‘It’s you…’ he breathed, as the memories of a strawberry-blonde bob, a sexy yet conventional black velvet evening dress and a smattering of freckles across the bridge of a longish nose came back to him. And the feeling of a pair of demurely painted pink lips brushing his in a kiss that was more nerves than passion.

‘It’s me…’ Holly replied softly as she drew closer to Charlie. ‘And it’s you. Lovely Charlie from Leeds University, who made me feel safe in London.’

Although his eyes had closed in anticipation of the kiss, Charlie could sense how close Holly’s lips were to his, and he felt his body responding immediately, as it had done fifteen years ago when she’d been in his arms in the nightclub. Back then, he’d been achingly self-conscious about his near instant hard-on; he’d sensed how reticent she was, how both of them weren’t ready for anything other than a kiss and a moonlit walk, despite what his body was screaming at him. Now, as the blood surged to his cock and he felt that familiar ache of lust and longing, all he had to do was dip his head for his mouth to reach hers. Time and experience had taught him that to betray a response wasn’t always a bad thing; that it could, in fact, be a very good thing. And something was telling him that this time Holly wouldn’t be the nervous girl he remembered. It was her, then. The one who wasn’t even there long enough to get away. Life, and coincidence, had thrown her into his path and taken her away. But now they were here, together again. How had he not realised before? He was determined that nothing would get in the way now.

The kiss, fifteen years in the making, was as sweet for the waiting as he’d wished it could have been back then. Back then he’d wanted so desperately to find the words to get to know her better, to kiss her again, for longer, but there was no time. As the pressure of their lips gave way to open mouths and exploring tongues, Charlie ached.

Eventually, they broke apart.

‘You were going to show me something?’ Charlie asked, when his brain had begun to engage again.

Holly laughed breathlessly. ‘You’ll never believe how dorky we looked back then.’ She pulled the photographs from the pocket of her jeans with a smirk. ‘I mean, it’s no wonder we both didn’t recognise each other, really.’