He shivered against the chill of the night and she instinctively pulled back the duvet, shuffling over for him to get in. He hesitated for a moment and then slid in beside her.

‘You believe me?’

She nodded. ‘Actually I do. I have no reason to doubt you.’

‘You have no reason to believe me either.’

She moved closer to him, so close their faces were nearly touching. His hands moved to her waist, pulling her against him though she stopped him getting too close with her hand on his chest. ‘You can tell a lot about someone from their eyes. Fear, anger, shock, deceit and love are some of the many emotions that come from the eyes.’ She stared at his silvery grey eyes filled with warmth for her. ‘Your eyes are telling me that you’re speaking the truth.’

He smiled with relief as he pulled her closer and this time she let him. ‘What are my eyes telling you now?’

She laughed. ‘That you want to do all kind of wicked and dirty things to me.’

He kissed her, sweetly, his hands caressing over her body. Her body filled with need for him but before she could get too carried away, he pulled away slightly, his eyes filled with regret.

‘I can’t stay.’

She smiled, stroking his face. ‘I know, it’s OK.’

‘She’s only just gone to bed. She could get up and find I’m not there. I shouldn’t have come but I needed to see you.’

‘It’s OK. Go, I’ll see you tomorrow.’

He leaned his forehead against hers for a second, kissed her briefly and then slipped from the bed, giving her a smile before disappearing from the room.

They had to come clean with Daisy soon, this sneaking around was killing her.

Chapter Fifteen

Penny grabbed her coat and took her time doing up her shoelaces. She had put off doing this for the last few days but she knew she needed to do it now.

The sun was shining through drifts of fog, drying up all the rain from the night before and making the sea below Lilac Cottage glitter like gold.

She hadn’t been into town since Tuesday when everyone had decided to help her get ready for her big date. Who knew that the tiny piece of satin that she had been forced to buy would end up having such a devastating effect on both her and Henry? Despite telling everyone that listened that it wasn’t a proper date, that they were just friends, she knew that they would all be giving her that knowing look today or grilling her about Henry’s skill between the sheets. And with Henry desperately trying to keep their relationship hidden from Daisy there wasn’t a lot that she could say to the people of the town, not that she would share anything anyway but now she needed to be even more careful. With only five days before the Christmas Eve ball, the town would be filled with people doing last-minute shopping. She sighed.

Suddenly the connecting door flew open and Henry stormed towards her.

‘Daisy is in the shower and I have to go to work but I just wanted to give you something before I left,’ Henry said.

‘What?’

Henry gathered her in his arms and kissed her deeply. Good lord, she’d suddenly forgotten all plans for that day and only wanted to whisk Henry back to bed. When would be the next time she could make love to him? She knew any length of time would be too long. She wrapped herself around him, holding him tight and kissing him hard, but he just as suddenly pulled away.

‘I really have to go to work, I can’t be late on my first proper day as much as I’d like to right now. But there’s something for you to think about on your hot date with Fabio tonight.’

Penny laughed. ‘I’m not…’

‘It’s OK, I get that the lure of a man in leather trousers is too much to resist but just remember whose name you were screaming the other night.’

She smiled. ‘I don’t think I could ever forget. When are we going to get a repeat performance of that?’

‘When you stop dating men in leather trousers.’

He kissed her on the head and walked out the back door. He turned back and gave her a wink. ‘Soon, I promise.’

She smiled as she watched him go, that incredible kiss setting her up for the whole day.

She got in the car and drove down into town, the streets a hive of activity as people prepared for Christmas. In the foggy morning the Christmas lights that were strewn from the trees and hung from the lampposts and the fronts of buildings looked magical, even in the daylight, their twinkling orbs welcoming people into the town. The rain from the night before had clearly frozen in the early hours of the morning and it sparkled from the rooftops of houses and cars that lined the streets.

Penny pulled her car up outside The Pilchard, turned the engine off and took a deep breath before she stepped out of the car. She looked up at the pub sign as it swung gently in the cool sea breeze; a cheery fish smiling inanely as it leapt out of the water. Lights twinkled from the windows and even though the pub was closed it looked warm and inviting. This had been one of her favourite places to hang out in her later teen years, long before her and Chris had become friends and started dating. It was warm, cosy and traditional with little booths to sit in. She had imagined then that she would be coming there for the rest of her life, and still propping up the bar when she was old, grey and wrinkled. She would never have thought that, due to circumstances beyond her control, she wouldn’t step foot in there for eight years. Maybe it was time to rectify that.

She pushed open the door. The pub was empty as it didn’t open until just before lunch, but the log fire crackled in the fireplace, ensuring the pub was welcoming for the lunchtime crowd. Kathleen was at the bar, busily going through a list, probably doing a stocktake as Penny had seen her do several times when she had come in the past.

‘We’re closed until eleven,’ Kathleen called out as she turned round, her face going pale as she saw her.

They both stood staring at each other for the longest moment before Penny held up the bag of clothes lamely. ‘I just wanted to return these.’

Kathleen stood still for a second or two longer before she walked towards her. For a moment Penny thought Kathleen might hug her, as her hands moved out, but then it seemed Kathleen changed her mind.

‘Thank you.’

Penny handed over the bag and hovered awkwardly but as there was clearly nothing more to be said she turned to go.

‘Will you stay for a drink?’ Kathleen blurted out. ‘I’d really like it if you stayed for a drink.’

Penny turned back and nodded. ‘I’d like that too.’

Kathleen went behind the bar. ‘What would you like?’

‘Just a tea please, I’m driving so…’

‘How about a hot chocolate?’

Penny smiled as she leaned on the bar. ‘You always were so good at making those. We used to come in here before we were legal just so we could have your hot chocolates and you used to let us sit in the booths, making one glass last a whole hour and you never kicked us out.’

‘I liked having you lot in here, and you weren’t doing any harm. The pub has always been a family place, always will be.’

Penny watched as Kathleen put a handful of marshmallows, a large spoonful of cocoa powder and a splash of milk in two tall glasses and stuck them both in the microwave whilst she heated some milk on the coffee machine. The microwave beeped and she pulled the glasses out, poured the hot milk into the gooey chocolatey mixture and gave it a good stir, topping it off with a good layer of squirty cream and a handful of chocolate shavings.

She passed a glass to Penny and gestured for her to go and sit by the fire. Kathleen sat opposite her on a soft leather brown armchair.