But Jonathan obviously had because he wouldn’t have asked me to go with him otherwise, would he? We’d spent our Christmas holiday in separate rooms but if we were actually going to move there then that wouldn’t be an option, and he would have been well aware of that before he asked me to go with him.

‘I don’t think I’d better drink any more,’ I said, putting down my glass. ‘I’ll never be able to think straight with a head full of bubbles.’

Dolly moved her glass next to mine.

‘This was not how I was expecting my day to end.’ I sighed.

‘I’m sure it’s not what either of us were expecting when we got up this morning,’ she said squeezing my arm.

Jonathan came back in then, still grinning like the Cheshire Cat as he loosened his tie and undid the top button of his shirt.

‘So,’ he said, topping up our glasses and looking at me, ‘have you made up your mind?’

‘Oh, for goodness sake, Jonathan,’ said Dolly, gathering up her bags. ‘You mustn’t rush her.’

He winked at me and I shook my head. I wished he didn’t take quite so much pleasure in winding Dolly up.

‘You aren’t leaving, are you?’ I asked her. If she went, I wouldn’t be able to think any of it through in my own time because Jonathan wouldn’t give me the chance. ‘You’ve only just arrived and I need you to help me decide.’

‘No, you don’t,’ she said firmly. ‘This has to be your decision, my dear and yours alone. I’m going back to Wynbridge, where you know you are always welcome. You need to take some time to yourself, Hattie, and have a long hard think about things.’

I knew she was referring to much more than the move to a sunnier clime.

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I had been right to think that Jonathan wouldn’t give me a moment’s peace to think his offer through. The second I returned to the flat after helping Dolly into a taxi he had whisked me off to bed just as he always did after a trip away. Evidently, I was still as incapable of resisting his seductive charms as I had been when he switched from hotel guest to local resident.

I had just about managed to keep him at a professional arm’s length whilst he was a guest, but four months later, the moment his work relocation was complete and he had moved into the flat, I had succumbed and we had gone on our first date. We had been together ever since and had recently celebrated our two-year anniversary. And, aside from the ‘little bit of bother’ I had mentioned to Dolly earlier, everything was wonderful.