With a feeling of anticlimax Lily explained the situation to Flora as she ferried crockery around. ‘So I won’t take up a dining table. I can have my fish and chips here in the bar.’ People were drifting into the dining area now tables were clear and the bar wasn’t quite so busy. She told Flora how to put the order through on the till and, giving Hayley a parting smile, slid into one of the vacant seats at a small table in the middle of the bar. She was startled when Hayley slid into the other chair.

‘I might as well wait for Isaac in comfort.’ Hayley smiled. ‘How has he been? I expect he’s settled in well here.’

‘Fine,’ returned Lily, wishing her meal would come.

Hayley hesitated, seemingly choosing her words. ‘Is he on a nice even keel? I expect he told you that we quite recently split up.’

Really not wanting to be part of a conversation about her boss, and wondering whether Hayley was hoping to be told Isaac was pining for her, Lily took a swig from her wine. ‘Isaac seems absolutely fine whenever we’re together. I wouldn’t worry.’ She realised that made it sound as if she was friendlier with Isaac than was the case but Hayley taking aside a member of Isaac’s staff for information made her skin itch.

Then Flora, who’d chosen that moment to arrive with fish and chips, cutlery and condiments on a tray said with a mischievous twinkle, ‘Isaac’s doing great. He missed Doggo, of course … but now he’s got him back.’

‘Of course.’ Hayley gave an uncomfortable smile.

Isaac’s first shock of the evening had been the sight of Lily and her sister shucking off their coats to demonstrate that on the scale of dressing up to the nines they’d achieved ten. The dark-haired sister was attractive in shocking pink but Lily was sexy as hell in a dress that looked to be made entirely of ice-blue sequins. Isaac’s heart misstepped as he noted what it did for her curves and shapely legs. He was usually drawn to dark-haired women like Hayley but Lily smiled and glowed like the sun glinting off frost. It was the first time he’d seen her blonde hair down and it was just long enough to fall to her breasts, curving around them almost like a pair of hands …

Impatiently, he told himself to stop thinking with that part of his body and concentrate on his work. The bar was crowded enough to keep the staff on their toes and it was Flora’s first night. He’d purposely left her in Tina’s hands to demonstrate to other team members that being sister to the relief manager at The Three Fishes wouldn’t get her special treatment.