Tori walked up the drive to Aidan’s farmhouse later that afternoon.

Between her, Aidan, Jamie and Melody, they had carefully relocated Beauty and the puppies to the lounge of Blossom Cottage. Beast had gone backwards and forwards to the shed making sure all the puppies had been brought into the house before settling down next to Beauty. But as soon as the dogs were comfortable, Aidan had left, citing that he had work to do. Tori knew that was true, but she still sensed that it had more to do with their conversation earlier in the shed.

Instead of meeting on the beach as planned, Isla and Elliot had come round and Elliot couldn’t have been happier, playing with and hugging all the puppies. She had spent a few hours with them, all the time thinking about Aidan and what she wanted to say to him. She still had no clue.

She knocked on his door and a few moments later he answered. His face softened as soon as he saw her, and he reached out for her briefly before he let his hand fall at his side.

‘I never said I thought what we had was meaningless, I was asking if you thought it was meaningless,’ Tori said, quickly.

He stared at her. ‘Oh.’

‘Look, I have no idea what is going to happen when I leave here, and I understand you don’t want to talk about it. But you have made me ridiculously happy these last few days, there is definitely nothing meaningless about this.’

He reached out and took her hand. ‘I’m sorry.’

‘Don’t be,’ she said.

‘This is something special, and I know this will probably never end in marriage and two kids—’

‘Five,’ Tori interrupted.

‘Five kids?’

‘That’s what Agatha has predicted,’ Tori said, wanting to lighten the mood, though she knew she was just trying to cover over the tension rather than deal with it.

Aidan laughed. ‘OK, it probably won’t end in marriage and five kids, but no matter what happens, you need to know that this is… something,’ he said.

‘I know.’

She looked down at his hand in hers and sighed with relief. She looked up and noticed he had a red blobby stain on his chest.

‘You have jam on your shirt,’ Tori said and reached out to wipe it off but just ended up smearing it over his shirt.

He watched her intently as her hand moved across his chest. He was so hard and strong and suddenly all thoughts of removing the jam scattered from her brain. She smoothed her hand over his muscles and slowly down his belly towards the top of his jeans. She brought her other hand to join the first, caressing and stroking him through his shirt.

He cleared his throat. ‘What are you doing?’

‘I have no idea but I’m enjoying myself,’ Tori said.

As she continued to stroke him, tracing his muscles through his shirt, Aidan pulled her inside and closed the door.

‘What are you doing?’ Tori asked.

‘I’m going to enjoy myself too,’ Aidan said. Bending, he threw her over his shoulder.

She squealed as he carried her up the stairs to his bedroom. He threw her down on the bed.

She laughed as he bent over her and kissed her hard. ‘What are you doing? Do you think you can just throw me over your shoulder, carry me to your bedroom and make love to me?’

‘That’s exactly what I think.’ He placed a soft kiss on her neck, sending goosebumps right across her body.

‘I’m not sleeping with you,’ Tori said, undoing the buttons on his shirt. ‘Urgh, I don’t find you attractive at all. Your elbows are too lumpy and don’t even get me started on your knees.’ She ran her hands across his wonderful warm chest and wrestled the shirt from him completely. God, he was magnificent.

‘If we’re not sleeping together, why are you undressing me?’ Aidan said, kissing at the very base of her neck, seemingly not perturbed at all by her slur on his looks.

‘You have jam on your shirt, I’m just helping you out of it. Don’t want to get jam on your nice clean sheets.’

‘No, of course not,’ Aidan said, popping the button of her shorts and then pulling down the zip. ‘You have jam on your shorts too.’

‘I do? How careless of me,’ Tori said, lifting her bum so he could tug down her shorts. It seemed she had jam on her knickers as well as they were quickly removed along with the shorts. ‘I’m pretty sure I have jam on my bra as well.’

‘Let me check,’ Aidan said, tugging her t-shirt over her head and throwing it across the room as she undid his jeans and pushed them down his thighs. ‘Ah yes, you do.’ He quickly divested her of her bra, so she was naked underneath him. ‘And jam on your breasts.’

He bent his head and kissed her breast, licking across her nipple, sending sensations of pleasure shooting through her body. She cried out, grasping the back of his head as she arched against him. He moved his hand between her legs, stroking at the very top of her thighs. Her orgasm came so fast and hard, it left her breathless, and he kissed her, catching her gasps on his lips.

He pulled back and wrestled himself out of his jeans and tight black shorts.

‘Condoms,’ she breathed.

‘Top drawer.’

She quickly leaned over and yanked the drawer open, grabbing a handful and tossing them back on the bed.

‘Though I have to ask, if we’re not sleeping together, why we need condoms?’ Aidan said, picking one up.

‘Well, better to be safe, now we’re both naked. I wouldn’t want you accidentally falling inside me.’

Aidan chuckled. ‘That would be very careless. And seven condoms?’

‘Just in case you’re feeling particularly clumsy. It might happen again and again.’

‘That would be terrible.’

‘God yes, awful.’

She watched him slide the condom on and her eyes widened as she realised how ready he was for this.

She quickly sat up, pushing him on his back and straddling him. A second later he was deep inside her.

He groaned, and moved his hands to her hips. ‘Careless.’

‘Oops,’ Tori said, resting her hands on his chest as she stared down at him. He felt so amazing. She started to move but he caught her hips and held her steady.

‘Just wait a moment, let me look at you,’ Aidan said. He moved his hands across her ribs, trailing his thumbs across her stomach. He slid his hands over her breasts, caressing her hair through his fingers. ‘Whatever happens between us, I want to remember you like this, sitting on top of me, looking like an absolute goddess. I want to remember the sunlight in your hair, every beautiful freckle on your skin, your cheeks flushed from the orgasm I gave you and the look in your eyes that says you never want to be any place but here. Whatever happens, I want to remember this moment forever.’

‘Oh,’ Tori said, quietly. Right then the humour and silliness faded away and there was just the two of them, caught in this moment. And it was true, there was nowhere else she wanted to be. In her heart, she knew she could never walk away from him.

He stroked his hands back down to her hips, gently urging her to move, but she was frozen there. She had fallen in love with this wonderful, kind and funny man. And what the hell was she going to do about it? That thought was terrifying and wonderful all at once. She had to put the brakes on, lighten the mood somehow, while she digested this.

‘When we get married, when my snoring keeps you awake every night, when I wake up with morning breath and my hair sticking out in every direction like a bush, when my singing in the shower sets your teeth on edge and my tidiness and my ability to burn the simplest meal drives you mad, you can remember this moment.’

She expected him to laugh it off, or at the very least to stop looking at her like she was a queen. But he sat up and cupped her face, kissing her gently.

‘I’m looking forward to it,’ he whispered against her lips. He moved against her, taking control, which she was glad for as she was suddenly incapable of doing anything. ‘You don’t scare me, Tori Graham.’

‘I’ll just be scared for the both of us,’ Tori said.

‘You worry about tomorrow and I’ll take care of today,’ Aidan said.

Emotions bubbled through her, this need for him, this fear of what would happen, sensations of pleasure spiking through her body – it was an overload of so many feelings all at once. Her body started to move, falling in rhythm with him, and for a while she was able to push aside her worries and doubts, and just enjoy the moment.

He wrapped his arms around her, gathering her close so he was deep inside her, and then kissed her sweetly on the forehead.

‘I’ll take care of you,’ he whispered, and it was this tenderness towards her, this feeling of being safe, that sent her over the edge.

---

The day of the boat race arrived with high winds and occasional showers. As Tori and Aidan walked down the drive towards Blossom Cottage, her hair whipped around her face. The storm was due to hit later that night, getting worse in the early hours of the following morning. Because of the supermoon, the tides were at their highest at this time of year and she knew that Aidan was worried, no matter what he said.

They had decided that, as soon as the sun set that day, they would start picking the fruit and work through the night to get as many heartberries as possible. Over half the field had already been harvested but that meant that they still had half the field to lose if the storm turned really bad that night.

It would sadly mean they would miss a lot of the festivities that night. Aidan had suggested she could go to the festival instead, but the heartberries were very important to him and the villagers and she couldn’t let him pick them alone just so she could enjoy some fireworks.

She glanced over at him and saw the frown on his face. There was nothing they really could do now. She had suggested they started picking the fruit that day instead of going to the boat race, but Aidan had insisted they needed to be picked at night. So, she would just have to keep his mind off things until they could get back to the heartberry field later that evening.

‘I wonder how the puppy-sitting went last night for Jamie and Melody,’ Tori said. ‘Melody said the puppies would need feeding every two to three hours, so I don’t imagine they got a lot of sleep.’

Aidan looked at her and smiled. ‘Are you trying to set Jamie and Melody up by getting them to look after the puppies together?’

Tori smiled. ‘Maybe.’

‘You can’t push two people together, it will either happen or it won’t. Interfering might be more of a hindrance than a help,’ Aidan said.

‘I don’t know, a little bit of a nudge didn’t seem to do us any harm,’ Tori said, squeezing his hand. Would they have got together if his aunt hadn’t been so insistent? Maybe she owed Agatha a bit more gratitude. ‘You know your brother better than I do, does he have feelings for Melody?’

Aidan was silent for a moment. ‘I think I’d better plead the fifth on that one.’

Tori laughed.

‘Does Melody have feelings for Jamie?’ Aidan asked.

‘Oh, look, a squirrel,’ Tori pointed wildly into the trees and he laughed.

‘Nice change of subject.’

‘Well, let’s see how well they got on last night,’ she said.

She opened the door quietly, not wanting to frighten Beauty or the puppies and just in case Jamie or Melody were asleep.

She stepped into the lounge and Aidan followed her. She smiled.

Jamie and Melody were fast asleep on the sofa, his arm around her shoulder, her head on his chest and three tiny bundles of fur on their laps.

‘It seems they had a very good night together,’ Tori whispered, unable to keep the smile from her face. Maybe this would be just the nudge they needed to get them together or at least start the ball rolling.

‘Maybe we should take over the morning feed, let them sleep a little while,’ Aidan whispered.

Tori nodded.

She looked over at Beauty and saw she looked a lot more awake today. All the puppies were currently sleeping, and Beast was dozing, keeping one eye on his children.

Tori gently picked up the empty bottles and Aidan followed her into the kitchen. He set about getting bowls of food ready for Beauty and Beast while she made the milk bottles up for the three smallest puppies.

She walked back into the lounge and scooped up one of the tiny puppies. Aidan put the bowls of food and water on the floor and then picked up another puppy.

As Jamie and Melody had the sofa, Tori and Aidan sat down on the floor and started feeding the puppies. There was something undeniably sweet and achingly endearing about feeding newborn puppies, their tiny bellies getting fat with warm milk.

Melody shifted slightly in her sleep and Jamie instinctively pulled her closer to him as he carried on sleeping himself. Tori couldn’t help grinning and Aidan smiled too.

‘OK, maybe a tiny bit of meddling doesn’t hurt,’ Aidan whispered.

Melody stirred and opened her eyes sleepily. She looked up at Jamie just as he woke and looked down at her. For just a moment, they were aware only of each other and the look of adoration that passed between them was unmistakable before they suddenly realised where they were and that they had an audience.

Jamie straightened, realised his arm was around Melody’s shoulders and quickly removed it.

Melody looked embarrassed as she stood up.

Tori passed her the third bottle to try to cover up the embarrassing moment.

‘We’ve only fed these two. Little Spike over there still needs a bottle,’ Tori said, pointing to the tiny puppy whose fur was sticking up around its ears.

Melody quickly scooped it up and focussed all her attention on feeding it and Jamie went to check on the other puppies.

Tori sighed as she watched the two of them almost pretend the other didn’t exist. Maybe an afternoon at the Heartberry Love Festival would be just what they needed.