It was the tension that had built knowing she had to return home that was causing her to behave like this. Deep down, she knew that. Although she had tried her best to ignore it, as the date neared, her nerves had grown. Then the unfortunate timing of Liam going quiet on her and that added fear that she would have to face going alone had manifested itself into panic.

The episodes didn’t happen often. She liked to think she was a well-adjusted woman who looked forward and tried not to dwell on the past too much, but recent events hadn’t helped.

It had been a cause of conflict with Josh. Sometimes she had behaved irrationally in their short-lived marriage and even though he understood everything that had happened, he would grow frustrated with her, taking it personally.

Liam was watching her closely and she expected him to turn and head for the door at any moment. Why the hell would he want to put up with this level of drama? Therefore it shocked her when he stayed where he was.

‘Tell me how I can fix this.’

When she opened and closed her mouth, unsure quite how to respond, he stepped closer, not touching, though she was aware of the heat from his body. What did he mean, ‘fix this’? Was he talking about how he hadn’t contacted her or her overreaction to it? She honestly wasn’t sure.

This time when he touched her arm, she didn’t flinch. His other hand went to her face, tilting her chin with his thumb. ‘Hannah, look at me.’

She didn’t want to, was almost afraid in case she saw pity, but the way he had positioned himself had her trapped and she couldn’t really manoeuvre herself away without causing a scene. Slowly she raised her eyes, found herself locked into a gaze of crystal blue, but rather than cause distress, it centred her. There was no pity. What she saw was understanding. That and something else. Something deeper.

‘Let me go with you tomorrow. We’ll deal with it together, okay?’

He made it sound like they were a team and she found herself conveniently forgetting about her anger with him and how he had gone AWOL on her. A team meant she didn’t have to face going home alone. A team meant he would be there to help her get through it.

Needing that support, she nodded. ‘Okay.’

His mouth was close to hers and as his gaze dipped slightly, she wondered if he was going to kiss her, but then his lips curved and he leant forward, grazed them in a gentle kiss against her forehead before wrapping her in his arms.

The heat from his body radiated into hers, energising her, awakening her belief that she was strong enough to face her fears, and she relaxed into him, snaking her arms around his waist and hugging him right back.