A risk she was always quietly aware of.

Piper’s eyes widened. “Immy! I wasn’t asking for actual suggestions. And that’s the sort of thing that would usually terrify you, but there you are saying it all easy breezy.”

“Leave her alone,” Niamh said as she concentrated while measuring a shot of whiskey into a faux-crystal tumbler. “She’s in her post-date bliss phase and I for one love to see it.”

“Well, I love to see it too, but I would love it even more if this Amy turned out to be a dab hand with a hammer and some nails.” Piper rounded the bar to leave the broken chair out back with the rest of the rubbish.

“Maybe she is. I’ll ask her,” Imogen replied casually.

“Will you? Will you really?” Piper asked, joining them behind the bar. “Because you didn’t ask her any of the film gossip that I wanted you to ask yesterday.”

“That’s because they were too busy kissing,” Niamh said teasingly as she walked past them to deliver the whiskey to Talkative Tim. Luckily, he had joined One Pint Willy for a drink today, so Niamh wouldn’t have to hang around for a long, drawn-out conversation. When he was alone, Tim could talk the hind leg off a donkey, and it could be difficult to escape.

“I can’t believe there was sexy clifftop kissing,” Piper said to Imogen. “I’ve had lots of sexy kissing, but I don’t think I’ve ever had it on top of a cliff.”

“I highly recommend it,” Imogen said wistfully, thinking back to how amazing Amy’s lips felt against her own. And Luck’s Bruach had been the perfect backdrop to the perfect first kiss.

“Knowing my luck, I’d fall off.”

Imogen laughed. “We were at a very safe distance from the edge or that might have been a possibility. Let’s just say we certainly got into it.”

Piper straightened and stuck her hands on her hips. “Let’s just say more. What do you mean you got into it? Was there sexy touching as well as sexy kissing? You didn’t mention any sexy touching yesterday. And you know how I live for details.”

“Define sexy touching.”