‘I was about to ask you the same thing,’ he groaned. ‘What the hell happened?’

‘Your hand was freezing,’ she told him, carefully probing her forehead with her fingertips to check for blood, certain there must be a huge cut there but thankful there wasn’t.

‘Let me take a look,’ he said gently moving her hand away. ‘You’re going to have a bruise there,’ he said with a shake of his head. ‘I’m sorry.’

‘It’s okay. How’s your head?’ she asked, looking up at him and kind of hoping he had something similar just because she was always snappy when she was in any kind of pain.

‘Just took me by surprise,’ he said somewhat cheerfully. ‘Come on, I’ll put some ice on it back at the house.’

He opened the door and helped her in the car, before climbing in his side.

‘Well, that was one way to kill the moment,’ Elle said, tipping her head back against the seat.

Stuart’s slightly guttural hmm was, she discovered, becoming a thing. He seemed to be able to convey a wide range of emotions through that grunt-like sound. When they reached the house, he sat her down on a comfy-looking lounge and disappeared into the kitchen before returning with a packet of frozen peas and a tea towel.

‘Lie back,’ he instructed, and she did as she was told. Drawing sometimes took it out of her, but today’s sketching had been a whole other level of emotional exhaustion. Or maybe it was a mix of that and newly awakened passion, with a touch of concussion on the side.

Sitting next to her, Stuart carefully placed the frozen peas on her forehead and held them there, gently moving a few loose strands of her hair away from her face. His touch was comforting and gentle and Elle let out a small sigh as her body began to relax.

‘That’ll be the kettle,’ he said as a click sounded from the kitchen. ‘I’ll be right back,’ he said, leaning forward to kiss her nose. Her nose …

While she was coming to terms with how sweet that gesture was, Stuart reappeared with a cup of tea and sat it down on the table beside her. ‘I ken you’re not exactly sick, but I thought maybe this might be an occasion for tea.’

‘This is exactly the occasion for tea,’ Elle said, pushing herself into a sitting position. ‘Ah,’ she added with a small sigh, ‘just like Gran used to make it.’

‘I wasn’t trying to remind you of your granny,’ he said with a grave twist of his lips.

‘Well, you don’t … she never headbutted me.’

‘Not one of my finer moments,’ he agreed. ‘I really am sorry.’