Nick tucked the cassette into the waistband of his trunks, then topped up their wine glasses. She followed him into the utility room and through a door that led to the conservatory swimming pool. He put the glasses down on a small plastic table between two sun-loungers, then put the tape in the cassette player. The first track was ‘Tunnel of Love’, a song about a boy meeting a girl, liking her, but not wanting to spoil things by getting too deep. It suddenly seemed very appropriate.

As Jane removed the dressing gown and put it on the lounger, Nick looked up with a stunned expression.

‘It’s a bit small, isn’t it?’ she said awkwardly.

‘Not at all. It fits you perfectly.’

As they walked along the side of the pool, Jane couldn’t resist playfully nudging Nick as if she was going to knock him in the water. As he deliberately fell sideways towards the water, Nick grabbed her wrist and pulled her in with him. Jane shrieked as they fell into the warm water together. Surfacing, Jane clasped her hands around Nick’s neck as he swam to the shallow end, where he could stand with his head and shoulders above the water. They gazed into each other’s eyes as Nick pulled her close, enveloping her in a tight embrace. The long passionate kiss that followed was intoxicating, a magical moment of surrender that neither of them had felt before.

‘Do you want to go upstairs?’ Jane asked.

‘It’s been a long time since I’ve made love to a woman,’ Nick said nervously.

‘Then we’ll have to take things slowly,’ she replied.

Chapter Seventeen

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Jane woke early. Blurry-eyed and unaccustomed to the surroundings, for a moment she wondered where she was. But feeling Nick’s warm breath soft on her neck, and his arm around her waist, she felt reassured, knowing she was safe and where she wanted to be. From the intensity of her emotions, Jane knew, even though she had been a bit drunk, that this was more than a casual one-night stand. From the moment they had undressed and got into bed, Nick had made her feel wanted and loved, with gentle foreplay and tender kisses, stimulating her beyond her wildest imagination. Jane had reciprocated, and drawn together like two magnets, they made passionate love, their emotions expressed without words and their eyes speaking the unsaid.

Jane slowly rolled over and gazed into Nick’s eyes.

‘I’m so lucky to have you next to me,’ he said.

‘Me too,’ she replied, feeling an adrenaline rush as they kissed.

‘Shall we have some breakfast, then I’ll take you home and we can discuss some interior design ideas?’ he said as they pulled apart.

‘I’d rather just spend the day in bed with you,’ she smiled.

Nick tapped her nose. ‘I thought you were meeting a girlfriend for lunch?’