Page 52 of Love in the Air at The Cornish Bakery

‘You know what I mean. You’ve wanted to travel since forever. You always spoke about it when we were together before, and you were travelling when you ended up here. Travelling is in your bones. And that job is literally perfect for you.’

‘Maybe it was. Once, but not now.’ He shifted position. ‘I applied when I first arrived here, but since then I’ve fallen in love with the bay, the people, you again. And the need to travel just isn’t there anymore. I don’t want to give all this up. I’ve loved every second I’ve spent here, and I want to settle down here. I wantusto settle down here. Travelling might be fun, but the way I see it is why take a chance on the unknown when I’m so happy here. I’ve made friends, good friends. I’m thinking about starting my own business and I just want to see what my future holds here.’

‘So, you’re not just turning it down because I’ve turned up. Because that’s a huge amount of pressure on me, if it is.’ She chewed her bottom lip.

‘No, I’m not. I was thinking about turning the job down before you’d even turned up in the bay. You’re the icing on the cake, so to speak.’ He stood up and knelt down in front of her. ‘I’m not saying I wouldn’t have turned down the job for you, I would have done. That, or asked you to come with me, but things just feel so right here now that you’ve walked back into my life.’

‘And you’re not just saying that, so I don’t feel like I’m holding you back?’

‘No, I’m not.’

‘Then why did you still have the letter there in the kitchen?’ She frowned. She wanted to believe him.

Looking away, he blushed. ‘Now, that is a bit embarrassing. I kept it to prove to myself that I could get a job like that.’

‘Oh, okay. That’s not embarrassing.’

‘It is a little. I’ve started writing a blog about the places I visited here in the UK. I’m hoping to be able to earn money from it eventually and, if it goes well, to travel to other places to feature in the blog. I want to focus on the UK, though. I want to have a base, and I want Penworth Bay to be my base.Ourbase.’

‘I love the sound of that.’

‘I love you.’ Cupping her cheeks, he leaned forward.

Holding the back of his neck, Nina pulled him closer, their lips touching, his warmth transferring to hers.

‘You’re freezing. Budge up.’ Chuckling, he squeezed in next to her and wrapped his arms around her.

‘Thanks!’ Laughing, she leaned her head against his shoulder and closed her eyes. Life was pretty perfect.

Chapter Twenty Six

‘Can you take thesein please, love?’ Elsie passed Nina two jars of mint sauce and a salt and pepper shaker. ‘Can you manage them all?’

‘Yep, I’ve got them.’ Pushing the kitchen door open with her hip, Nina paused and took in the sight in front of her. So, this was one of Elsie’s famous bakery family dinners she’d heard so much about. Tables from the coffee and cake area had been pushed together and covered with tablecloths to make one long table reaching from the bakery counter all the way across the bakery to the display of wedding cakes.

Everyone she now called her friends and family were there. Brooke and Max stood talking to Chris, Freya, Olivia, and Scott by the front door. Jessie, Simon, Molly, Jude, Gemma, and Matt had taken up one end of the table. Carrie, Daniel, Lauren, Charlie, Heidi, and Liam were laughing over something as they gathered around Charlie’s mobile phone. Diane, Daisy, Ollie, Ian, Teresa, Gavin and Rowan were looking over paint sample swatches Daisy and Ollie were thinking about decorating their nursery with. Harry, Wendy and Connor were sitting in a circle on the floor with Wendy’s son, Hudson, and Teresa’s sons, Rueben and Toby, while Teresa’s daughter, Pippa, ran around the circle pretending to be some sort of jumping, magical creature.

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