‘All right?’ Holly stood on tiptoe and whispered into his ear. ‘You seem a little bit away with the fairies.’ Her breath on the back of his neck sent a tingle down his spine and reminded him, as if he needed reminding, that, despite the fact they’d not known each other very long, they were getting closer to the next level of their relationship.

Charlie grinned as his eye was caught by two little blonde girls dressed as actual fairies. ‘I’m fine,’ he said, pulling her a little closer. ‘I’ve just never seen anything quite like this before.’

‘Willowbury’s proud of its roots,’ Holly replied. ‘And, I promise you, once you’ve done one Folk Festival, you’ll keep this weekend free every year.’ She tucked a stray lock of hair back behind her ear with her free hand. Charlie was struck with erotic thoughts about just what else he wanted her hands to touch.

As the band at the top of the High Street struck up a fast-paced fiddle tune, Charlie pulled Holly closer to him so that they were face to face. ‘Fancy a dance?’ he teased as his arms tightened around her. She was wearing a strappy, flowing summer dress which kept catching in the breeze, and as he drew her towards him, he was instantly aware of the heat from her body pressing against his. Trying to mentally talk himself down from the effect that having Holly so close to him was having, he whirled her around in a loose approximation of a jig until she was helpless with laughter in his arms and her hair, loosely tied back in her habitual messy bun, had all but come down.

Slowing down as the music calmed, Charlie looked at Holly. Her face was flushed from the heat and the dancing, and her eyes were sparkling with amusement. As if his mouth had a mind of its own, he dipped his head, searching for her lips. They’d kissed a lot, but he was still slightly nervous of her response. Feeling her breath quicken, he met her mouth gently, tasting the sweetness of the elderflower wine, organic of course, that she’d been drinking. He closed his eyes in pure pleasure as her mouth opened to deepen the kiss, lifting a hand to run it through her hair.

‘Isn’t this a little too public for your liking?’ Holly breathed as they broke a millimetre or two apart. ‘You’ll be all over Twitter before you know it.’

‘I don’t care,’ Charlie murmured. ‘We’re not doing anything wrong.’

Holly smiled into the kiss. ‘I’m glad you feel that way.’

As his arms tightened around her, everything else but the heat from their bodies seemed to melt away. Charlie had never felt such a sense of rightness, of coming home, as he did with Holly in his arms.