Caught on Camera: Part Four by Lily Harlem

leather flip flops. He had wide, defined shoulders, a mop of dark blond hair, which looked damp, and the smoothest, broadest chest I’d ever seen, so perfectly silky it must have been freshly shaved and expensively moisturised.
    “Matt,” Tim called as he dodged round me.
    Matt’s face crinkled into a grin. He took two ground-eating paces up the path, flung his arms around Tim’s shoulders and slapped him heartily on the back. “How you doing, old mate?”
    “Great to see you,” Tim said, giving his friend an equally forceful slap. “Thanks so much for inviting us.”
    “No, no, thank you for coming. We get so bored here on our own weekend after weekend. It’ll be great to have some new blood in the place.” Matt snapped back from Tim and turned his attention to me. “And this must be the delectable Annie.” He stepped up and cupped my face in his big hands, his voice dropped low. “I’ve heard so much about you.”
    “Hi,” I said, looking into eyes so blue they could have been chipped from an ancient glacier. “Nice to meet you, Matt.” I swallowed.
    “The pleasure is all mine.” He bent his head and kissed me full on the mouth. Not a quick peck and not a deep, tongued affair. But a heavy, passion-infused kiss that covered my lips and continued for several long seconds.
    I stood there dumb, in shock, arms hanging at my sides. Matt had so over stepped the mark of a polite greeting. Was I complaining? Hell no, the guy was cute, and like his garden, he smelt divine, sun cream mixed with a tangy fresh male scent. But as he pulled away, it flashed through my mind that my longed-for weekend away could have already finished. If Tim took offence to Matt’s overfriendly greeting, I would be scrambled back into the car and sped up the motorway before I’d seen a single buttercup.
    I glanced nervously at Tim. But he just grinned and pushed a hand through his dark curls. He could occasionally get jealous. In the year we’d been together, there’d been several instances when other men had chatted to me in bars and clubs and he’d warned them off with threats of violence, so this reaction knocked me off kilter. He seemed to almost approve of his old friend cradling my head in his hands, kissing me and gazing into my eyes.
    I looked back up at Matt’s handsome face. He licked his lips, seemingly savouring the fruity flavour of my lip gloss. “Mmm,” he said. “Delicious, Jane is going to love you.”
     
    The men ducked under the door beams into the cutesy cottage kitchen. I didn’t have to duck--five-foot-two meant you didn’t have to avoid hitting your head very often.
    “Here you go, Annie.” Matt thrust a large glass of white wine into my hand. “I heard wine is your poison.”
    “Thanks,” I said as I looked around. Ornate jugs and bunches of dried herbs hung from nails. Chintzy plates circled the room on a thin picture rail. Surfaces were crammed with bowls of citrus fruit, apples and enormous loaves of floury white bread. A basket of earthy, skinny carrots and a punnet of fat strawberries sat at the enamel drainer. A big lead-paned window looked out over a patio, an azure swimming pool and a field dotted with grazing Jersey cows.
    “Wow,” said Tim, walking to the window and popping a beer. “This is fab, Matt.”
    “Yeah, kinda cool, isn’t it?” Matt grabbed a pair of shades from the counter and slipped them on. “I have to pinch myself sometimes to make sure it’s all mine.” He laughed. “Come out and meet Jane. She’s lounging with a Martini, as usual.” He rolled his eyes good-humouredly and headed through a utility room.
    Tim leaned in towards me. “You alright?” he asked quietly, his coal black eyes searching mine.
    “Yeah, great, it’s beautiful.”
    He smiled and gestured for me to follow Matt. “I’m just gonna find the bathroom. Be there in a sec.”
    Stepping back into the harsh light of the day, I squinted uncomfortably. The sun reflecting off the kidney-shaped