‘You OK?’ Jack asked.

‘Yes, fine, thank you. Just absorbing it all.’

‘Good.’

I rolled my head to the side and noticed that his eyes were closed, the long dark lashes throwing shadows on the light tan of his cheeks. His hands rested, one on top of the other on his broad chest, which moved slowly up and down in an even, rhythmic movement. I looked away and then, after a few seconds, looked back. His breathing deepened, soft, slow and even as he drifted into sleep. I found my page and began to read.

When I opened my eyes an hour later, it was to find that my book had dropped off onto the blanket and I’d turned onto my side, as had Jack. My arms were tucked in front of me and one of Jack’s muscular ones was slung across me. Oh, crap. Now how did I get out of this?

17

I began to try to shift from my position with the least amount of movement possible in order to avoid waking Jack. The last thing I needed right now was for him to wake up to find us like this. Either Jack would make jokes about how I’d orchestrated it, and tease me when I denied it, which I knew he would be able to goad me into no matter how hard I tried not to be drawn in, or there was the opposite end of the scale, where he woke up and felt horribly awkward and we’d both try to pretend it hadn’t happened, while knowing all the while it had. I wasn’t sure which was worse. Possibly the second scenario. The teasing at least would get boring and he’d eventually stop. Awkwardness could last a lot longer. The ideal situation, though, was that he never found out, so I continued with my stealth moves, stopping in my tracks, and holding my breath as he made a sound in his sleep and moved again. Unfortunately, his shift in position undid all my work and set me back at the beginning. I needed a new plan.

‘Oof!’ Jack sat up hurriedly as Clive put his paw and a certain amount of weight on a more delicate part of his anatomy. ‘Clive, mate! What you doing?’

‘Sorry,’ I said from where I was now also sitting up. In the confusion and, probably, shock, Jack had moved so fast I was pretty sure he hadn’t noticed anything except where the dog had stood, admittedly encouraged by me with a strategically placed treat that I’d managed to wriggle out from the nearby picnic basket. Yes, I know it was a low trick, so to speak, but desperate times call for desperate measures. ‘Don’t blame him. That was my fault, I’m afraid. We were playing and got a bit carried away.’

Jack eyed me for a moment, sitting hunched and with his green eyes sparkling even more than usual, but this time I was pretty sure the cause was pain rather than merriment and the unshed tears of a paw to the groin. He gave a tight nod. I did honestly feel quite bad. I hadn’t meant for him to be hurt, just a bit uncomfy momentarily in order to extricate myself. Hopefully there wasn’t any lasting damage.