‘I know,’ he said, looking down at me and starting to laugh. ‘But I think I might fall over if I let you go.’

Had he not been half-cut and if it was the end of a first date, that would have been a very romantic line, but as it was…

‘How can you be this drunk on six pints?’ I demanded, starting to giggle myself.

‘I had six?’ he said, his eyes wide. ‘I’m not a drinker, Liza. That’s, what…’ He let go of me to add up on his fingers and I had to reach for him as he pitched backwards. ‘That’s three times more than I ever have.’

‘Well,’ I said, holding him steady by grasping the front of his shirt, ‘at least you still have the wits to work that out.’

I could already tell he was going to feel rough in the morning, but I wasn’t going to shoulder any of the blame. It was Theo’s fault because he had told Hope to keep them coming. And Ned’s of course, for drinking them.

‘Right,’ I said, ‘let’s get you inside and you can drink some water. It might not be a bad idea to take some painkillers up to bed with you too,’ I added. ‘For when you wake up.’

‘That’s an excellent idea,’ he said, slurring slightly and smiling down at me. ‘You’re very organised.’ He held my gaze for a second and I tried to ignore how the bewitching sight of his speckled eyes made my tummy flutter, even though they were slightly unfocused. ‘Can I tell you a secret?’

‘If you must,’ I swallowed, before hastily looking away.

‘You know before, when we were in the pub?’

‘Yes…’

‘And you asked me what I fancied?’

‘Um,’ I commented, feeling my temperature soar in spite of the cold.

‘I wanted to say you, Liza,’ he whispered as if he was confiding the biggest secret.

‘Did you?’ I gasped, thinking back to the moment.

I knew it was the beer talking, but he had looked at me a bit oddly when I’d asked the question and he hadn’t had so much as a drop then. I wondered if he really meant it and, more importantly, if he had worked out that I fancied him too.

‘I did,’ he seriously said, making more of an effort to stand on his own two feet. ‘Because I’ve fancied you from the very first moment that I set eyes on you, Liza Wynter. Even though I was freezing my nuts off because you’d set the alarm off and I had to come out in just a towel to turn it off. Do you remember?’

How could I not?

‘Vaguely,’ I smiled, ‘and, I’m sorry about that…’