Beamish leant over and grabbed the tap, managing to turn it off. He went to say something but caught sight of my face and T-shirt and started to laugh instead. I looked up at him and laughed back. We were both soaked and covered in splatters of thick brown paint.

‘I better add this to my list of urgent jobs,’ he said, reaching around me for a handful of paper towels. ‘Here,’ he said, ‘this’ll get the worst of it off.’

We mopped up as best we could and I was about to make a second attempt to clean the brushes when I felt him closing the gap next to me.

‘What?’

‘You missed a bit,’ he said, gently sweeping my hair aside and pressing the towel against my cheek. ‘It will probably stain if you don’t get it off and how good will that look for the parents tomorrow?’

‘They’ll probably just think I’ve thrown myself into my work,’ I said, turning to face him as he cupped my face with his other hand and tilted it up to the light.

Just for a second, he took his eyes off the splodge of paint and looked into mine. I knew I should look away, but I couldn’t. It was as if there was a magnetic field pulling me towards him.

‘Hattie,’ he said, his eyes flicking to my lips as I leant further in, ‘what are you doing?’

For a second, time stood still and then I came to my senses.

‘Returning the favour,’ I said, somehow managing to stop myself and reaching to grab another paper towel, ‘you’ve missed a bit too.’

He took the towel from me and I quickly turned back to the sink.

‘How’s that?’ he asked, once he had scrubbed at his face.

His complexion was almost as red as mine, but I couldn’t tell if that was because he’d rubbed too hard or was feeling as hot under the collar as I was.

‘Great,’ I said, ‘all gone.’

‘I’m just going to check on the boiler then,’ he said, ‘and then we should really get going. It’s a big day tomorrow.’

I watched as he rushed away, my face burning again. What the hell was wrong with me? I was an almost engaged person and I had very nearly just kissed another man.

Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Had it been any other school day, I would have phoned in sick, actually I would have done anything on any day to avoid having to face Beamish again, but it wasn’t any other day and I knew as soon as I opened my eyes that I had no option but to just get on with it. After all, it could have been worse, I could have actually kissed him, rather than almost locked lips.