Eventually, her sobs subsided, and she pressed away from him. Why on earth had she chosen to go with a smoky eye? She must look like a panda. Embarrassed, she dropped her head and wiped her tears with her hands. “Hey …” His fingertips found her chin and lifted it, but she didn’t want to meet his eyes. He dipped his head to place a soft kiss on her lips, somehow not caring that she was a blubbering mess.

Chloe chewed on her bottom lip. Usually sure of the protocol for handling any disaster, she was at a loss in this one. “I must look a mess,” she said with a half-laugh. Perhaps self-deprecation was the right way to go.

“Darling one, you do look upset, but if ever there was a woman who could pull off tears and smudged mascara, it’s you.”

Chloe pressed her hand to her mouth as a breathy laugh burst from her. When she looked at Archer, he was smiling at her with such warmth that it nearly set her off crying again.

Instead, she contained herself, and retrieved a tissue from her jeans pocket to wipe her face. Always be prepared for any eventuality. Her mentor’s words echoed in her mind as she mopped up her tears. After a slow, steeling breath, Chloe asked the one question she knew she had to ask, hoping she’d been right about Archer’s feelings for her. “So, how did it go?” her voice cracked on the last word and she clenched her jaw in annoyance at herself.

Archer reached for her free hand. “As well as can be expected. There were tears—hers—and some shouting—also hers, but I was crystal clear with her. I told her it was definitely over.” Chloe let out the breath she hadn’t realised she’d been holding. “She protested even that, however …”

“Oh.” Chloe’s jaw clenched. This conversation was wreaking more havoc on her insides than the merry-go-round.

“But I assured her there was no chance of her and I reconciling, ever, because I have fallen in love with someone else.”

Her eyes widened and her lips parted. It was not often that Chloe Sims was rendered speechless.

“I told her that I love you, which as I’m saying it now, means that I told someone else—an ex, of all people—before I even told you and, bollocks, I’ve cocked this up, haven’t I? I’m so sorry.”

A giggle erupted from Chloe. “You know, if we’re going to be together, you’re gonna have to stop all your over-the-top British apologising.”

“I’m sor— Uh …”

“Now,” she snaked her arms up around his neck, “can you please go back to the part—”

“Where I say, ‘I love you’?” She nodded. “I do. I love you, Chloe.” Chloe blinked back tears. “It’s mad and it’s quick …”

“It is,” she interjected breathlessly. The change in his expression told her that he was unsure how she felt, and her heart cracked a little at his vulnerability. “But I love you too,” she rushed to say. He broke into a grin and planted a hearty smack of a kiss onto her lips. “It was the floral rubber gloves, wasn’t it?”