It was so unexpected that for a second or two Tori just stood in shock as his soft mouth brushed against hers. But as he moved away, clearly realising she wasn’t returning it, she grabbed hold of his jumper and pulled him back to her, kissing him too. He brought his hands to her face, cupping her gently. She slid her hands round his neck, stroking the back of his head and fingering his black curls. He moaned softly against her lips and it was such a turn-on to know she had this effect on him.

He moved his hands down her back, holding her closer against him, and eased her mouth open, tasting her.

His wonderful scent surrounded her, the feel of his stubble against her skin was incredible and he tasted amazing.

He slid his arms around her, so he was hugging her tightly, his whole body wrapped around hers and the kiss continued.

This kiss was everything. It was so gentle, so lovely. She had never been kissed like this before with so much adoration.

She moved her hands down his back and then slipped them under his jumper and t-shirt, caressing his bare skin at the base of his spine. At her touch, the kiss changed to something more needful and urgent – the kiss suddenly wasn’t enough, she needed more.

Aidan pulled back slightly, still holding her against him but leaning his head against hers, his breath unsteady.

‘I think if I was to kiss you for much longer, I’d be stripping you naked and taking you right here amongst the berries,’ he said.

Tori laughed. ‘I think I’d be OK with that.’

‘Let’s go back to the farm,’ Aidan said. ‘Forget the berries.’

She smiled, not entirely sure if he was joking. ‘And what would we tell the villagers when there are no berries in the morning?’

‘They’ll understand, the passion and the magic of the berries took over us.’

She pulled back slightly to look at him. ‘Is that what this is?’

‘I have no idea what this is, but I’m loving it. What about you, have you fallen head over heels in love with me yet?’ he teased.

Something pulled in her heart. ‘I think I could definitely fall in love with you, Aidan Jackson, if you keep kissing me like that.’

He smiled. ‘I’ll keep that in mind. But we should get on with the berry-picking.’ He kissed her on the forehead and pulled away, out of her arms. ‘I’ll take this row and you take that one. I’d like to clear six rows tonight. There’s a head torch on your trolley, it’ll help you see the berries more easily.’

Tori wasn’t sure what to make of this sudden about-turn. She knew the berries needed to be picked and maybe he needed to focus on that rather than what they could be doing if they were back at the farmhouse.

‘Yes boss,’ Tori said.

He laughed and caught her hand, pulling her back towards him. ‘We’ll take a break at one and I plan to use it doing more of this.’ He kissed her briefly on the lips, lingering that moment too long as if savouring her.

He released her, and she smiled as she moved into the next row, spotting the trolley that was waiting for her. She slipped on her head torch and picked a berry. Holding it in her hand, she had her first proper look at it. It was about the size of a blueberry but had a definite heart shape to it. Now, having had a chance to study it, her ideas for Max started solidifying in her head. She could see exactly where the eyes would be and even where the hands and feet would go.

‘Oi, Graham, I’m going to need a faster picking rate than one an hour,’ Aidan called over and Tori laughed.

She popped the berry into the punnet and started picking some more, quickly filling the punnet, pressing the lid on and then moving on to the next punnet. She looked at the berries, all red, juicy and shiny in the punnet, and then glanced over at Aidan who smiled at her. Was there really something in these berries that could make people fall in love with each other? Because something was definitely happening between them, something wonderful, and she didn’t know whether to be delighted or terrified by it.

She moved down the row, methodically clearing each bush before moving on to the next. It was quite therapeutic in that way that doing something repetitive and easy helped to clear the mind. But every time that she glanced over at Aidan, he seemed to be watching her with a big smile on his face. It made her feel all warm inside.

She had bent over to pick another handful of berries when something large skimmed over her head, and straight into the back of her hood. She quickly tried to flap her hood around to remove whatever it was, but the thing was struggling so much she couldn’t free it. A second later the thing fell down the neck of her hoodie and down her back and as she wiggled around she heard the distinctive squeal of a bat.

---

Aidan had reached the end of his row when he heard a shriek of terror from Tori. He looked over and in the light from the lanterns he saw her running around in a weird kind of dance, her arms flailing, seemingly being attacked by invisible forces. He dropped his punnet and ran over to help her.

She was desperately trying to get her top off, screaming and wailing like she was possessed. He grabbed at her hoodie and yanked it off, inadvertently taking her t-shirt with it so she was standing in only her bra and shorts. But as he did something small and black zoomed out from the inside of her clothes and he realised she had been accidentally attacked by a bat.

‘Oh God, are you OK?’ Aidan asked, watching her drop her hands to her knees and bend over as she tried to catch her breath. She didn’t seem fazed at all that she was half naked.

‘Yes, I think so,’ she panted. ‘I’ve never had an issue with bats before, but I think I’ve just developed a new phobia. God, the bloody thing was all over me.’

‘They have quite sharp teeth and claws; did he scratch you?’

‘He might have done, it does feel a bit sore,’ Tori said.

‘Let me have a look.’ Aidan moved round to her back and she straightened and turned slightly so she stood more in the light and he could see more clearly. He ran his hands gently over her back. There were a few small scratches but nothing serious.

‘I think you’re OK.’ His eyes suddenly fell on the tattoo and his heart stopped as he stared at it. What the hell was this? Yes, they’d joked about marriage and they’d just been talking about falling in love, and if he was honest his feelings for her had grown very quickly, beyond something that could be considered casual. But this was a little creepy.

‘So, you got your tattoo?’ he said, touching it with his fingertips.

‘Oh god.’ Tori turned around, so he could no longer see it. ‘Is it OK, do you like it?’

‘It’s…’ he trailed off, because really, he had no words to describe what he’d just seen. ‘Nice.’

It wasn’t really nice, although it had obviously been done by somebody with a lot of talent. But he could hardly tell her that he found it a bit freaky. It was flattering, he supposed, in a kind of stalkery bunny-boiler type of way.

‘Oh God, you don’t like it, do you?’

‘It’s just a bit… much. I mean, I saw your drawing in your notebook when it fell out on my kitchen floor last night and I thought that was quite sweet but this…’ He really didn’t want to upset her, but she must know that this was a bit weird. They’d known each other for three days.

Tory stared at him in confusion. ‘What drawing?’

‘The one of me.’

‘Oh that. That was just a doodle.’

‘That you’ve now had tattooed onto your back.’

Her eyes widened in horror. ‘What do you mean? It’s just flowers and a heart.’

‘With a picture of my face inside.’

Her mouth dropped open in shock. ‘Your face inside a heart?’

‘Yes.’ Why did she seem so surprised by this? Was he mistaken? He quickly moved behind her to look at the tattoo again. His face stared back at him; there was no denying that it was him. He cocked his head. Was it possible that she had asked for the face of someone famous and it had turned out looking like him by mistake?

Tori turned back to face him. ‘Your face is tattooed on my back?’

‘It sure looks that way,’ Aidan said in confusion.

She suddenly curled up in a ball, screaming with frustration into her hands. ‘I’m going to kill her, I’m actually going to kill her.’

‘Who?’

Tori looked up at him, her cheeks burning red with embarrassment. ‘Your lovely aunt Agatha.’

Pennies started to drop into place. ‘She had something to do with the tattoo?’

‘I stupidly agreed that she could choose my tattoo, I don’t know why. I just thought it would make her happy. I figured it was on my back, no one would see it and it would wash off in a few weeks so where was the harm. She wouldn’t let me see it when it was finished, and I couldn’t see it properly when I got out the shower tonight, I just thought it was a heart with patterns inside. Oh my god, I cannot believe I have your face tattooed on my back. I’m going to kill her.’

Aidan stared at her and then burst out laughing. He offered out his hand and pulled Tori to her feet. ‘She really is going all out to get us together, isn’t she?’

‘Yes, it would break her heart if we actually hated each other.’

‘I’ve been thinking about that. Her whole plan hinges on that she has predicted we will get married to each other. What if we were to show interest in someone else instead? You could perhaps go on a fake date with Leo or Jamie,’ Aidan said, bending down and picking up her hoodie and passing it back to her.

‘Oh god, she would die, her best laid plans unravelling right before her eyes. Though I can’t see Leo agreeing to that and I’m not sure Melody would be too happy if I went on a date with Jamie. I do like that idea though.’

‘Leo has quite the mischievous streak; well he used to. He’s been way too serious over the last year. I suppose losing your best friend does that to you. But he’s always loved winding Agatha up – even as a child he used to love playing practical jokes on her. Maybe this would be a good thing for him too.’

‘OK, we’ll ask him. Although none of this will be necessary once I kill her for this ridiculous tattoo. What was she thinking? Did she really think that you would be impressed by it?’

‘I was a little freaked out if I’m honest. I’m very relieved that this wasn’t your choice.’

‘Believe me, this is a million miles from what I would choose. I was thinking I might go for a dragon, not the face of a man I’ve just met. That’s creepy. I’m going to go back and get it covered tomorrow. I can’t walk around with your face on my back for the next few weeks. Someone is bound to see it.’

‘The villagers would love this.’

‘No one needs to know,’ Tori said, panic starting to show in her eyes.

‘If Agatha has her way, I’m sure half the village already knows,’ Aidan said.

Tori groaned, and he felt sorry for her. She hadn’t been here long enough to put up with this crap from his aunt. He pulled her into a hug and held her against him.

‘Hey, when we get married, this will be one of those funny stories we tell our kids or tell people when they ask how we met.’

She laughed and pulled out of his arms. ‘I don’t think I can ever marry you, I couldn’t bear the smug satisfaction from Agatha that she was right. I’m going to carry on picking fruit now before my cheeks match the colour of the heartberries. We’ll just pretend that none of this ever happened.’

‘OK, agreed.’

He watched her turn back to the bushes and start picking berries again. He wanted to make this OK for her and he had an idea of how he could do that.

---

‘So beautiful,’ Tori said, as she lay back on the picnic blanket and stared at the millions of stars twinkling from the inky sky.

After the incident with the bat, they had carried on working until two o’clock, clearing four out of the six rows between them. They had taken a break and had spent it kissing, eating and kissing some more.

‘I agree,’ Aidan said.

She glanced over at him and realised he was staring at her and not the stars.

‘Smooth,’ she laughed, rolling over on top of him.

He wrapped his arms around her, holding her against him. She stared down at him. This felt so comfortable and so right. Lying here with him, it felt like they had been doing this for years.

She frowned slightly. Things seem to be moving so fast between them, well, they were for her. She meant what she’d said earlier after they’d kissed. She could definitely see herself falling in love with Aidan Jackson and that worried her. Because, in reality, what kind of future could they have together, two people who didn’t want any kind of relationship for fear of getting hurt again? Could she really put her past behind her and let herself fall in love again? What if he didn’t return her feelings? What if he let her down? Love hurts, and she had spent most of her life trying to avoid it. Could her relationship with Aidan be that different? And what if they both managed to get past their fears and make a go of it? Could it really work? She lived in London, he lived in the most westerly corner of the UK. It was crazy to get involved with him. The sensible part of her head was screaming at her to untangle herself from this mess before her feelings grew any deeper, but her heart was loving the way he was looking at her right now, the way he was stroking his hand through her hair and his kiss which was not like anything she’d ever experienced before.

She sighed because right now her heart was in charge and she just couldn’t walk away from him.

He stroked his hand down her cheek, running his thumb across her lips as he stared at her with complete adoration. ‘What’s going on in that beautiful brain of yours?’

‘Nothing.’

‘I doubt that. Your mind is constantly buzzing and for the last few minutes you’ve had a frown and this sadness in your eyes.’

‘Just… thinking about us.’

‘Ah, I see. Want to slow things down?’

‘No,’ Tori said immediately, her heart speaking for her. She bent her head and kissed him, and he slid his hand round her neck to cup her head. He kissed her back, slowly, leisurely, as if he had all the time in the world and not just a few weeks before things would come to an end between them. ‘I’m just worried about… tomorrow.’

‘I’m pretty sure that tomorrow I will still feel the same way as I do now, that I’ll still want to kiss you and I’ll still be imagining doing dirty wicked things to you.’

Tori laughed. ‘I meant the future.’

‘Oh, I see.’ He smiled because he’d known exactly what she meant. ‘In my experience, it’s better to enjoy today and worry about tomorrow when it arrives.’

‘And that approach works for you, does it?’

‘It’s working out for me just fine right now. There’s no point in worrying about what might happen. Worrying isn’t going to change that.’

‘I like to be prepared.’

He smiled. ‘And where’s the fun in that?’

She grinned because he was so right and, for this holiday at least, she had promised herself she would take the fun path.

‘Look, we have something special here, you know that,’ Aidan said. ‘And the only way we can tell if what we have is worth fighting for is to enjoy this for the next few weeks. If it turns out to be nothing, then we would have had an amazing few weeks and you leave here with some happy memories. If it’s something more… well, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.’

She looked down at him and something inside her said he was worth the risk. It was probably her foolish heart but, right here in his arms, she was enjoying where her heart had taken her too much to listen to her head. She bent her head to kiss him again.

‘OK,’ she whispered against his lips.

He rolled her, so he was pinning her to the ground. ‘Good, now let me show you all my dirty plans for you.’

She laughed. ‘Sadly, we have berries to pick.’

He groaned. ‘I can’t believe you’re choosing berries over hot sex.’

Her heart leapt at the thought of sleeping with him, but she wasn’t sure if she was ready for that yet.

‘I think we’ll save the hot sex for that elusive tomorrow. As you said, we should enjoy today, which means right now we have berry-picking to do and we’ll deal with tomorrow when it comes.’

She pushed him off her and he let her up.

‘Well, we have about two hours until sunrise so we’re technically already in tomorrow.’

‘Still no sex.’

‘Damn it.’ Aidan got up and she helped him to pack away the picnic.

‘Whenever we do, it’ll be all the more amazing because we waited for the right time,’ Tori said, not entirely sure she believed that or why she was waiting or when exactly the right time would be.

He snagged her around the waist and held her against him, kissing her briefly on the lips. ‘I have no doubt it’s going to be amazing. Whenever you’re ready.’

She smiled. ‘Maybe tomorrow.’

His eyebrows shot up. ‘The elusive tomorrow, or the real tomorrow?’

She pulled out of his arms and walked back towards the rows of heartberries. ‘You’ll have to wait and see.’