Page 20 of Promises & Petals in Nettleford-on-the-Wold
Pushing herself away from the sink, she turned to the door.
Chapter Fourteen
After pulling the lid off the dog food can, Hannah looked down at Alfie, who was on his hind legs, pawing at her legs. ‘One moment, it’s coming.’
The small dog barked, his eyes trained on Hannah’s every move.
‘Hey, I’m going as fast as I can.’ Laughing, Hannah spooned out the slimy mixture into a bowl before lowering it to the kitchen floor where Alfie dived straight in and began guzzling it. After placing the empty can in the sink, she leaned against the work surface. She hadn’t seen josh yet today, in fact she’d tried her utmost to stay out of the cottage and away from where he and Freddie were working as best she could, she’d only come inside because Alfie had been begging for food despite it not being five o’clock yet, and she’d realised she’d left the cans in the cottage kitchen.
Still, hopefully she could run out again before either of them came downstairs and realised she was there. After spending the last few days cleaning the cottage, her website design work had mounted up, and she’d needed to spend the day on the laptop anyway, so that’s what she’d been doing, she’d holed herself up in the caravan working.
‘Are you done yet, Alfie?’ she laughed as he tilted his head up towards her with a dribble of gravy running down his chin. Leaning back against the work surface, she listened to Josh and Freddie chatting above the clatter of whatever they were working on. She couldn’t hear what they were saying, but judging by their tones, they seemed to get on well. Had Freddie been one of his mates from school? She didn’t remember the name, but then she’d always been so hyper-focused on Josh that she probably hadn’t given most of his mates a second glance.
She shook her head at herself. She needed to just get over this Josh infatuation she had. She was in her thirties now; she was no longer that hormone-drenched teenager who couldn’t help who she was attracted to. She was a grown woman, and Josh was Sophie’s brother. A line she’d never cross, and she was certain Josh wouldn’t either. Besides, for all she knew, he wasn’t single. Sophie had spoken about the ex of his who had lived in London, but just because she hadn’t mentioned anyone else, it didn’t mean there hadn’t been or wasn’t.
Looking down, she realised Alfie had hoovered up the rest of the food. ‘Come on then, let’s get back to the caravan.’
As she walked back outside and through the garden, she tapped her back pocket, ready to pull her mobile out, only to realise she must have left it back in the cottage kitchen. She opened the caravan door and ushered Alfie inside. ‘You go and have your after-dinner nap while I run and grab my phone.’
As she walked back inside, she heard the ping of a message. That would be Gemma. She’d said she’d pop round for a cuppa this evening. Hopefully, the message would be confirming a time rather than telling her she couldn’t make it. Picking up her phone from the work surface, Hannah scrolled through to the messages. Just as she opened it to read, someone cleared their throat behind her, and she spun around to see Freddie. ‘Hi, do you need more coffee?’
Freddie nodded and held out his mug towards her. ‘Coffee sounds good.’
‘Thanks.’ Hannah reached out and wrapped her hand around the mug, frowning when he didn’t let go. He smiled and raised an eyebrow as he moved his fingers so they were touching hers. ‘Give me your mug and I can make you a coffee.’
‘Maybe we should go out for a real coffee one day, what do you say?’
Dropping her hand to her side, Hannah felt her cheeks redden. Hadn’t she already heard Josh warn him off her? Not that he’d had any right to do so, but if Freddie had listened to him, at least it would have saved the awkwardness. ‘Err... I’m just super busy at the moment. Sorry.’
‘Next week then?’ Freddie continued to smile, unperturbed by her brush-off.
‘You heard her. She doesn’t want to.’ Josh’s voice filled the small kitchen.
Jerking her head towards him, Hannah watched as Josh crossed his arms before leaning against the doorframe, seemingly in no rush to leave after he’d admonished his workmate.
‘You can’t blame a bloke for trying.’ Josh shrugged and turned his attention back to Hannah.
‘Anyway, you can get off now, Freddie. We’re done for the day.’ Josh’s voice was clipped as he spoke.
‘Great.’ Nodding, Josh lowered his mug to the work surface before looking pointedly at Hannah. ‘Let me know if you change your mind.’
‘Bye, Freddie.’ Josh watched as Freddie sighed and turned to leave. Once the front door had clicked shut behind him, Josh visibly relaxed. ‘I’m sorry you were put in that position.’
‘It’s not your fault.’ Hannah shoved her hands in her pockets, suddenly irritated by his interference. Not that she couldexplain why she suddenly felt annoyed that he’d stepped in. She’d usually assume he was being protective because she was Sophie’s friend, but she wasn’t that young schoolgirl anymore; she could look after herself. He didn’t want her, so no one else should be able to. What did he think of her? That she couldn’t tell him she didn’t want to go for a damn coffee? ‘In fact, I didn’t need you to jump in. I am capable of making my own mind up, thanks.’
‘You want to go for coffee with him?’ Straightening his back, he began to walk towards the front door. ‘I’ll just tell him that, shall I?’
‘What? No! But why did you warn him off me? The other day and then again just now?’
Walking back towards her, Josh looked down at the floor before catching her gaze. ‘You overheard me warning him off you?’
Hannah nodded. She was certain her face must be the deepest possible shade of crimson right about now. Why had she said anything? ‘I wasn’t eavesdropping. I just... You two talk loud, that’s all.’
A small smile fleetingly flashed across his features before he took a deep breath in. ‘He’s on all these dating apps and he has dates all the time. I didn’t want you becoming another statistic in his dating diary.’
And just like that, all annoyance and irritation left her body, leaving her with a warm and fuzzy feeling she’d been trying so hard to push away.
‘You don’t deserve that. You deserve so much better.’
