Ben frowned. ‘Bella, we really need to talk about what just happened,’ he began, mustering his courage. He was aware that his voice was trembling, giving him away.

Bella looked perplexed. ‘What are you on about? Nothing happened.’

‘You attacked me!’ Ben shook his head, unable to believe what he was hearing.

‘No, I didn’t. Don’t be so ridiculous! As if someone the size of me could attack anyone, let alone a six-foot-two hulk like you. You must be having some kind of hallucination. Listen,’ she said, adopting a softer, more sympathetic tone of voice. ‘It’s been a long, stressful day – for both of us.’

Ben was aware that his mouth had dropped open slightly, as he listened in disbelief.

‘So …’ She came over to him and put her hand on his arm, causing him to wince slightly. He wasn’t wrong about the number of bruises there would be when he finally looked. ‘Why don’t we get an early night and try to put everything else to the back of our minds? Let’s remind ourselves why it’s just you and me that matters. We don’t need anyone else. It’s better when it’s just us.’

Ben gazed into her deep, dark eyes, now swimming with love and serenity. And that’s when he got really scared.

Part Two

Chapter Sixteen

I had prepared my answer, ready for a question that, surprisingly, never came. I had also done my research. I knew that this particular bar was the perfect place to find him. I clocked the two of them almost immediately and took up my position at a nearby table, pretending to wait for someone. There was no one, of course.

He was handsome, in a preppy sort of way and he was tall, which was always a plus. But there was also a sense of vulnerability about him that I liked. He had a sadness in his eyes that told me he was in need of someone like me to lift him out of himself.

I had never struggled to attract men. I know it sounds arrogant but it’s also true. Usually, all it took was a certain look from under my eyelashes and a flick of the hair and they appeared at my side as if by magic, offering champagne, dinner and, in one case, an immediate proposal of marriage.

But this one took his time. I liked that. His friend had noticed me almost immediately. But he was obviously happily married because it was with amusement, rather than interest, that he observed me staring over at their table.

The other one was more engrossed in both his conversation and his drink. It was clear that they were more than just work colleagues meeting for an after-hours beer, as there was a closeness and familiarity about them. I wondered briefly if they might be brothers but then I remembered that he didn’t have a brother.

Eventually, the fairer-haired one said something to him and he finally looked up in my direction. I prepared myself, ready for the moment when our eyes met and I knew the second they did that it was a bulls-eye. Without saying a word to his friend, he picked up his drink and moved over to join me at my table, with a slightly goofy grin and a glimmer of excitement in his eyes. He was better looking close up, with dark, soulful brown eyes, of course. He needed to have those brown eyes.