Three…two…one…I’ve been counting down the seconds to lunchtime and it’s finally here. This morning I made sure I was up early so that I could wash my hair, do my make-up and slip into something nice.
‘Look at you,’ Mike said when I walked into the deli this morning. ‘Give us a twirl.’
I obliged and he and his workmates woo’d in appreciation – probably just being polite though.
Today I’m wearing a fitted white shirt – with maybe one less button fastened than I should have – along with a tight black skirt, combined with my red patent leather heels and a bright red lipstick to match.
‘How’s it coming along?’ I ask Mike, making conversation as I linger by the door, waiting for Alfie to pick me up.
The place finally looks like a real deli now. The counters are all in place, the fridges are installed and the plumbing no longer turns my stomach. As soon as we get some tables and chairs in here all we’ll need is food and we’re good to open – providing we have some customers, of course.
‘Good,’ he says. ‘We’ll be done in a day or so.’
My heart jumps into my mouth.
‘So soon?’
‘Yeah, well, we were at it for a while before you arrived. It’s nearly ready.’
Mike is my ally from the south, I don’t want him to leave.
‘I’ll miss you,’ I tell him honestly.
‘You’ll be fine,’ he laughs. ‘You’ve got someone looking out for you.’
Mike nods towards the Range Rover outside the deli. He knows all about our lunch date today – without a girl friend to talk to, poor Mike has become my confidant.
Alfie steps out wearing a pair of jeans, a muscle-fit white T-shirt and a pair of aviator sunglasses. Damn, he looks cool.
‘Don’t wait up,’ I joke to Mike as I head for the door. ‘Really though, I’ll be back in an hour or so.’
‘OK,’ he laughs. ‘Have fun. Tell him he’s got me to answer to if he messes you around.’
‘Hello,’ I say brightly as I walk outside.
‘Wow, Blossom, look at you,’ he says, lowering his sunglasses to get a better look. I love that he’s started calling me Blossom. Well, I suppose it’s snappier than what everyone else refers to me as – the Apple Blossom Girl. I don’t like that at all, it makes me sound like a kid.
‘What’s the plan?’ I ask.
‘Hop in,’ he instructs. ‘We’ll figure out where to go.’
Just like he said he would, Alfie starts sounding off ideas about where we can eat. All I can think about is kissing him again.
‘Do you want to go to the cottage?’ I ask, interrupting him.
‘Your cottage?’ he replies, sounding a little surprised.
‘Yeah. Well, I’ve got loads of food in, and some more bits and pieces from the deli that I’m sure you’d like to try.’
‘OK, yeah,’ he replies. ‘I’d love to.’
‘Let’s go,’ I say excitedly.
It’s only a short drive and, by the time I pluck up the courage to say something, we’re outside the cottage.
‘Last night was great,’ I say as we walk up the path.
‘It was,’ he replies. ‘It’s a shame it was cut short.’
‘It was a shame…what do you think would’ve happened if it hadn’t been cut short?’
‘I don’t know,’ he replies. ‘I didn’t want to stop though.’
As I unlock the cottage door, I can feel my body tensing up with nerves. I can’t feel Alfie standing close behind me, but I can sense him. All I can think about is feeling his hands on me again.
‘Back in a sec,’ I say, hurrying off to the bathroom. I close the door behind me and look at myself in the mirror. What am I doing? Why have I brought him here? More importantly, why does he think I’ve brought him here? To put the moves on him? God, I want to put the moves on him. What moves though? I don’t think I know any moves any more.
‘Just be cool,’ I whisper to myself, quiet enough so that Alfie can’t hear, but loud enough to hopefully pay attention. ‘Now get back out there.’
With my pep talk having zero effect, I find Alfie in the kitchen and lean on the worktop next to him.
‘What do you fancy?’ I ask. ‘We’ve got a bunch of stuff for sandwiches – the company I work for keep sending me new samples…’
The air feels thick with sexual tension, which makes it hard to breathe. I bite my lip in an attempt to disguise my shallow breathing.
‘I fancy you,’ he says.
‘For lunch?’ I joke awkwardly. Ah, me and my jokes. It’s no wonder I’m single.
Alfie takes a step closer to me slowly. Then another one. My breathing quickens as I hang in suspense. It’s like we’re playing chicken, trying to decide who makes the second move first.
Deciding to just go for it and see what happens, I reach forward and pull him close to me, and that’s all it takes for us to resume our passionate kissing from last night only this time, it’s kicked up a gear.
Alfie grabs me by the hips and sits me down on the kitchen worktop – the worktop that I’m so glad I took the time to clean last night. I’d been thinking about inviting Alfie for lunch, so I did it just in case. God knows what I’d be sitting on right now if I hadn’t.
I am very conscious of the fact that, other than a couple of awkward encounters over the years that never went anywhere, the only person I have ever had regular sex with is my ex – Frankie’s dad – and that was nine years ago. Sex hasn’t changed, right? People are still doing the same stuff…I see it in the movies and, other than the things you see in Fifty Shades, it doesn’t seem like it’s changed much. It occurs to me to grab a spatula from the drying rack next to the sink, just in case he’s that way inclined. I giggle to myself through our kisses.
Probably best I just pretend I know what I’m doing and see what happens.
I wrap my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist as we continue to kiss. This is so unlike me, being ravaged by a sexy farmer on my kitchen worktop – mostly, I suppose, because I’ve never met a sexy farmer or had clean worktops. This just feels right though – so right.
A loud knock on the window behind me destroys our passion once again. I’m too frustrated to even think about who it might be.
‘There’s a man in your garden,’ Alfie says breathlessly. My mind darts back to my Daniel Craig dream – but only for a second. Now I’m mostly just mortified someone was watching me, erm, in a…romantic clinch – that’s what we’ll call it.
I glance over my shoulder to see who is lurking in the back garden, for whatever strange reason. It’s probably not Daniel Craig, is it? It’s a miracle I’ve got one man interested, there’s not about to be another one.
‘Oh God,’ I say softly, staring at the man on the other side of the glass.
‘Lily, are you OK?’ Alfie asks me. ‘You look like you’ve seen a ghost. Who is that?’
I swallow hard.
‘It’s…it’s Frankie’s dad.’