Free Recipe for Love by Katie Fforde Page B

my cowshed.’
    ‘Tea would be great.’ Gideon pulled out a chair and sat down at the long table.
    They drank tea in companionable silence. Zoe felt calmer now, convinced that when they got up they would go into the passage and find a key cupboard, with all the keys neatly labelled. Everything seemed much better now she had someone else there to help her.
    They found a key-cupboard, but sadly, under ‘Cowshed’ there was no key.
    ‘I can’t believe they don’t have spares,’ muttered Zoe on a sigh of desperation. ‘What am I to do?’
    ‘Well, first we’ll go back to the cowshed and make sure the door really is locked, not jammed or anything. Then we’ll have another go at waking Cher.’
    ‘I really tried!’ She rubbed her wrist, remembering how sore she’d made it hammering on the door.
    ‘And if that plan fails, we’ll revert to plan B.’
    ‘Which is?’ she said, trotting after him.
    ‘I’ll tell you when I’ve thought of it.’
    Oddly, Zoe was relieved when Gideon couldn’t get into the cowshed either. She’d have felt incredibly stupid if the door had just sprung open, having been unlocked all this time. ‘OK, time for plan B,’ she said.
    He laughed softly. ‘I do have one but you won’t like it.’
    ‘If it involves me getting a night’s sleep, I’ll love it,’ said Zoe, yawning.
    ‘It involves sharing my room, which is massive,’ he said.
    ‘Fine. I feel I could sleep on a rail just now, let alone in a massive room.’
    ‘There is only one bed though. It’s massive too.’
    Zoe paused. They were nearly at the back door. ‘You’re joking, aren’t you?’
    ‘No.’
    ‘I can’t believe there isn’t another room I could sleep in,’ said Zoe. ‘This house is enormous.’
    ‘It’s also under restoration and lots of rooms are being decorated. But most importantly, they don’t have beds.’
    ‘Ah,’ said Zoe. ‘I do need a bed.’
    ‘So, back to plan B. But I’ve got the bridal suite, which is being done up. The painters were in there today. The bed is as big as a tennis court – obviously in case the wedding night doesn’t go that well.’
    ‘Right.’
    ‘I’m not offering to sleep on the chair,’ he said firmly. ‘For one thing we both have to work tomorrow and need a good night’s sleep, and for a second thing, there isn’t one.’
    ‘What? Nothing to leave your clothes on?’
    ‘There’s a stool for the dressing table.’ He opened the door. ‘Come on. There’s no other reasonable solution.’
    Reluctantly Zoe followed him into the house and up two flights of stairs to the bridal suite. Half of her was terrified by the idea of sharing a bed with him but the other was excited. She’d already admitted to herself she fancied him. This was obviously God’s way of testing her. At the door she stopped. ‘I haven’t got a toothbrush or anything to sleep in.’
    ‘I’ve got those bottle brush things you can fiddle about with and I’ll lend you a shirt. Now please stop being prim about this. As I said, we’ve both got a heavy day tomorrow.’
    Having given up all resistance (which she had to admit wasn’t that strong by now) Zoe found you could do quite a good job without a toothbrush with a tiny bottle brush, toothpaste and a towel. And the shirt was fairly decent provided she kept her knickers on. She would have liked some sort of moisturiser but didn’t mention it. He didn’t seem quite metrosexual enough to have any.
    Gideon was sitting up in the enormous bed. He was wearing a towelling dressing gown. She didn’t ask him why. She assumed it was because he usually slept naked and was sparing her. She appreciated it though. For a moment the thought of what was underneath his robe flashed through her mind and she blushed. She got in the other side, keeping as near to the edge as she could without actually falling out. There was about two feet of unused bed between them. It would be fine. All she had to do was imagine Gideon was a fellow student or