‘That’s probably the safest option,’ Caleb says. ‘I don’t fancy our chances now the mating ritual’s begun. It’d take a braver man than me to disturb it.’
Nicky moves her face away from Neal’s. I’m surprised his lips don’t follow. ‘We can hear you, you know.’
‘So did you also hear that’s it’s closing time?’ I ask. With a sigh, Nicky peels herself away from Neal and stands up. Again, I’m surprised when it turns out Neal’s body isn’t actually welded to hers. It took weeks for them to actually get together so it seems they’re making up for lost time.
‘Can I give you a lift home?’ Caleb asks as we head out of the pub with a reluctant Nicky and Neal trailing behind.
I reach into my bag and pull out my car keys. ‘I drove over too.’
‘I could do with a lift, mate.’ Neal slaps Caleb on the back.
‘Me too,’ Nicky says, linking her arm through mine.
‘So you aren’t going back to Neal’s?’ I whisper.
Nicky shakes her head. ‘I have standards now, remember? But when it does happen, it’ll be worth the wait. Trust me.’
Nicky and Neal drift away to lock lips again, leaving Caleb and I alone for the first time since the beer garden’s near-kiss.
‘Nicky thought that Neal fancied Victoria,’ I say, looking over at the lusty pair. ‘Doesn’t look that way now.’
‘There’s no way Neal fancies Victoria,’ Caleb says.
‘And why not?’ Although I obviously want this to be the case, I’m immediately on the defence. Victoria is beautiful, inside and out, and I won’t hear otherwise.
‘Because she reminds him of his baby sister, and that would be weirder than dating your step-aunt.’
I think of Bea and it suddenly makes sense. Bea and Victoria are around the same age and they do look quite similar. Both are petite and blonde with an Avril Lavigne vibe going on.
‘Has he told you that?’ I ask Caleb. ‘That Victoria reminds him of Bea?’
‘It’s why he’s been helping her out,’ Caleb says. ‘It’s the big brother thing kicking in.’
It all makes sense! Sweet, uncomplicated sense.
‘I guess I’ll see you tomorrow,’ Caleb says as Nicky and Neal finally pull apart and head for our cars, which are parked on opposite sides of the road. We’ve arranged a second, not-so-casual dinner date. I’m already a bag of nerves and panicking about what to wear. I’d forgotten what a mixed bag of excitement, anticipation and nausea dating can be.
Caleb takes a step closer and I feel an entire enclosure’s worth of butterflies take flight in my tummy as he places a hand on the nape of my neck.
There are lots of different kinds of kisses, from friendly pecks on the cheek to passionate, tongue-swirling embraces and detached air kisses (the latter of which aren’t even kisses at all, in my opinion). Currently, I’m being kissed by a very handsome man and it is the sweetest kiss of all.
Epilogue
The Woodgate Chronicle
SPRINKLED WITH LOVE
by Neal Fisher
Everybody has a tale of how they met their husband or wife-to-be, but chart-topping Victoria Banbury’s story is extra sweet. The singer – who once dated Nathan Perrie of flopped boy band Perrie West – first felt sparks fly with her fiancé, Robert Dundee, at a speed-dating event with a difference. While most speed-dating services have a quick succession of fellow love-seekers on offer, The Sweetest Kiss dating event has the added bonus of an accompanying dessert with each potential match.
‘I’d actually known Robbie for over a year,’ Victoria admits. ‘I worked at the teashop where The Sweetest Kiss takes place before recording my first album, but I was dating Nathan [Perrie] at the time. It wasn’t until my friends convinced me to give the speed-dating evening a go that I sat down and had a proper conversation with Robbie. I was single by then and I’d just worked my last shift at the teashop. My friends told me it was my last chance to date a civilian before I became famous.’ Victoria laughs at this statement because although the singer has shot to the number one spot in the UK’s charts for the third time this week, she’s still the down-to-earth northern girl she’s always been.
‘I’d liked Victoria for ages,’ her fiancé confesses. ‘I used to sit in the teashop for hours on the off-chance of seeing her. I had so many banana milkshakes, I can’t bear to see the fruit any more!’
But Robert’s perseverance paid off and last night the couple announced their engagement to Victoria’s fans over Instagram.
‘We don’t want a long engagement,’ Victoria says. ‘Robbie makes me feel like the luckiest girl in the world. I’d marry him tomorrow!’
And it’s all thanks to The Sweetest Kiss. The dating service has been running for two years and takes place every Thursday, Friday and Saturday evening – including gay and lesbian sessions – with a similarly formatted 50s+ afternoon tea session running every Friday lunchtime at Sweet Street Teashop on Kingsbury Road, Woodgate. The event is hosted by cake-baking duo Maddie McIntosh and Magdalena Welsh, who also co-own Sweet Street Teashop.
‘I met my own partner through The Sweetest Kiss,’ Magdalena – known more commonly as Mags – reveals. ‘So it really does work!’
Mags joined the Sweet Street team after working alongside Maddie in the teashop for over a year.
‘Mags has been instrumental in growing the business,’ Maddie says. ‘I couldn’t have done any of this without her, so it made sense for us to officially join forces.’
‘Coming in to work every day is a joy,’ Mags adds. ‘How many people can say that?’
And Mags isn’t the only owner of Sweet Street Teashop who has found love within the teashop.
‘I met my husband through one of my regular customers at the teashop,’ Maddie reveals. ‘So it isn’t only The Sweetest Kiss that matches couples up – there seems to be some sort of magical Cupid power within the teashop’s walls!’
Maddie, who is expecting her first child with her graphic designer husband, Caleb McIntosh, isn’t worried about taking a few months away from the teashop.
‘I’m leaving the teashop in very capable hands,’ she says of business partner Mags. ‘Plus, it’ll be nice to sit back and eat bucketloads of cakes without having to bake them first. I am eating for two now, after all!’
Copyright
HQ
An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd.
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF
First published in Great Britain by HQ in 2017
Copyright © Jennifer Joyce 2017
Jennifer Joyce asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.
E-book Edition © February 2017 ISBN: 978-0-00-822999-3
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