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  ‘Does he come with Bluebell House?’ Deb growled, eyebrows now raised. ‘If so, I may be tempted to move in myself.’

  Jessica stared straight ahead at Rueben with her jaw clenched, resisting the urge to punch the estate agent in the face. ‘Unfortunately not, no.’ She sipped her coffee slowly and tried to turn Deb’s attention back towards Bluebell House but she failed.

  ‘Do you think he’d mind if I popped over and introduced myself?’ Deb asked, head tilted to the side slightly.

  Jessica blinked. ‘Erm, he’s really passionate about his work. He doesn’t like to be disturbed, if you know what I mean.’

  Deb looked put out. ‘Ah, I see. Well, who am I disturb a man when he’s hard at work?’ She winked at Jessica before finally turning away from the window and drinking her coffee. Once she was finished, she went over the notes that she’d made one final time. Then, after taking a few snaps of the house, finally announced her departure.

  ‘Well, I don’t know what else to say other than Bluebell House won’t be hanging around on the market for long. I’ll pop the pictures up tonight and email you the link to have a look at them. If you could check that the details are all correct in regards to Bluebell House itself that would be fabulous. And, well, I’ll be in touch if I have any exciting news.’

  ‘Thanks so much, Deb.’ Jessica stood on the porch and watched as Deb made her way back to her car and slipped inside. She rolled down the window as she reversed across the gravel.

  ‘Speak to you soon!’ She waved before turning and rolling off the driveway, disappearing down the lane that led the way out of Bluebell Hill. Thank God for that, Jessica thought as she hurried back inside to find Rueben, desperate to go for the ride that he’d mentioned. Her cheeks blushed furiously as images danced through her head. Gah, she was a terrible human being.

  ***

  Ten minutes after Deb had driven off, Jessica was bobbing about in the passenger seat of Rueben’s van as he drove along the bumpy country lanes through Bluebell Hill. ‘Did you know,’ Rueben began, glancing across at her, ‘that folklore says, if someone is able to turn a bluebell inside out without tearing it, they can win the one they love?’ He smiled with pride at knowing such a fact.

  ‘Oh, how interesting,’ Jessica replied, entertained by his knowledge. He was so cute. ‘I’ve also heard that they’re called fairy flowers. I read somewhere once that apparently, fairies would use them to catch children!’

  ‘That’s slightly creepy,’ Rueben laughed, pulling a face at her. ‘Poor children. I always imagined fairies as being pretty little things, fluttering about in the moonlight. I guess I was wrong.’

  Jessica glanced across at his large hands handling the steering wheel with ease. For just a second, she imagined them around her waist, imagined how easy it would be for Rueben to pick her up, maybe she’d wrap her legs around him, and then they’d—

  ‘Have you been to see the bluebells up close yet?’ Rueben asked, breaking through her despicable thoughts. ‘They’re magical. Really, they are. How about once we’ve dropped this lot off, we go and see them? I know the perfect place.’ He grinned enthusiastically.

  With her cheeks slightly burning from her wayward thoughts, Jessica nodded eagerly. ‘I’d love that,’ she replied, tugging down the bottom of her dress.

  ‘Then it’s a date.’ Rueben smiled as he turned back to the road.

  ***

  ‘If I had known we’d be climbing through woodland, I probably would have worn something more suitable,’ Jessica muttered as she clambered over a wonky piece of wood that had once been part of the fence’s structure. It was now weathered and splintered and didn’t look very safe. Balancing on top and trying desperately to keep some modesty and not flash her underwear at Rueben, she tugged down the bottom of her yellow sundress once again and hopped down to the ground with a huff. She wiggled her foot to remove a stone that had lodged painfully and sighed with relief once she’d flicked it away into the surrounding grass.

  ‘You’re such a girl,’ Rueben laughed dodging away from Jessica’s playful smack. ‘I’m kidding, I’m kidding.’ He was strolling leisurely along without a care in the world.

  They were in the woods right on the outer edge of Bluebell Hill, surrounded on all sides by thick woodland. After they’d added another load of boxes to the storage unit, Rueben had taken a back-lane and parked beside a field. He’d then led the way to where they were now, following a faint track through the grass. The sun was only able to shine through when the breaks in the canopy above offered it a way in. Beams of light danced on the twiggy floor and the smells and sounds of nature surrounded them completely.

  ‘Is it ok if I take my top off?’ Rueben glanced over his shoulder and frowned, but she was sure there was a glint of playfulness that twinkled in his green eyes. ‘I’m just really, really hot. I’m not doing it to get a reaction from you, I promise.’ There was that sparkle again and a slight smirk threatening to appear at the corner of his mouth.

  She gulped and did her very best to appear unflustered by the prospect of seeing him topless again. It was a delicious sight and she wasn’t sure how believable she’d be if she tried to feign disinterest when faced with a topless version of the man in front of her. Despite having seen that very thing a few times now, each time was just like the first. He had a body to die for. One glimpse wouldn’t hurt, she reasoned with herself, but slyly so it didn’t look obvious. ‘Go for it,’ she said with a shrug. She pretended to pick at a stray piece of cotton on her dress but flicked her eyes towards him every few seconds. The temptation was too much.

  With little effort, Rueben pulled his t-shirt up and over his head. His hair ruffled as he did so. An incredibly broad back that was gorgeously sun-kissed was revealed to her. She tried not to stare, she really did, but his muscles rippled with his movements, his slightly sweat-slickened skin looked tantalisingly tempting and the fact that they were alone in the woods only intensified her reaction to the vision in front of her.

  Rueben didn’t appear to have noticed her now slack features. After his impromptu strip-tease, he sauntered off ahead into the woods, meaning Jessica had to jog to catch up with him. She hoped that she wasn’t the only one experiencing the strange desires but, from the looks of things, she was alone in her naughty thoughts after all. She mentally slapped herself as she stared after him. Friends. Just friends, remember?

  ‘Come on, hurry up! I can’t wait to show you this,’ he called over his shoulder, beckoning her towards him with a flick of his head. ‘With legs like yours, you should be able to walk much quicker than that.’

  Brimming over with delight at his compliment, she hurried forwards. Finally, she managed to reach his side and gave him a small nudge. ‘Could you maybe not run off? If I get lost in here, I doubt I’d be able to find my way out.’ She glanced around them both again, eyeing the multiple shades of green, from the grass to the trees above.

  ‘I wouldn’t run off. I promise.’ He sent an easy smile fluttering her way as they walked side by side. ‘Besides, you’d find your way out. Eventually.’ A playful smirk appeared. The need to kiss it off his face surged to the forefront of her mind and it took every ounce of strength to force it back to wherever it had come from.

  ‘How far away is this thing?’ She tugged her cardigan tighter around herself. The temperature had dropped slightly as the trees blocked the sun from breaking through.

  ‘Nearly there, don’t worry. Do you need me to carry you?’

  She ignored the image that popped into her head, of feeling his hands on the bare skin of her legs, and noticed a dip coming up ahead of them. ‘Erm… Rueben,’ she asked worriedly, narrowing her eyes. ‘How exactly do you expect me to get down there?’

  Once they were beside the dip, Jessica peered down at the drop below them. The land beneath appeared to have crumbled away at some point, leaving the hundred-year-old roots exposed to the elements.

  ‘I’ll go down first, then I’ll help you down, okay?’ Rueben wen
t around the side of the dip and began to clamber down with ease, using the roots for steps as he descended. ‘It’s easy. Go on, have a try. I promise you’ll be fine.’

  ‘Are you insane? I can’t climb down there. For starters, I’m wearing a dress, secondly, my shoes don’t have any grip. They’re sandals, Rueben! I’ll fall as soon as I put my foot down! No. No way.’ To prove just how set she was in her decision, she folded her arms firmly and raised her eyebrows at him.

  He was safely on the ground below within minutes, looking up at her, wearing one of his amused grins. ‘Don’t be silly, Jess. Come on, I’ll catch you! I wouldn’t let you fall to the floor in a heap, would I?’

  She considered him for a moment. She didn’t really have a choice. It was either climb down there or stay up here. She sighed loudly. She’d been hoping for a nice, relaxed walk to see some bluebells, not a bloody assault course. ‘Wow,’ she said eventually, throwing her hands up into the air. ‘I can’t believe I’m doing this. In a dress.’ She turned around with caution, so that her back was turned to Rueben, and attempted to navigate her way down to join him. She placed one sandalled foot onto the nearest available root and felt it slip immediately. ‘Oh, no,’ she yelped, gripping the grassy surface above for dear life and tearing out a few strands. ‘It’s not going to work! It’s too slippy!’

  ‘Okay. So just jump,’ he reasoned. ‘It’s not as high as you’re making it out to be.’

  She was dangling on the side of the ledge, her feet, for now, balancing on a piece of earth that was jutting outwards. She squeezed her eyes shut. ‘How on earth have I found myself in this situation?’ she moaned, fingers beginning to slip. ‘Will you definitely, definitely catch me?’

  ‘Definitely, definitely.’

  She craned her head round as far as she could manage to, catching a glimpse of him directly below. ‘Okay. I’m about to come down,’ she squealed. ‘Are you ready? Now!’ She let go of the top of the dip, felt herself free-fall for about half a second and then Rueben’s strong, capable arms were around her body, holding her tight. She opened her eyes and glanced up. He was right. It hadn’t actually been as high as she’d thought.

  His arms were snug against her chest until he loosened them, which left her feeling slightly bereft. His hands dragged and lingered across her body.

  Rueben turned her to face him. ‘See? I told you I’d catch you.’ He watched her face intently, his eyes doing that thing where they lingered on her lips. What he was thinking to be looking at her in such a way? Was he feeling what she was feeling?

  Jessica stared down at their shoes before she returned her gaze to his. He was still watching her carefully. Because he was taller than her, she had to tilt her head up slightly. She watched as his eyes skimmed over her chest, up her neck, and then once more landed on her mouth. ‘You did,’ she whispered. ‘Thank you.’

  Their eyes locked. They were completely alone in the woods, with the sun filtering through and flickering across Rueben’s face and chest. She watched him swallow, his Adam’s apple giving it away. ‘We’re pretty close,’ he whispered, his mouth so incredibly near to hers they were almost breathing each other’s breath. Did he mean close to whatever it was that he wanted to show her, or was he referring to how close they were to their lips touching?

  ‘So close,’ she repeated, her voice unrecognisable. It sounded heavy, weighed down with a desire that she couldn’t seem to ignore. Just a centimetre closer and their lips would touch. Should she make the move? Close the gap? She wanted to. Oh, how she wanted to, but she also remembered her words to Sarah and herself. Just friends…

  Rueben cleared his throat, his hands still resting on her waist, and closed his eyes for a moment as if summoning strength to deal with whatever their walk through the woods had turned into. ‘Come on.’ He turned away and tugged on her hand which was now enfolded in his.

  After such a close encounter, she was still attempting to get her breath back. She felt put-out that he hadn’t made a move, especially when it would have taken just a centimetre for them to touch. Why hadn’t he closed the space between them? She’d seen the lust in his eyes, and she was certain that her own had held the exact same look. She felt hurt, and a little confused. But why? She’d told Sarah that she hadn’t wanted it to go any further than their playful flirting, and if they had kissed, that would have been classed as stepping over those boundaries she’d set for herself. So why, she wondered, was she feeling like she’d just been rejected? She ignored the feeling in her chest.

  Finally, Rueben paused so she copied the action. She glanced at him to try to figure out what he was doing and why he looked so serious all of sudden, until she focused on the direction of his gaze and felt the breath escape her lungs. They shared the view in silence, both overwhelmed by the sheer beauty of what was set out before them. The floor of the woods was blue for as far as the eye could see and not just any blue, but a blue that she wouldn’t have been able to describe with words. Vivid, striking, and utterly resplendent, it was like nothing that she had ever seen before. She’d thought the vision of the hill near the station had been special but compared to this, the bluebells that grew down the hill didn’t even compare.

  ‘Wow,’ she managed to breathe eventually, although the word was barely more than a whisper. ‘It’s… It’s magical. I’ve never seen anything so beautiful.’ She felt tiny all of a sudden, when faced with such a display of natural magnificence.

  If she hadn’t have been so absorbed in the vision, she probably would have seen the look of frustration on Rueben’s face as he switched his focus from the bluebells to her. She would have seen the precise moment where his restraint snapped and he decided that he couldn’t hold back, not after the moment that they’d just shared when he’d caught and held her body in his hands, bringing him closer to her physically than he’d ever been before. She would have seen the look of pure, unadulterated, fiery lust burning in his eyes before he stepped forward and pulled her body towards him. ‘I have,’ he said in a husky voice. ‘You.’

  His lips landed on hers and his body flooded with relief that it was finally happening. Now that they were touching hers, he didn’t want to take them away. He wanted to remain there for as long as possible. The kiss deepened as the ocean of bluebells behind them watched over the embrace.

  Chapter Eight

  She had never, in all of her twenty eight years of life, been kissed in the way that she was being kissed right now. Never before had she felt the strength to stand be snatched away as fiercely as it had when Rueben’s lips had taken hold of her mouth and shown her what a real kiss was supposed to feel like. Her legs almost buckled beneath her but his capable hands held her waist tightly, providing her with the strength that the touch of his lips had taken away. It was an embrace like never before and all she could think about was how close they were to each other. It was a delicious feeling, one that she didn’t want to end and one that she wanted to savour. She could have happily remained there in that way, beside the bluebells and lost in Rueben’s kiss, until the end of time.

  ‘We should stop,’ she gasped, glancing down as she reluctantly moved her lips away from his, her forehead just below his chin. Her breath was coming fast, as was his. His chest heaved up and down beneath her hands and she could feel his heart beating beneath his skin. ‘I can’t do this with you.’ Sadness flooded through her as the words left her lips, but she knew she was right in saying them. This would only lead to sadness and she’d already had too much of that in her life. She didn’t need anymore. ‘There’s too much going on right now, Rueben. Too much…’ She trailed off as Rueben ignored her rambling reasoning and lifted her jaw back up with his fingers. He returned his mouth to hers, insistent and hungry and completely in control.

  They remained in their tangled embrace beside the bluebells until Rueben stopped and drew his lips slowly away. His hands still cupped her face as he placed his forehead against hers and sighed. ‘Why, Jessica? Why can’t you do this? You can’t deny that
it feels good. It’s right, and I’m sorry but I can’t promise you that I’ll be able to keep away from you. You’re so beautiful. I want you. I want you more than I’ve ever wanted anything before.’ He stroked a single finger down her cheek then curled a piece of her hair around his finger. ‘I’ve wanted you since we met on the train. I was pissed off that you were going to Cornwall. Do you have any idea how badly I want you? I can’t help it. I’m only human.’

  She closed her eyes as his voice and words washed over her. His hands moved from her waist and travelled up the sides of her body, his quest leading him to her breasts. She shivered beneath his tempting touch and tried to fight the desire but it was too powerful. The fact that they were out in the open in the bluebell woods, and able to be seen by anybody at any moment, only intensified the desire that was becoming more unbearable by the second and coursing through her veins like a drug. It was torture. She was torturing herself, she knew it, but allowing anything more to happen between them would be stupid. She’d be gone once everything was finalised with Bluebell House, back to the madness of London, back to her job, back to Sarah. The thought brought her back down to earth with a bump and the haziness that she’d been lost in slowly dissolved. This wasn’t a fairy-tale. This was real life. She looked down at the floor sadly, hardly daring to see the look in Rueben’s eyes. What made it even worse was that she wanted him, too. But she couldn’t do it. It would end up going nowhere. Relationships worked on trust, and she was incapable of trusting anyone.

  Rueben bit his lip as realisation dawned. ‘I understand.’ He nodded to himself and took a step back, went to reach for her again, but then decided against it. He swallowed and ran a hand through his dishevelled hair.