Page 52 of The Cosy Travelling Christmas Shop

‘Damn, I’ve just realised the time. I’d better get a move on,’ Seren said, jumping to her feet and yanking her coat off the back of the chair.

‘Right.’ Daniel was abruptly all business. Although he would have liked nothing better than to spend the rest of the day with her, Seren had a job to go to and he didn’t want to make her late.

He drove her back as quickly as he dared, all the while sneaking little glances at her out of the corner of his eye. More often than not he caught her doing the same thing, and when their eyes met he gave her a tender, tentative smile, which she returned, making him tingle and setting his pulse racing.

When he turned the truck into her street, Seren said, ‘Do you mind taking me straight around the back? I’ll shove these bags in the shed and then I must dash.’

Daniel didn’t mind at all. ‘Would you like me to wait for you to change into your staff uniform and pop you into work?’ he offered.

‘Aw, that’s so sweet of you, but I’m sure you’ve got things to do. It’s only a ten-minute walk,’ she added.

He didn’t have anything else to do, but he didn’t say that, not wanting to push it. He’d made enough progress with her for one day. ‘OK. I’ll see you Friday?’

‘Friday,’ she agreed, stuffing the last bag in through the open shed door. Then she hesitated.

Suddenly it felt awkward, and Daniel wondered if she expected to be kissed, or whether he should even try.

He plumped for being honest instead. ‘I’d like to kiss you, but I want to do it properly and not rush it.’ He let out a breath. ‘Besides, I’ve got a horrible feeling that if I start kissing you I might never stop, so you’d better go inside before I take you in my arms and—’

She stopped his words with a swift kiss on the lips.

Then she dashed off up the path, leaving him staring after her with a stupid grin on his face.

Oh, boy, if that was what a quick brush of her mouth could do to him, imagine how he’d be after a full-blown kiss.

Daniel drove all the way home imagining precisely that, and by the time he arrived at his house he knew one thing – he was smitten, and he couldn’t wait to see her again.

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