Page 34 of Love in the Air at The Cornish Bakery

Chapter Seventeen

Leaning her elbowson the bar, Nina watched as Rowan finished serving one of the regulars. Judging by the way he interacted with them, if she hadn’t known better, she would have assumed he’d worked at the pub for years.

With the customers heading to their table, Rowan turned around and called through the doorway behind the bar, ‘Gerald, I’m heading out on my break now.’

Nina slipped off her barstool and pulled on her coat.

‘Sorry about that. Where shall we go?’ Grabbing his coat, he shrugged into it.

‘How about Daisy and Ollie’s restaurant? Elsie said they serve cream teas now.’ Nina yawned.

‘A cream tea sounds yummy.’ Lifting the bar hatch, he walked across to her and drew her in for a hug, kissing her on the forehead. ‘You look tired.’

‘I’m okay. We’ve just had a busy day at the bakery.’ She shrugged. She was always tired. She was used to being tired.

‘You’re not sleeping properly, are you? You’ve got that tired look you always got when things got stressful at work, and you couldn’t sleep. I’ve noticed you’ve been like it since seeing you again here.’ Laying his arm across her shoulder, he pushed open the pub door, and they braced themselves for the drop in the temperature.

‘I just have a bit of trouble sleeping nowadays. I cope.’ Zipping her coat up, she wrapped her arm around Rowan’s waist as they began walking down the hill.

‘Did it start after you were burgled?’

Frowning, she looked across at him. ‘Yes, how did you guess?’

He shrugged and pulled her towards him slightly. ‘Just a lucky guess. Look, why don’t you sleep round here tonight? We can watch films and relax on the sofa. You can fall asleep in front of the TV. You might be able to get a good night’s sleep that way. I can stay awake.’

‘Aw, you’d do that for me?’

‘Stay awake all night? Of course I would.’

‘Thanks, but I’ll survive. I can’t ask you to do that.’ She smiled, her grip around his waist tightening.

‘You’re not asking. I’m offering.’ He shrugged. ‘Think about it. The offer’s there.’

‘Thank you.’ Pausing, she turned to him and gently laid her hands against his cheeks, pulling him towards her. ‘I really do love you, Rowan.’

‘I love you too.’

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