Page 39 of A Little Love Song in Seabury
‘All for you,’ said Will. ‘Breakfast on the beach. Isn’t that one of the things on your holiday bucket list for this week?’
‘I… how… well yeah!’ she said, struggling to keep a beaming smile off her face. ‘But how did you know?’
‘Ah, well I may have phoned a friend on that one, I’m afraid,’ said Will, running his fingers through his hair. ‘Sorry,’ he added quickly.
‘Of all the things to apologise for, this isn’t one of them,’ said Leah, giving his arm a little squeeze.
‘Ready for breakfast, then?’ said Will.
Leah nodded. ‘May I?’ she said, nodding to the basket.
‘Go wild!’ said Will with a smile.
The difficult bit was still to come, but right now he wanted to bask in that beautiful smile on Leah’s face. Because, for once, he’d been responsible for putting it there… instead of making it disappear.
CHAPTER 14
LEAH
Leah’s head was spinning. She felt like she’d somehow managed to get wedged inside a dream, and that any moment she’d wake up back in Doris’s flat—all alone, with nothing but the long, lonely journey back to London ahead of her.
This couldn’t be real, could it? She simply couldn’t wrap her head around the fact that Will had gone from his double-whammy grumpy retreat from her just yesterday, to being present, attentive and seemingly hell-bent on making her dreams come true today.
Leah frowned and nibbled on the toasted bagel in her hand. It was packed with cream cheese, smoked salmon, the freshest salad leaves and a hint of lemon. It was possibly the most decadent breakfast she’d ever had.
Shifting her weight slightly on the feather-soft cushion, Leah stared at the waves as they lapped gently at the golden sand.
‘Would you like more coffee?’ said Will.
‘I’m okay for now,’ said Leah. ‘Thanks.’
Will nodded, taking a sip of his own drink.
Leah let out a little sigh. She wished they could get back to the easy-ish banter they’d started to rediscover in the car andon the short walk to the beach. The minute they’d sat on the cushions, a wall had suddenly appeared between them. It felt like they were both waiting for something… she just wasn’t sure what.
Hadn’t Will said something about grovelling? Maybe he was nervous… or maybe there was more to this than a simple apology.
Urgh, shut up, brain.
Leah glanced at the remaining few bites of her bagel, but her appetite had deserted her. She set it down on the fine china plate and grabbed a linen napkin to wipe her fingers.
‘You okay?’ said Will, lifting his eyebrows in concern.
‘Yeah, just… full,’ she said.
Her mouth was dry, and her stomach was turning over with nerves. She picked up her coffee cup and took a restorative sip. As wonderful as this surprise was, part of her wished that she’d managed to make a break for it and get out of Seabury before Will had turned up at her door.
Having breakfast with him wasn’t going to change anything, was it? Sure, they might manage to clear the air a bit…ifthey actually spoke to each other instead of just sitting and staring at the sea.
Ultimately, though, she was still going to resign. Ultimately, she wasn’t going to tell Will she loved him. Ultimately, her life as she knew it was going to be over.
Leah coughed as her throat tightened with emotion, and she set her cup down again. Her fight-or-flight instinct was starting to rear up, and considering she was basically a hostage on this beautiful beach because Will still had possession of the car keys, her only option was to fight.
‘Didn’t you say you had some grovelling to do?’ she bit out.
Will blinked at her in surprise, and Leah instantly wanted to run away… or bury her head in the sand… or somehow,miraculously, find herself about a hundred miles away from this beach.
Leah watched in consternation as a slow smile crept across Will’s gorgeous face.
