‘I can’t quite believe I’m saying this, but it’s nice to be here. Right here,’ Holly clarified. ‘Although I’m still a bit under duress.’

‘I know,’ Charlie’s eyes were twinkling. ‘But you’re really impressing the hell out of everyone here, despite yourself.’

Holly shook her head. ‘Night’s not over yet.’ She turned her head slightly and caught sight of Miles Fairbrother propping up the bar in the corner of the function room. She could barely suppress a shudder. ‘That man makes my skin crawl,’ she muttered into Charlie’s shoulder. ‘How do you manage to be so bloody polite to everyone? Even when you might not be able to stand the sight of them?’

‘Desire to keep hold of my seat, and a lot of massages from a very good local practitioner,’ Charlie said playfully, although Holly noticed an intensity in his eyes.

‘I’ve heard she’s good with her hands,’ Holly murmured, and then gasped as Charlie pulled her closer, leaving her in absolutely no doubt as to where his thoughts were going.

‘Steady on,’ he whispered. ‘An MP with an erection would not go down well on this dance floor, with this crowd.’

‘You might well finish off some of your more elderly voters,’ Holly said wryly.

‘Shall we get out of here, then?’ Charlie suggested, his eyes growing darker with desire. ‘I think I’ve done my duty. And you’ve certainly gone above and beyond yours.’

‘Sure,’ Holly said. ‘I could do with getting out of these heels.’ She smiled mischievously. ‘And I’ll need a hand with the zip on this dress – Rachel had to shoehorn me into it.’

‘It would be my pleasure,’ Charlie replied. ‘But can you stop making me imagine unzipping your dress? I’ll never manage to say goodbye coherently to all these people otherwise!’ He smiled down at her. ‘Speaking of which, I should let Tom and Claudia and the organisers know we’re off. Shall I meet you in the foyer?’

‘Sounds good,’ Holly said. ‘I’ll just go and grab my stuff and meet you out there.’

With palpable regret, they broke apart.

Charlie strode off to make his excuses and Holly cast around for Rachel’s pashmina and her handbag. Seeing them on one of the chairs at the dinner tables, she wandered over to collect them. As she did so, she was irritated to see Miles Fairbrother and his fellow business owner passing the other way.

‘Bit of a turn-up to see you here, missy,’ Miles said, distaste evident in his tone. ‘Wouldn’t have thought this was your kind of scene, with all of these filthy capitalists.’

‘Well, it was a favour to a friend,’ Holly replied, trying to inject a note of brightness into her voice.

‘Yes, I can see that,’ Miles leered. ‘Really friendly, aren’t you?’