a mile from here. We’re just about to enter Great Wickbury. Your cottage is set back from the road, just after the village square.”
Pushing her erotic thoughts to one side, Gina made herself concentrate on the scenery around her. It was totally charming. The road led into a little picturesque village straight from a holiday brochure with small cottages joined together, some with thatched roofs and all with tiny front yards covered in frost. Smoke came from most of the chimneys, and as the car made its way further into the village, Gina saw what looked like a war memorial placed right in the center of a large cobbled square.
Guy slowed the car down as he drove over the cobbles. “This whole square is closed on market days so people can walk around the stalls in safety. It’s quite a good little market, held every Saturday morning, whatever the weather, all year round. Your house is just down here.”
Gina realized she was holding her breath. After all these months, finally, she was about to see what the father she had never known had left to her. Whether it was an act of guilt or if he had just wanted her to realize that he had acknowledged her, at this point, it didn’t really matter.
Guy pulled the car in to the side of the road. “Gina, open your eyes and take a look.”
She opened them and turned her head. “Oh…My…God…” She grabbed his arm. “You’re kidding me, right? I mean, this has got to be a joke. The picture I saw didn’t do it justice at all. You told me it was a country cottage. This is a…I mean it’s…”
Guy laughed. “If you let go of my arm, we can get out and take a look around.”
“What? Oh, I’m sorry.” She hadn’t realized that she was still gripping his arm in shock and released him immediately.
A minute later, they both stood and studied the detached building in front of them. To Gina, it was the sweetest, most gorgeous house she had ever seen. She’d made a point of pouring over English country cottages online before she left the States, but nothing had prepared her for this. The walls were made of cream and gray stone of different sizes. It was bigger than she had imagined with wonderful old-fashioned leaded glass windows and a large arch-shaped wooden front door that had a huge ironwork latch and iron studs securing it to the wall.
“Thatch,” she murmured as she took in the beautifully shaped thatched roof that was shaped around the top of the upstairs windows. Two large chimneys stood proudly at either end, and a low stone wall, matching the house, ran the width of the property, with a wooden gate right in the center.
“It’s really mine?” she whispered.
Guy grinned, brushing a hand over her cheek. She really was adorable. So unlike all the seemingly spoiled little rich girls he had been surrounded by for so long.
“Yes,” he answered. “Your father took care of everything, including the inheritance tax. He even paid your council tax for the next year.”
Gina smiled and shrugged. “I don’t really know what council tax is, but if you say it’s been taken care of, that’s good enough for me.”
Gina turned to take in the house once more, and Guy’s thoughts began to wander as he studied her face. He wondered if she actually could be interested in dominance and submission, especially after overhearing that conversation. But that would almost be too good to be true. And since when did he have any luck with women? Andy had found the only sweet-natured, level-headed, intelligent submissive around here. Even at the club, all Guy seemed to attract were gold-digging, pushy subs who were only interested in what he could provide for them. His last two relationships, if you could even call them that, had been unmitigated disasters that had left him with such a bad taste in his mouth that he had decided to lead a single life, for at least a couple of years.
Still, there was something about Gina. He had loved her innocence and genuine pleasure at
Jennifer Teege, Nikola Sellmair