Eventually, breathless, he released her mouth, but kept hold of her body. It was as well he did, otherwise she’d have fallen over. ‘So,’ he said, breathing hard. ‘Now can I ask you to marry me? And don’t say it’s all so sudden, because it isn’t and you know it isn’t. I’ve been in love with you since I first helped you step out of a dustbin. We may fight like cat and dog, but we’re destined for each other and you know it as well as I do.’

Thea swallowed, trying to get her breath and her balance back. Her mind was a little quicker to recover. While she wanted nothing better than to go on kissing Ben for the rest of her life, she had to get a few things straight first. ‘What about those other women? That Molly told me about? Like handbags?’

‘What are you talking about?’

‘Always another pretty girl dangling off your arm. Molly told me about them. You took one to a family party.’

‘Oh, her.’

‘Yes, her. She wasn’t Poppy, I assume, or Molly would have recognised her.’

He laughed again. For possibly the first time since she’d known him, he seemed boyish and carefree, like Toby making chocolate cake. ‘Cilia was just to stop the family gossip and Poppy was a smokescreen so Veronica wouldn’t guess I cared about you.’

‘I don’t think she knew that was her function! You used her!’

‘She’s used plenty of people in her time. It’ll do her good to be useful for once.’

‘You are a bastard!’

‘Thea, have you any idea how utterly terrifying it is to realise that the woman you love could be seriously harmed by the woman you once loved? If Veronica had got an inkling of how I felt about you she’d have sued me for custody of Toby.’

‘She wouldn’t have got it, would she?’

‘I don’t know, but she’d have gone for it. And what would that have been like for Toby?’

‘Oh, God!’

‘And if I’d gone to a family party without a woman, they’d have pestered me with questions about this woman that Toby likes so much. Word would have got back to Veronica and she’d have had her knives into your gallery so deep you’d never get them out. Now, can we please stop arguing?’

‘I’m not arguing. You’re doing it all on your own. And if you liked me so much, why didn’t you ask me out, like a normal human being?’

‘I’ve told you. Because of Veronica.’

‘Well, Veronica’s still alive, isn’t she? Why is it all right to bring me here now?’