She spotted a few last Prosecco glasses they’d missed on the counter. She picked them up as if to head to the kitchen. Delaying tactics, you coward, her mind was heckling her, Bouncer had definitely left her head space. Oh jeez.

Max caught up with her in two steps, brushed the hair from the side of her neck and kissed her there, oh so tenderly, making all sorts of strange things happen to her insides.

She turned to face him, her back now against the counter. He pressed his body against hers as he kissed her once more, deep and sensual with tongues probing, twining. Oh my …

Sod the washing-up. She placed the glasses back down beside her and cupped the back of his head in her hands, where his hair was short, slightly spiky, firmly holding his face to hers as the kiss continued, intensely. They both knew where this was heading.

Max pulled back gently. His deep green eyes fixed on hers. ‘Are you okay? You sure about this?’

‘Yes,’ her voice squeaked. Bloody hell, why was she so damned nervous? She was a thirty-six-year-old woman, for heaven’s sake. It wasn’t as though she’d never done this before. ‘Ah … it’s just I haven’t had sex in four years,’ she blurted out.

‘Four years?’

‘Yep.’

‘Well, no wonder you’re nervous. And hey, no pressure on me then … Better make it worthwhile.’ He gave her a gorgeous, cheeky grin, and took her back into a hug.

It might just be all right. Hopefully, much more than all right. In fact, she couldn’t think of anyone else she’d rather be about to have sex with, to be honest, and that included Ryan Gosling and Gerard Butler.

Go girl! A new voice took over in her mind. It was feisty and sexy and she hadn’t heard it in a very long time.

She took his hand and led him upstairs, heading initially for the living room (she felt slightly anxious about leading him straight off to bed), where she gently told him to sit down.

‘You have a thing about sofas, don’t you?’ he smiled. A smile that was warm through to his eyes – his very sexy eyes.

She moved to position herself on his lap, so very close. Took his face in her hands again and began kissing him extremely slowly, yearning growing between them. She felt this huge, rather scary, overwhelming feeling of love for him. Oh my, could this really be love again? He had made her laugh, smile, had wiped her tears, held her hand – he’d even stood in for the carpenter, despite being so busy himself, to make her chocolate shop café come true, dammit – and now this, this last beautiful hurdle.