Read Online Wish Upon a Christmas Cake by Darcie Boleyn - Free Book Online Page B

light-grey sweater and a pair of bulky black Caterpillar boots. (I have a thing for boots like that. They remind me of workmen on a building site, all manly and full of testosterone. I always think that men wearing that type of footwear must be big enough and strong enough to appreciate a full-bodied woman like me.) Sam’s fitted jeans showed off wide shapely thighs a rugby player would be proud of, and his sweater did nothing but draw my attention to the rippling muscles underneath. I sighed inwardly; there was no way that anything could ever happen between us again…
was there
?
    ‘Bacon!’ I blurted out.
    ‘Sorry?’ He was so close now that I could enjoy his scent. Fresh citrus shower gel mingled with something deeper and sexier like cloves and cinnamon. I closed my eyes and licked my lips.
    ‘Daddy, why is Katie sleeping standing up?’ I blinked quickly and my cheeks flushed.
Ooops!
    ‘She’s just a bit tired this morning, Holly,’ Sam said to the tiny person at his side.
    ‘I thought she was after a kiss under the mistletoe,’ Jack said as he pointed to the previously unnoticed greenery above our heads. Who had put that there?
    ‘Well I’d hate to disappoint a lady.’ Sam grinned at me and my insides somersaulted. He wasn’t serious?
    ‘Go on then Daddy.’ Holly shook Sam’s hand. ‘Kiss her.’
    ‘Katie?’ Sam raised his eyebrows and released his children’s hands. He leaned forwards and whispered in my ear, ‘I guess it couldn’t hurt.’
    What choice did we have? It would look strange now if I refused. I had no choice. Really.
    I took a step closer to him and gazed into his eyes. They were so warm and inviting that I could have written a romance novel about them. He raised his hands and cupped my cheeks, his palms cool and smooth against my sensitive skin. My heart thundered as he moved towards me, my senses went into overdrive as his scent overwhelmed me. Then his soft warm lips met mine and I melted completely, my knees trembling as I struggled to stay upright. I was a ragdoll, a puppet to be manipulated. The room swirled and the ground swayed beneath my feet. It was at once familiar yet brand new, as if we hadn’t once been deeply in love, yet as if we’d never been apart.
    But it was over as soon as it had begun, and I had to swallow a sigh of disappointment.
    ‘Well done, Daddy,’ Jack patted Sam’s back. ‘It was probably easier to do that this morning now that she hasn’t got her clown make-up on.’
    Sam’s lips twitched and I turned away quickly and muttered, ‘From the mouths of babes and all that.’
    They followed me into the dining room and took their seats while Mum fluttered around them, piling their plates with bacon, eggs and grilled tomatoes and filling glasses with freshly squeezed orange juice and mugs with coffee. I sat next to Aunty Gina and she took my hand under the table and leant in close.
    ‘I saw that, you know.’
    ‘What?’ I tried not to blush again.
    ‘Under the mistletoe.’
    ‘Oh…it was just…his children, they uh… Where’s Rebecca? Hasn’t she got up yet?’
    ‘Don’t try to change the subject, Katie. I hung the mistletoe in the doorway this morning. I saw how he was looking at you last night and I thought it would give him the perfect opportunity.’
    I stared at her. My funny, eccentric Aunty Gina, so reminiscent of my little old grandmother. Of course, Granny had wiry white hair and thick crow’s feet etched into her tiny face. But Gina’s eyes were lit with a similar wisdom, experience and mischief. Maybe she was right. Maybe not. But it was nice to imagine that she could be. That Katie Warham could really be the girl that Sam might choose to kiss under the mistletoe. Even after all that had happened.
    But life’s not that easy or straightforward, right?
    ***
    Once the breakfast things had been cleared away, we all gathered in the spacious hallway.
    ‘So who’s coming into Tonbridge?’ Karl asked as he slung an arm around