Page 79 of Play On

Yes, please,I think with a grin.

I text him back:

I’m up! Just have to take a shower and get ready. I know the perfect place to take you for breakfast, it’s not far from my house. And you can bring Mila, it’s dog-friendly. She can hang out at my house with Petey and Hazel afterwards—I thought we’d spend some time at Wintersmith Hall today. I have so much I want to show you!

I wait for a moment.

Saucy Shorts is typing …

Sounds good. How long do you need? I know getting ready has different interpretations for people.

I smile as I reply:

This Butterfly will be ready by the time you arrive even if you leave now.

Saucy Shorts is typing …

I knew you wouldn’t be the type of woman to take two hours to get ready. But I wouldn’t care if you were. I’d wait.

Can Noah be any more swoony? I respond:

Luckily for you, Saucy Shorts, you don’t have to wait. I’ll be ready and famished by the time you show up. If you’re ready, leave now, and I’ll take you somewhere magnificent for a big breakfast we can tuck in to.

Saucy Shorts is typing …

STOP.

I giggle. I can just see the embarrassed look passing over his gorgeous face whenever he sees “Saucy Shorts” in a text message.

Noah is absolutely adorable.

Sexy.

Vulnerable, sincere, fun, gorgeous …

Okay, if I don’t stop naming off all his attributes, I will not be ready by the time he arrives.

I flick back the duvet and swing my legs over the side. I rise, eager to get ready to meet Noah.

And ready to learn so much more about him.

* * *

“What do you think?” I ask excitedly as we take a seat outdoors. We’ve come to the Green Hill Café, which is set inside an oldstone building perched on top of a hill in a small town in Dorset. Thatch-roofed buildings are nestled all together, with some being homes and others being shopfronts. The streets are made of cobblestones, and it’s utterly charming.

But the most beautiful view is that of the lush Dorset countryside, the hills of rich green sprawling out below us under a brilliant blue sky. The sun is shining, the breeze is warm, and best of all?

I’m sharing it all with Noah.

“I think,” he says as he secures Mila’s lead to our table, “I’m in the middle of a fairy tale. This looks like something out of an old storybook.”

I smile at him. Noah has sunglasses on to shade his eyes, so I can’t see them sparkling back at me, but my instinct tells me they are.

Just as I know mine are dancing back at him.

“One coffee with milk,” the waitress says, placing an oversized ruby-red mug in front of Noah. “And one pot of English breakfast tea.”

We both thank her, and I pour some tea into my mug, which is a sunny shade of yellow, as Noah takes a sip of his coffee.

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