The waitress came over to them. She was impossibly tall with a long curtain of blonde hair that was flicked over one shoulder. She had inexplicably large breasts. Henry glanced up at her, suppressed a smile and returned to looking at his menu.

They gave their drinks order and she left.

‘What’s made you laugh?’

‘I was just thinking, if we are creating life stories for all the people in here, I think she is a secret porn star.’

Penny laughed. ‘I must admit you’re not anything like what I first thought, when I met you.’

‘What did you think of me when we first met?’

‘That you were grumpy, moody, inappropriate because you were flirting with me when I thought you were married and sexy as hell.’

He laughed so loudly it echoed around the cavern.

‘And you don’t think I’m sexy as hell now?’

‘Ah, you’re not bad to look at, I suppose.’

He laughed again and Penny loved the sight of him smiling so much.

‘I am grumpy, thankfully not all the time, but when I get in a bad mood, everyone knows about it. I have a hell of a temper, which has only reared its ugly head a few times in my life but it isn’t pretty when it does appear. And I am inappropriate because the thoughts that are currently running through my head about you are completely not acceptable for a first date where I promised to keep everything slow.’

‘Oh.’ Penny couldn’t help but blush.

‘You see, I am inappropriate. I shouldn’t have said anything. I didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable.’

‘No, it’s fine.’ She ran her thumb over the back of his hand. ‘I’m just not used to it, that’s all. Chris never said things like that to me.’

‘He never said how beautiful you were, how much you turned him on?’

‘No. We just didn’t have that kind of relationship. He… wasn’t particularly tactile or loving. It’s fine, different people work in different ways.’

‘You deserve so much better than him. Let me tell you now, you look incredible tonight.’

Penny looked down at her menu.

‘You don’t like compliments,’ Henry said. ‘You’re going to have to get used to them when you’re with me.’

‘I’ll try.’

He smiled at her. ‘You’re also going to have to get used to standing up for yourself. I’m not going to allow people like Jade and Beth to think you are worthless. No one has the right to treat you badly and you need to tell them that. You deserve the best.’

She smiled, not quite sure what to make of this protective streak towards her.

‘Do you want to share a starter?’ he asked.

Penny nodded.

There was a lot she was going to have to get used to around Henry.

Henry pulled up outside their house and turned off the engine. They sat in silence for a moment. It had been a wonderful night. He was so easy to talk to and he made her laugh a lot. But now it suddenly felt like the evening was about to change. Even though Henry had promised to keep everything really slow and not to push her for anything more, she was still nervous about what the night would hold. She hadn’t laid in bed with a man for over eight years. Part of her wanted to take that next step with Henry, she trusted him completely, and even though she had only known him a few days, she couldn’t help the feelings that he caused in her.

He got out and came round to open the car door for her, taking her hand and pulling her out.

She looped her arms round his neck. ‘Are you always such a gentleman?’

He smiled sheepishly, wrapping his arms around her tightly. ‘Well, I was raised to have good manners with women, but I don’t think any of my dates have suggested I’m a gentleman before. When I go out on dates there’s pretty much only one thing on my mind.’

‘Do all your first dates end in sex?’

‘Most of them do.’

She sighed softly. Regardless of what he’d said that morning, he must be disappointed it wasn’t going to end that way.

‘It’s different with you,’ he said. ‘I don’t want that with you.’

‘You don’t want to make love to me?’

‘Oh god, of course I do, but it’s about more than that with us. I want it to be special and I’ve never wanted that before. Normally I go back to the girl’s place, we have a quick shag and then the women hate me because as soon as it’s over I get up and come home to my daughter.’

‘Do you ever bring them back to your house?’

‘No, never, that’s not the kind of thing that I want Daisy to see, hear or even know that that’s what I’m doing. Even with the women that things got semi-serious with, I never had them stay over. I’d have them over for dinner so they could spend time with Daisy but then I’d take them back home again. Any sex always took place at the woman’s house. Everything is different with you. It feels right. When you are ready, I want to make love to you in my bed.’

She stared at him, feeling her heart swell with love for him.

‘Hey, look, a shooting star, make a wish,’ Henry said, pointing out over the sea.

Penny watched as a slash of gold ripped open the inky blue night sky. She closed her eyes and wished, really hard.

‘What did you wish for?’

‘I can’t tell you that, it won’t come true.’

Henry took her hand and led her round the back of the house. He let them into his kitchen and undid her coat, not taking his eyes off hers for a second.

He stared down at her, as if he was trying to work her out. Whatever he saw made him smile. He kissed her, softly, sweetly but, as with every time he had kissed her before, desire ripped through her at the slightest of touches.

‘I want to spend the rest of the night kissing you in my bed,’ he mumbled against her lips. ‘Come on, let’s go to bed.’

Henry started pulling her up the stairs.

‘Wait,’ Penny laughed at his urgency. ‘I haven’t got any pyjamas.’

‘You can sleep in one of my t-shirts.’

He led her into his bedroom and she watched as he started undressing. She slipped off her shoes, and undid the plait, combing through her hair with her fingers as she watched his shirt and then his trousers come off so he was left only in his tight black boxers. He was watching her too and she felt suddenly shy about undressing in front of him.

He grabbed a t-shirt and put it on the bed in front of her.

‘Why don’t I leave you to get changed?’ Henry said, softly.

‘Wait, can you unzip my dress at the back?’

Henry moved behind her and the touch of his hands was like fire at the top of her neck. He unzipped the dress slowly, his hand caressing her back with the softest of touches.

‘Oh,’ Henry said, his hands parting the dress at the back. ‘You wore the snowflake lingerie.’

‘Well yes, you seemed to like it so…’ She trailed off as he moved his hands back to her shoulders and slid the straps down her arms. The dress slithered off her body into a puddle on the floor. At least the black satin camisole top and tiny shorts seemed to cover her body more than the skimpy bra and thong sets she had been forced to buy earlier.

He cupped her waist and pressed his mouth to her neck, sending desire and need hurtling through her as his hands wandered around to stroke across her satin-clad stomach.

‘Do me a favour.’ His voice was coarse. ‘Just wear this tonight, forget the t-shirt.’

She tossed the t-shirt over the chair and climbed into bed. He was quick to follow, immediately pulling her to him and kissing her.

Where before the kisses had been slow and tender, now they were laced with an urgency and hunger. He moved slowly on top of her, pinning her with his weight as the kiss continued.

She could feel how turned on he was getting.

‘Sorry, just ignore it,’ he mumbled against her mouth and she giggled.

Knowing how his body had reacted to her just from a kiss made her heart soar and all thoughts of being slow and cautious went straight out the window.