‘What are you doing buying me a picnic bench?’ Anna asked, as together they began to wrestle it onto dry land.

‘Ah, well – first confession,’ he said. ‘I didn’t buy it. It’s been lying around the harbour for ages, waiting to go out with a load of scrap. I checked it over and I reckon all it needs is a good scrub. So I asked if I could take it and was told I could.’

‘And the second confession?’ Anna prompted, as she held on to the bench while he clambered out of the boat again and helped her drag it sideways onto secure ground.

Liam leaned his weight on the bench with both hands, a quick grin on his face. ‘Well, it’s kind of a bribe.’

Anna raised one eyebrow. ‘Oh? And what kind of bribe is it, Kiwi?’

He laughed. ‘I still want you to cook me dinner, chef lady.’

She crossed her arms and shook her head. ‘What if I say no and leave you here to get it back into the boat on your own?’

‘You won’t do that.’

‘Sure of yourself, aren’t you?’

‘You’re not the first person to say that.’

‘I bet I’m not.’

He smiled again. ‘So, what do you say? It doesn’t have to be fancy, or take forever to prepare. It could be an omelette, for all I care. And I’ll bring the wine.’

‘If it doesn’t have to be fancy, why do you want me to cook it? Cook it yourself!’

He glanced down at his hands, for a moment looking strangely self-conscious. ‘Ah well, that’s the third confession.’

‘Oh?’

He looked up at her, eyebrows knitting together briefly and with an expression in his eye that turned her heart over right there in her chest.

‘It’s not really about the food. It’s about the company.’

She refused to look away. He could play whatever games of flattery he liked. It probably worked most of the time. ‘You can’t cook, can you, Liam? That’s the truth.’

He grinned. ‘Someone’s been doing some research of their own, eh?’

She shrugged. ‘It’s a small place.’

‘It is that,’ he agreed. ‘Come on. Let’s get this down to the bothy. I’ve got to get back and you’ve got langoustines to cook.’

Anna steamed the shellfish, then separated the delicate flesh and set it in the fridge to chill. She put the empty shells into her pressure cooker and added onion, garlic, carrot, celery and plenty of white wine, then set them to simmer. She knocked back the soft white dough she had made earlier, shaped it into baguettes, slashed the tops with a knife and set them to prove again.