‘I’ll sit here with Maggie and look after her, if you would like to play, Cindy,’ Eric said.

Cindy looked to Maggie for approval. ‘Do you mind?’ she asked.

Maggie shook her head. ‘Of course not,’ she replied as she took another sip of her drink.

Eric smiled down at her. He was wearing a cable knit sweater and unlike the other men in the bar who wore caps, his head was bare. His shoulders were broad and Maggie realised that his hat had hidden his good looks; with his dark hair and beard, he was a very handsome man. Maggie gulped on her port and lemon and had to stop herself when she realised she had swallowed almost half a glass. As Cindy walked away to join the arrows team, only Babs saw the wink that passed between Reg and Eric and the pat Reg gave Eric on the shoulder.

Eric placed his pint on the upturned barrel. ‘I hope you don’t mind,’ he said as he sat and straddled the seat. The noise of the chatter swirled around them and Maggie felt as though they were sitting in a bubble, because all she could hear was Eric… She managed a smile.

‘No, not at all, not just this once,’ she teased as she raised her glass. ‘Thank you for the drink.’ He raised his own pint glass and clinked it against the side of her own. ‘You are a married man, after all,’ she said.

Eric had no response to that. He had stolen money from his own house to be here, had to run like a thief in the night to escape. He took in Maggie’s hair, her make-up. ‘You look stunning,’ he said. ‘Nothing like the Mrs Trott who gives me my tea each morning. Mind, she’s a looker too.’

Maggie grimaced. ‘It’s Maggie,’ she said quickly, ‘you know that.’

He smiled. ‘I was only teasing,’ he said. ‘So, here’s another question: who is it I will be seeing in the morning, Mrs Trott or the new Maggie?’

With an audacity Maggie did not know she possessed, she returned his gaze full on and his eyes never wavered from their target.

‘Maggie, if you like,’ she said. Her mouth was dry, her head light, she wasn’t sure who was talking, her or almost empty glass of port and lemon. His brown eyes devoured her face, and she felt their approving appraisal bore into her very soul.

‘Just once is it, did you say?’

She sipped the last of her drink before she replied; she knew exactly what she was committing to and she was ready. ‘Yes, just once. I’ll try anything, just the once,’ she replied. ‘You never know, it might be enough.’

The frisson between them sizzled and to Maggie it felt as though the air had left the room. Her breath froze as her pulse raced.