Her eyes widened. ‘But they can’t! You’ve been living and working in Liverpool for over a year. It doesn’t make sense, it’s obvious you’re not one of them …’

He placed an arm around her shoulders. ‘I’m not in any trouble, they’re just making sure they keep their people safe. Once the war is over, they’ll let me go.’ He pressed a key into the palm of her hand. ‘I’ve paid a month in advance, so you’ve no worries for a bit …’

‘How long do you think you’re going to be away?’ Hearing movement behind her, Roz looked round to see the first of the men being led up the gangplank to HMT Dunera. ‘Where are they going?’ As the words left her lips, a soldier approached Felix.

‘Time to go,’ he said, jerking his head in the direction of the ship.

Gripping Felix’s hand in hers, she turned to the soldier. ‘Please don’t do this, he’d never do anything to hurt anyone.’ Her voice was getting higher as the soldier tried to lead Felix away. ‘You’re making a big mistake. Ask Alan or Bill if you don’t believe me; they’ve lived in Liverpool their whole lives.’

Realising that Roz’s outburst was beginning to attract unwanted attention, the soldier tried to push her gently to one side, but she was having none of it. Doubling her efforts to keep Felix with her, she wrapped her arms around his waist to prevent them from taking him away.

Felix spoke quietly to the soldier over the top of Roz’s head. ‘Just give me a minute, mate, you can see the lady’s upset.’

Rather than risk Roz making more of a scene than she already had, the soldier nodded abruptly. ‘You’ve got one minute, but that’s all.’

Still holding him in a tight embrace, Roz looked up into Felix’s face. ‘Please don’t go,’ she said, her voice barely above a whisper.

Pushing her hair back from her tear-stained face, Felix kissed her forehead. ‘I’ll be back before you know it.’ His eyes shone down at her with the same warmth as they had when they first met. ‘You know I wouldn’t leave you if I had a choice.’

Realising that she was making things worse, Roz put on a brave face. Leaning back, she tried her best to smile, and was pleasantly surprised when Felix took her in his arms and kissed her full on the mouth.

If anyone asked Roz where she would have wanted her first kiss to be, the answer would not have been on a busy quayside, but right now, it was exactly where she wanted it to be. With silent tears falling down her cheeks, she felt herself melt into his embrace. Kissing him back, she noticed the familiar scent of his aftershave.