the bubble of excitement growing in her belly, she clutched the pile of clothing in her arms against her chest and grinned. ‘You could turn it into a restaurant. I can just see it! Those wooden floors resealed and buffed to a high shine; a smattering of tables for two with crisp white tablecloths. You could even use the old scoreboard to display the menu.’
His frown shifted into something more thoughtful. ‘It’s not very big.’
‘That’s the point! You could make it something really exclusive, a proper dining experience for discerning customers. Somewhere people go for special occasions. You’d still be on hand to help your folks with the heavy stuff, but you’d have your own baby too.’
His chair skidded back again, and Beth found herself wrapped in a bear hug. ‘That’s bloody brilliant!’ Sam pulled back to look down at her, his blue eyes sparkling. ‘You’re bloody brilliant!’ He smacked a kiss on her lips. The look in his eyes softened, warmed and his head lowered towards hers again.
Time seemed to slow down, as she watched the thick lashes framing his eyes sweep closed, felt the tickle of his exhaled breath tease over her skin and then, finally, the brushed of his lips over hers. Stunned, she waited to see what he’d do next. Waited for him to realise his mistake, to remember who she was—his sister’s best friend.
When she didn’t pull back, he seemed to take her quiescence as permission to kiss her again. A firmer contact which he stepped into and she tilted her head unconsciously to give him better access. Apparently satisfied with the angle, he settled in, fluttering tiny kisses at the corners of her mouth, teasing her lower lip with just the tip of his tongue, withdrawing every time she tried to chase the contact.
A corner of her mind urged her to stop, that there were a million reasons she shouldn’t be letting Sam kiss her, but those objections were cancelled out by the warmth spreading through her, turning her veins to honey, curling her toes and scrambling her brains with the sheer rightness of his lips on hers.
The years fell away, and she was back on the promenade, the wind whipping her hair around her face, giddy from the fresh air and the warm promise of Samuel Barnes stealing the air from her lungs. Letting the bundle of clothes drop to the floor, she wriggled her arms free from between them and threw them around his neck, her fingers diving into the thick, unruly hair at his nape.
A soft groan escaped his throat and he tugged her closer until their bodies were pressed together from shoulder to knee. His hand slid from her back to gather the thick length of her ponytail as he tilted her back, the press of his mouth turning from a request to a demand. She couldn’t think, couldn’t do anything other than whisper his name as she opened for him and his tongue swept in. Her own grip shifted down to his shoulders and she clung to the broad strength in them, her knees threatening to give way.
Breaking for air, Sam’s hot breath ghosted against her cheek. His lips followed, tracing a path to the sensitive skin beneath her ear, sending goose bumps shivering over her skin. ‘Beth?’ The way he said her name was a caress in itself.
‘Yes.’ She didn’t care what he was asking, couldn’t think beyond the racing of her heart, the pulse of need echoing in lower parts of her body.
‘Beth?’ The husky note of seduction was gone, replaced by something closer to disbelief. No, no, no, no, no. His hands released her hair, her hip and the entire front of her body felt a sudden chill as he stepped away. ‘Oh hell, Beth, I’m sorry.’
He looked so shocked, she had to laugh even as she battled against a wave of disappointment and the tingling aftermath of the best kiss of her life. ‘It’s not as though you took advantage of me, Sam. I was right there with you.’
A smile quirked the corner of his mouth. ‘Yeah, you sure were.’
Heat flooded through her at the appreciation in his tone, but he was already turning away from her as he adjusted the belt knotted around the waist of the bathrobe. Spotting his clothes in a heap on the floor, she swept them up and offered them to him when he glanced back at her.
He stretched his arm out to take them, as though he didn’t trust himself to get too close to her again. ‘I…I should probably get dressed.’
‘Okay.’ She spent the time whilst he was in the bathroom giving herself a pep talk. Yes, it had been an amazing kiss, but getting involved with Sam was a singularly bad idea. The emporium needed all of her focus, and if he decided to go forward with the idea to convert the skittle alley, he’d be flat-out as well. They’d never have time to see each other, and if things didn’t work out, or if one or other of them decided against staying in the bay then there was just too much potential fallout. His folks…Eliza, their lives were too intertwined.
Sam rapped his knuckles on the door frame. ‘I’m going to head home, I left Mum on her own behind the bar.’
Drying her hands on a tea towel, she crossed the kitchen to face him. ‘Hey, are we okay?’
He reached out to hook a strand of hair behind her ear. ‘Absolutely.’ His fingers lingered on her cheek. ‘It’s terrible timing—’
Beth pressed a finger against his lips to cut him off. ‘The worst.’
Capturing her hand, he pressed a kiss to her palm. ‘If things were different…’
‘But they’re not.’
‘No, they’re not.’
He was still holding her hand, his thumb tracing distracting circles in her palm. She tugged it free, before she did something stupid. They were doing the right thing, the sensible thing. If she kept telling herself that, she might even believe it. ‘So, are you going to talk to your dad about the skittle alley?’
‘Definitely. Once I’ve had a chance to think it through. I don’t want to rush into it and screw it up. I need to do some costings, maybe give my old boss a call and see what he thinks about it, talk to the bank.’ He sounded hopefully, and whatever regrets she might have about this afternoon, she was thrilled to have been able to give him something to aim for.
‘I don’t have any expertise to offer, but I’m happy to act as a sounding board any time you want.’
Sam tucked his hands into the front pockets of his jeans and took a step back into the hallway. ‘You’ll be bored to death by the time I’m finished.’
‘Never, and besides, I’ll get my own back by talking to you about the qualities of souvenir tea towels.’ They both laughed, and she was relieved to find it was easy between them again. This was what she needed, a shoulder to lean on, a friend to support her who she could support in return. And if she found herself feeling lonely, she could take her old teddy bear to bed.
Sam spent every night for the next week tossing and turning. When he wasn’t thinking about ideas for the skittle alley, he was haunted by images of Beth blinking up at him, her brown eyes blurred with passion, her lips plump from the force of his kisses. Stop it. He’d deliberately avoiding going anywhere near the emporium, a few more days of distance and he’d have everything back under control.
The more he thought about creating a restaurant in the skittle alley beneath the pub, the more excited he was about it. He’d always wanted a place of his own, initially in London, because that’s where most of the
