Heart to Hart ✔️

30. A glass of Summer Blush

Alec waited outside of The Tea Spot as I counted out the change in the till and wrote the total down in our cash book. Layla called for help and as I peered round the corner, she stood in the prep room, covered head to toe in flour after dropping one of the bags onto the floor. I sent Alec a text asking him to wait five more minutes while I helped her clean the mess up.

Once the flour spillage mopped up, Layla stayed behind to lock the tearoom up and I skipped down to Alec's car. He planned on cooking a nice romantic meal for the both of us and I suggested that I would spend the night at his.

He leant over and left a lingering kiss on my lips as soon as I sat down and drove us back to his house. During the drive, he asked about my day and told me what he had been up to. He was growing tired of Finn staying with his family. Chloe had yet to tell Alec about her fling with Finn and since the afternoon I caught her waiting for him, I hadn't seen them in the same area.

The guilt of keeping Chloe's secret ate away at me. I nodded when Alec complained about the way Finn always wanted to see him when he was with me but during the day couldn't be found. I didn't voice my opinion in case he asked me to elaborate. Obviously, my judgement was based on what I knew of him, but Alec remained in the dark.

At the farmhouse, Alec led me into the main kitchen so I could help him grab some ingredients for our dinner.

"What's all this?" I picked up an A6 sized leaflet off the breakfast bar. A few dozen more were scattered on the counter.

"I was going to talk to you about that later. Mum's hosting a small cocktail party here on Saturday. It's a last-minute fundraiser she helped organise with one of her friends but their original venue fell through," he called out while rummaging in the cupboard. He removed a pack of spaghetti and a tin of chopped tomatoes from the pantry and set them next to me. "Wanna go?"

I flipped the piece of paper over and ran my eyes over the details. "I've nothing to wear. It says cocktail attire. I can't even recycle my prom dress as it was a long Grecian style one."

"We can ask Chloe. Mum just bought her a few to choose from. You know she won't mind."

"I can't keep borrowing your sister's stuff. Are you sure she won't mind? I'm a size bigger than her."

"Barely and maybe only in one area." Alec dropped his eyes to my cleavage and wriggled his eyebrows.

I crossed my arms over my chest and huffed, "Stop that, perv." I laughed when he pulled me up against him and nuzzled into my neck. "If I can find something appropriate, I'd love to be there. Does that mean I get to see you all sexy in a suit? And then get to take you out of it?" I whispered in his ear and nipped his earlobe.

"Let's ask her now. Err, not that last part. About the dress." Alec's cheeks pinkened as he fumbled with his words which made me laugh again. "What? I can't think after that last comment." Alec leant away and shouted up to Chloe. When she didn't answer immediately, he walked to the bottom of the stairs and called out again.

A few minutes later, she came skipping into the kitchen. "What's up, you two?"

"Clo, have you returned any of those dresses Mum got you for the cocktail party? Nat needs one of them."

Chloe took an apple from the fruit bowl and bit into it. "No," she mumbled through her mouthful. "But Mum has something else in mind for you." She grabbed hold of my wrist. "Come with me. Mum's in her office."

Alec went over to the fridge and continued with our meal prep as I followed Chloe out of the kitchen.

Sarah Hart sat behind her desk, a pair of black-framed glasses on her nose. As we entered the room, she took them off and neatly set them in front of her. "Hello, girls. What can I do for you both?"