Jenna smiled at the thought of Finn’s mum telling all her friends about a famous actor popping over for a cuppa. And then sadness washed over her at the memory of the evening she’d spent with Finn and his parents and how it had all been so brief and was now over.
‘Hey, don’t look so sad.’ Finn lifted her chin. ‘Are we good? I don’t want you leaving with us still being on bad terms.’
‘We’re good. I’m just sorry that what we had got ruined over gossip.’
‘What I don’t get is why you didn’t tell me right at the beginning that you weren’t with him in that way? You know, the morning I saw him in the cottage?’
‘I tried to but you were adamant that he was my boyfriend. He was walking round the cottage naked – I totally understand how you could jump to conclusions. I figured me trying to deny things further would make me seem guiltier. Except I had nothing to be guilty about. It’s not like we were actually together.’
‘But did you want us to be?’ His hands tensed in hers. ‘Do you want us to be?’
His words hung heavy in the brightness of the morning.
‘That weekend we had together, you know, before that bloody magazine article, was the best couple of days of this summer.’ She wiped away a tear from her cheek. ‘I live hundreds of miles away from you, Finn, my whole life, most of the work I do is in London... I don’t know how we could work...’
He put a finger to her lips. ‘But if it wasn’t for that. If there weren’t any obstacles...’
‘Then I’d be with you in a heartbeat.’
His grin said it all.
‘Do you have to go today?’
‘I’ve got an audition in London on Monday.’
‘But that’s Monday. You could go tomorrow instead...’
His blue eyes didn’t move from hers. One more day. One more night. One night with Finn. Jenna swallowed; heat flushing the top of her chest. Wouldn’t that make it even harder to leave tomorrow? She knew she was overthinking, like she’d been overthinking everything for the last couple of weeks, getting herself into a mess emotionally. But it was also only ten in the morning. They had the rest of the day together, so why rush back.
She stood on tiptoes and closed the distance between them with a kiss. He kissed her back, wrapping his arms around her until she was cocooned in his embrace. The sun warmed them both. Those butterflies Lily had talked about in the pub the other evening were back, along with the desire to stay wrapped in his arms forever.
Jenna took his hand and led him inside, past the kitchen table with the bottle, chocolates, and the card for him that was no longer needed. She’d been staying in the cottage long enough to know where all the creaks were as she led him upstairs. Her heart beat faster as they reached the landing, now a peaceful uncluttered space. The walls were a calming fern-green and there was a comfy armchair by the window that looked out over the garden and the wood.
Her room was finished too with a deep sunshine-yellow on the walls. The old wrought iron bed had a new mattress and a colourful bedspread which injected warmth into the room unlike the first time she’d walked in here, when the place looked sad and grey. It was as much Finn’s room as it was hers; he’d repaired the cracks in the walls, repapered and painted, sanded the floors and stained them. There were still finishing touches to do, things to buy like a rug and new curtains to replace the faded flowery ones, but that would happen in good time.
The bedsprings groaned as they tumbled on to the bed together. Jenna kicked off her shoes and pulled Finn’s T-shirt over his head, and he kissed her while helping her to wriggle out of her skirt.
‘I’ve been dreaming about this moment all summer,’ Finn said. His hands explored her body, his lips kissing her neck and the top of her chest. He unhooked her bra with one hand and grinned. She ran her fingers slowly across his chest, tracing the outline of his tattoos, down to the defined muscles of his stomach until her hand reached the button of his shorts.
Jenna had dreamt of this moment too, the perfect end to her summer.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Leicester Square was bathed in light, from the restaurants and bars, the cinemas and street lights, and it made no difference that it was an overcast autumnal evening. A sea of people clutched their mobiles as they stood waiting behind barriers lining the square outside the Odeon. Milo Blake’s handsome face beamed down over the square from the poster above the entrance, a 1940s fighter plane in the sky above him, the backdrop a Cornish setting.
Jenna was blinded by flashes from the photographers as she slowly made her way down the red carpet. People shouted her name in an attempt to get her to look their way. The nervous fluttering in her stomach intensified with each photo taken, and each autograph she signed. Up ahead she spied Milo charming the crowd, happy to take selfies with adoring fans. Heidi was not far behind him, lapping up the attention, a star in her own right after the year she’d had. Timothy was signing autographs further down the red carpet. It was a bizarre set-up they had, but one that was seemingly profitable for them all.
Jenna squeezed Finn’s arm tighter and he squeezed her back. If she felt this nervous in front of all these people and the bank of photographers, she could only imagine how nervous he was. He didn’t show it
