Hannah stepped towards him. She held her breath as she reached up and put her hand on his arm, his bicep tensing beneath her touch. His eyes widened, and she wondered what he would do if she told him that what she really wanted to do, more than anything, was kiss him. She felt giddy – with exhaustion, and with the unreality of the situation, standing in a hotel room with a man who, a few days ago, she had thought colder than the ice rink at Winter Wonderland. A man who, she reminded herself, had a girlfriend.

‘Thank you, Noah,’ she said instead. ‘I really appreciate you looking out for me. I—’

‘Hannah,’ he cut in.

‘Yes?’ The look in his eyes made her shiver. ‘What is it?’

Noah’s ringtone and the BBC Breaking News alert sounded simultaneously, making her jump and him step back. Hannah saw the photo of him and Beth on Noah’s phone screen as he picked it up.

‘Hey,’ he said, turning towards the window. Hannah tapped him on the shoulder and pointed to the door, but he shook his head and held up a hand, asking her to wait.

She leaned against the door and took out her own phone, wondering idly what was so important that the BBC were alerting everyone, her stomach twisting with a strange mix of anxiety and excitement when she saw what it was.

‘It’s best if I stay here for now,’ she heard Noah say. ‘Because of the storm, and because …’ He stopped, waiting, a muscle moving in his jaw. ‘Of course, that’s yours …’ He turned fully away from Hannah, his shoulders squared. She just made out his next words, murmured towards the glass. ‘I don’t know yet, but it makes sense, doesn’t it? Doing it like this?’ Another long pause. ‘But I’ll see you when I get back? Good. OK. Bye.’ He took his phone away from his ear, but it was a few moments before he turned round. ‘Sorry about that. I just—’

‘No problem,’ she rushed.

‘What is it?’ he asked. ‘Something’s wrong.’

It was a statement rather than a question. How was it that he could read her so easily, when they’d only known each other a few days? ‘The train line at Dawlish,’ she said, exhaling. ‘It’s collapsed in the storm. It looks like I won’t be going home tomorrow after all.’

Chapter Four

‘So you’re trapped, then,’ Noah said.

‘I’m not getting a train back home yet, that’s for sure.’ Hannah sat on the edge of Noah’s bed, her earlier reticence gone in the face of the sudden change of events.

He frowned. ‘Travelling in this kind of weather isn’t a great idea, anyway. Maybe it’s a good thing that you have to stay for a couple of extra days.’

‘But it says in the news report that a section of the track has collapsed, so it’s going to be longer than a couple of days. I’ll have to find another way of getting home.’ She chewed her lip, knowing she couldn’t use this as an excuse to extend her stay in Cornwall. She wanted to, but it wouldn’t be professional.