Lucy watched all of this without moving. They’d nearly kissed, she was sure of it. And the way he had looked at her, he felt something too. This wasn’t just her having a lusty perv at her friend’s brother.

He made it back to her and helped her into her ski. “All good?” he asked as he scrutinised her boot bindings.

Lucy put her weight on the ski. “Uh, yes, thank you.”

Will straightened and looked down at her, his face set in a neutral expression. “So, another run, or we could get some hot chocolate?” he asked.

Right, she thought, so we’re going to pretend that nothing happened between us. Just brilliant.

“Let’s have a break, shall we?” she replied, feigning a smile.

As she sipped her hot chocolate, the feeling returning to her fingers and toes, she watched the activity outside the café and thought back over the morning. Will had been so patient with her, so generous with his time, encouraging her without a trace of condescension.

He’s a good one.

The realisation both thrilled and terrified her, because maybe she had imagined there was something between them and it was all one-sided—her side. And what was the point of falling for a man who lived in America when her life was in London? The swarm of thoughts buzzed about her mind as the hot chocolate warmed her body.

“You look like you’re a million miles away.”

She smiled, snapping back to the present and taking in his tousled hair and pink cheeks. She wondered if hers looked like that. “I was, actually. Sorry.”

“No need to apologise.” Then he reached across the table and took her hand.

Chapter 12

Chloe

“It’s a very pretty village,” Chloe said, stifling a yawn.

She and Archer were walking down the road away from his mother’s house. It was drizzling, but they were sharing Cecily’s giant umbrella and despite her toes burning with cold inside her now-soggy boots, she was otherwise impervious to the grey weather. Archer Frigging Tate! she mused to herself.

“So much so, it’s boring you silly?”

The stifled yawn turned into a laugh. “Nooo, that’s just jet lag. Like your mum said, I only arrived last night.”

“Well, in that case, I agree with you. It is a pretty village. Very small, mind you. It doesn’t even have a school.”

“Were you and Lucy the only children when you were growing up?”

“No, there were a few of us. We all went to school in the next town, Watlington.”

“And you were both in the same class?” Chloe was fishing. According to the world’s tabloids, Archer Tate’s age was somewhere between thirty and forty, but he’d always been tight-lipped about it, saying that it shouldn’t matter what age he was, as long as he was the right person for the role. It was his act of solidarity with female actors to protest how ageist and sexist the acting profession was. Chloe had always admired that about him—and his acting ability. And his ridiculous good looks.