The Cottage on Sunshine Beach: An utterly gorgeous feel-good romantic comedy

by Holly Martin

  She quickly hurried to the door, took a deep breath and opened it.

  There was Jamie and with the sun setting dramatically behind him he made for an impressive sight. His black curls were a little damp around his neck, like he’d not long got out of the shower. He was wearing a pale cream shirt, a black tie and a suit jacket and, though he looked incredibly sexy in it, it made her a little sad. This wasn’t Jamie. He was the most relaxed, casual person she knew, and that was part of what she’d fallen in love with. As he tugged on his collar a little bit she could see that he was uncomfortable wearing it as well. She supposed she should be glad he’d made an effort. That was a good sign. Not that she cared what Jamie wore but if he cared enough to put on a clean shirt and jacket, then he cared about the importance of the evening as much as she did. She’d get him take the tie and jacket off later. Or maybe she’d take it off for him.

  ‘Hi,’ Melody said.

  ‘You look…’ Jamie paused as he looked at her. ‘Lovely.’

  He frowned slightly as he eyed the dress again.

  She looked down at her dress, a new one she had bought the other day from a charity shop. It was a silvery pearl colour with tiny white and silver sequins sewed around the top. Why was he frowning? Had she spilt something down it? That was totally the norm for her.

  ‘What’s wrong?’ Melody asked.

  ‘Nothing, it’s just… I’m pretty sure that’s the dress Emily wore on her wedding day,’ Jamie said, talking about his older sister.

  Melody felt her eyes bulge out of her head.

  Oh crap, was this really a wedding dress? No, it couldn’t be. It was just on a rail with all the other dresses. She had fallen in love with the pretty sequins and she’d always loved clothes that were cream or silver or white.

  ‘This is Emily’s wedding dress?’

  ‘Um… yeah.’

  Oh god. What was he going to think of her?

  ‘I mean, I don’t think it’s a proper wedding dress. It was a beach wedding. I think Emily just wanted something pretty and the right colour.’

  ‘I didn’t know. I can change.’

  ‘Don’t do that. You look lovely in it.’ He smiled. ‘All you need is some flowers and a veil and you’ll be set.’

  Melody laughed. ‘I can’t believe I’m standing here in a wedding dress on our first date.’

  His smile faltered slightly. ‘So this really is a date?’

  This was going from bad to worse. He hadn’t known it was a date. Well, he did now. She supposed it was better for it all to come out now rather than going through the motions of the evening and then being turned down at the end. Though what she was going to do with all the food she’d cooked and prepared, she didn’t quite know. Should she invite him in for dinner anyway or was that completely redundant now?

  ‘I thought you knew that,’ Melody said, quietly.

  ‘I sort of guessed it was and then talked myself out of it on my way over here. I wasn’t entirely sure. The way you asked me this morning was very casual.’

  ‘I… I’ve been meaning to ask you out for a while, had it all planned out in my head. It never came out the way I imagined.’

  He smiled, sympathetically. ‘It never does. You’ve really been wanting to ask me out for a while?’

  Months, maybe even years. But she couldn’t say that to him, that would make her look even sadder than she did now.

  ‘Or hoping that you’d finally ask me out.’

  He frowned. ‘I’m sorry.’

  ‘No, god, no, don’t be sorry. It’s not your fault if you don’t have those feelings for me—’

  He stepped up onto her doorstep, so he towered over her, standing so close his wonderful apple scent washed over her.

  ‘It’s not that. Believe me, it’s not. I’ve had feelings for you for a long time. Even before Matthew died and you’d come down here to visit him. But you lived in London then, there didn’t seem any point starting something with you. And then there was that kiss. I know you were drunk and probably don’t even remember it—’

  ‘I remember it. Vividly in fact.’

  He stared down at her and she saw him swallow. ‘I do too. I enjoyed it way too much considering I was taking advantage of your drunken state.’

  ‘Taking advantage? I’m not some feeble little woman. I kissed you.’

  ‘I know. That was sexy as hell. But you were so upset, and I should have been looking after you. God, Matthew would have beaten the crap out of me if he’d seen me kissing you when you were so upset and drunk. And then after, you never mentioned it.’

  ‘You never mentioned it either,’ Melody protested. This evening was definitely not going how she had planned it at all. And why was all this happening on her doorstep? It was not the backdrop she’d imagined when they declared their feelings for each other for the first time.

  ‘I thought you might be embarrassed,’ Jamie said.

  ‘Of course I was, which was only made worse by the fact that you never mentioned it, like it was something you wanted to forget.’

  ‘Believe me, I couldn’t forget that kiss if I tried. It was… incredible.’

  She stared up at him in confusion.

  ‘So if you had feelings for me—’

  ‘Have.’

  ‘OK, have, and you enjoyed the kiss too, why didn’t you ask me out?’

  ‘Because I’m absolutely crap at relationships or reading women. I decided a while ago that I didn’t want a relationship any more. Women get bored of me. I’m not edgy enough or mean enough. I’m too nice. I’m certainly not long-term relationship material. And I couldn’t bear to date you and then see you walk away when you get bored too. And more importantly than that, the very last thing I wanted to do was hurt you. I’ve hurt women in the past and it’s not a good feeling. I made Suzie McCallister cry. I don’t want to do that to you, it would kill me. I figured it would be better for the both of us if we were to stay friends.’

  ‘Avoiding relationships doesn’t mean avoiding love; you can’t stop yourself from feeling that.’

  ‘Klaus said more or less the same thing.’

  She wasn’t sure what to say next. If he didn’t want to take a risk with her then there really was no point continuing with the evening. But he was here. In a suit. He’d guessed it was a date and he’d come anyway.

  A warm sea breeze swept in from the beach and surrounded them, catching her hair and blowing it around her. So much for taking the time to do her hair that evening. It probably looked like a bush right now.

  She watched his eyes follow her hair as it blew like Medusa’s snakes behind her.

  ‘Siren,’ he whispered. But then his eyes lit up as if he’d just had an idea.

  ‘What does that mean?’ She knew what a siren was, but she didn’t like the implication.

  His eyes refocussed on hers as if his idea had taken him somewhere else for a moment.

  ‘It means that I think you’re going to be trouble…’

  She put her hands on her hips, opening her mouth to protest, but he interrupted her.

  ‘You’re standing here on our first date in a wedding dress, telling me off, and quite rightly so, because I never had the balls to ask you out. Being with you is definitely going to be trouble.’ He took a step closer, pinning her against the doorframe with his weight. ‘But like the sailors who follow the siren’s call to their deaths, I just can’t stay away from you any longer.’

  He bent his head to hers and kissed her.

  5

  Jamie gathered her against him as she trembled slightly in his arms. God, he’d never meant to kiss her tonight, that hadn’t been his plan at all. He could tell Melody was as surprised as he was by the kiss but now he’d started he knew he couldn’t stop. This kiss was so much better than the first one; he was no longer holding a fragile broken little bird in his arms but a fiery phoenix. The taste of her against his lips was sublime, her tongue in his mouth was the sexiest thing ever. She ran her hands round the back of his neck, t
ouching his curls, and he lifted her so neither of them had to stretch to reach the other. Immediately, she wrapped her legs around his hips, moaning softly against his mouth. He quickly kicked the door closed and carried her to the sofa.

  They fell against it, him on top of her, and he was suddenly aware of how much he must weigh against her tiny frame. Without taking his lips from hers, he tried to manoeuvre on her tiny sofa so she was on top, but she held him so tight to her, her arms and legs wrapped around him, he could barely move. Giving up, because she evidently wasn’t bothered by his weight against her, he carried on enjoying the kiss. How could kissing her be so amazing? He’d kissed quite a few girls in his life, but this was something very different.

  He reached up and stroked her face. Her skin was so soft. He needed her so much. Klaus was right. Denying his feelings for her was not going to make them go away; they had just intensified over the last year. And why the hell was he thinking about Klaus at a time like this?

  He ran his hand up her thigh, realising as he touched her skin that her dress had a slit up the side. She was soft and warm and velvety smooth. His fingers touched the thin, wispy waistband of her knickers and she moaned against his lips. He wasn’t sure if it was a moan of protest or a moan of desire, but it was enough to make him stop. There was no way he was sleeping with her tonight. He might have got carried away with this incredible kiss but if he was going to sleep with her, he was going to do it right.

  He pulled away slightly and she looked up at him with those beautiful sea-blue-green eyes. He tried to steady his breathing and removed his hand from her hip so he could stroke her face again.

  ‘Well, that was an unexpected start to our first date,’ Melody said, her voice coarse with desire.

  ‘It was the dress. It turned me on.’

  She laughed. ‘Someone who is scared of relationships getting turned on by a wedding dress, I don’t think so somehow.’

  ‘You looked so beautiful in it.’

  ‘Well, it’s now my new favourite, I may have to wear it every day.’

  ‘Then I might have to kiss you like that every day.’

  Her face broke into a huge grin. ‘I’d like that.’

  ‘We’d never get any work done. Your customers might be put off if I’m ravishing you like this against the wall of your shop or on the floor.’

  ‘That’s true. I’d have to take the dress off.’

  Christ, he was supposed to be cooling his thoughts not igniting them.

  ‘Definitely a bloody siren,’ he said, kissing her again, just briefly this time before he sat up and disentangled himself from her arms. He slid his hands down to her waist and straightened her dress so she wasn’t quite so exposed and then he offered out both hands to pull her up into a sitting position.

  She took them and he hauled her up.

  ‘Shall we continue with our date?’ Jamie said.

  ‘I don’t know, I think we made some excellent headway already.’

  Thankfully she got up from the sofa and headed towards the kitchen. He gave himself a few moments to catch his breath before he followed her. He took his jacket off and hung it over the back of the chair.

  She started serving up mushrooms, bamboo shoots and water chestnuts onto slices of crostini. It looked and smelt delicious.

  ‘There’s wine in the fridge if you want to pour us some glasses,’ Melody said.

  He grabbed the bottle and poured out two glasses, bringing them to the little table, which was decorated with a solitary candle. Plenty of other candles dotted the surfaces around the kitchen and there was music playing softly in the background. He noticed something else was cooking in the oven and, judging by the number of dishes, pans and plates stacked up on the side of the sink, she had clearly been cooking and preparing the meal for many hours. She had made so much effort and it was clear she wanted the evening to go well. God, he wanted it to go well too. But he was crap at relationships, he never knew the right thing to do or say or even wear. He looked down at himself. He was sitting here in a shirt and tie for goodness sake. He never wore a tie; in fact he only owned one, which he dug out for weddings and funerals. Suddenly there was so much pressure to get everything right. It was much easier when they were just friends.

  ‘So, that kiss…’ Melody said as she brought the two small plates to the table for their starter.

  She was silent for a moment as she tucked into her food, obviously hoping he would fill the gap and explain it. He occupied himself with taking a large mouthful of food. It tasted wonderful. He took another mouthful, letting the flavours seep into his taste buds. He couldn’t say the kiss was a mistake, because something that amazing could never be wrong. But he knew his feelings for her went way beyond anything simple and he guessed she felt the same and so the potential for getting hurt and for hurting her was much greater. Could he really embark on a relationship? He didn’t want to lose her. But he was already involved now, he’d kissed her. He couldn’t walk away without hurting them both.

  She was waiting for an answer.

  ‘I really like you,’ he said, though he knew that wasn’t nearly enough to describe his feelings for her.

  He took another few mouthfuls, making appreciative noises in the hope that that would be enough to fill the silence while he sorted out his thoughts. But after a few more minutes of him not saying anything, she moved in for the kill.

  ‘It’s just, when you arrived on my doorstep, it kind of sounded like you were trying to talk your way out of the date. And then you kissed me, grappled me to the sofa and only an incredible amount of restraint on your part stopped it from going any further.’

  He cleared his throat. Not to stall for time, but because there was suddenly a tingly sensation at the back of his mouth.

  ‘You clearly have feelings for me, but you’re scared,’ Melody went on.

  He cleared his throat again as the tingly sensation seemed to spread, down his throat and up into his mouth. It wasn’t unpleasant, but he’d had this feeling before. He took a huge swig of wine and then a large mouthful of water. He wiggled his finger in his ear, feeling like he had an itch somewhere inside he couldn’t reach.

  ‘So, are we really going to do this, are we going to date, see where it goes?’ Melody asked.

  The tingling was getting worse and it had now reached his lips. He could literally feel his lips swelling. He pulled at his collar, feeling suddenly hot.

  ‘What were the mushrooms cooked in?’ His voice was strangled.

  ‘What?’ Melody asked in confusion.

  ‘What’s the sauce?’ Jamie said, taking another sip of water, but it made no difference.

  She stared at him, obviously a bit miffed that he was changing the subject.

  ‘It’s just some Chinese stir-fry sauce. Jamie, are we…’ she trailed off as her eyes widened. ‘Your lips.’

  He nodded. He knew they would be bigger.

  ‘They’re huge,’ Melody said.

  His eyes and nose were starting to water and he started scratching at his throat and face.

  ‘Was the sauce oyster?’

  ‘No, I know you’re allergic to shellfish, I haven’t got any fish in tonight’s menu just in case.’

  He made a humming noise with his throat, trying to stop it itching. ‘Some of these Chinese sauces have oyster in the ingredients.’

  She stood up and quickly moved to the side where there was an empty jar and she scanned the ingredients. Her cheeks losing all of their colour confirmed his suspicions.

  ‘Oh god, no, I’m so sorry, I should have checked, I’m sorry,’ Melody said. ‘Do we need to get you to a hospital?’

  He shook his head. ‘No, it will pass. And I’m not being sick so it’s probably only a small amount of oyster.’

  His stomach gurgled and he felt suddenly very nauseous. He cursed that he had spoken too soon. Because if he was going to be sick, then there would be other bad stomach symptoms, and he definitely didn’t want Melody to be near him then.

&nb
sp; He stood up. ‘I need to go.’

  She looked at him in alarm. ‘Go?’

  ‘Home, I’m sorry.’

  He was going to be sick and he needed to be out of there before that happened.

  ‘No, please don’t go. Just lie down on the sofa until it passes. What can I do to help, what can I get you, would Piriton or something like that help?’

  He shook his head. ‘I need to go, I’m really sorry.’

  He didn’t dare kiss her goodbye, in case he was sick all over her. He quickly opened the door and ran out onto the sand.

  Melody scooped up a spoonful of the Eve’s Pudding she had made and popped it into her mouth. This was her favourite dessert, it was also Tori’s favourite and she had hoped that Jamie would be equally impressed, but he’d never gotten the chance to try it. Even this wasn’t cheering her up right now.

  Tonight had been a new low. She was used to spilling her dinner down herself or knocking a drink over and she had been a bit worried that she would probably do that during the course of the evening. She was always worried about that whenever she went out on dates with men but she had convinced herself that it didn’t matter with Jamie, she felt comfortable with him, safe, and she felt sure he wouldn’t care about stuff like that. But to poison the man she loved on their first date was a new level of clumsiness. He couldn’t fail to be turned off by that.

  She picked up her phone and dialled her sister’s number.

  It rang several times before it was answered and definitely not by Isla.

  ‘This better be important,’ a gruff man’s voice said. ‘I’m in the middle of watching the most spectacular magic show I’ve ever seen.’

  She heard Elliot giggle in the background.

  Despite everything, she smiled with love for Leo. He absolutely adored Elliot and the feeling was undeniably mutual. When she’d first met Leo on her weekend visits to see Matthew, Leo had been a typical lad, going to the pub and getting drunk with his friends every weekend. By all accounts he’d been with a different woman every week. But all that had changed when Matthew died. Although Matthew had asked Isla to be Elliot’s legal guardian if anything was to happen to him, he’d asked Leo to be Elliot’s godfather and to look after him too. A job that Leo had taken very seriously. The drinking and the multiple girlfriends stopped and Melody was convinced that the latter was down to his feelings for Isla, though Isla didn’t believe that. Melody wasn’t surprised that Leo was at her sister’s house. He’d been spending more and more time there over recent months. Isla insisted there was nothing going on between them, but Melody didn’t think Leo was there just because of Elliot.