said.
Henry still didn’t look happy about this but he clearly decided to let it go. ‘It’s very good, you really do have a skill for this.’
‘This is Penny’s.’
Henry gave a low whistle. ‘That’s seriously good. Wait, what’s this?’
Daisy leaned over to look and laughed. ‘That’s Fabio’s sculpture before it got broken.’
Penny flushed as Henry stared at it. ‘This Fabio seems to be very familiar with his subject.’
‘Hardly, he missed out all my wobbly bits.’
Henry’s eyes cast over her. ‘He seems to have done a good enough job. So you and he…?’
‘No, definitely not, not ever,’ Penny said.
‘Not from lack of trying though,’ Daisy giggled as she pressed a button on her phone and played the video of Fabio’s bizarre proposal.
Henry burst out laughing.
‘Oh, well, on that rather embarrassing note, I’ll leave you all to it. Daisy, I’m really glad you came tonight. I hope the crazies didn’t put you off.’
Daisy shook her head. ‘I loved it, thank you.’
Penny smiled briefly at them and shut the door between them. She walked into the front room where Bernard was on the sofa, upside down, tongue sticking out of his mouth, snoring loudly.
She fiddled around with her iPod, choosing a random playlist and something soft, sweet and slow drifted out of the speakers. She lit a fire and a few candles that smelt of spiced apples and mulled wine. A perfect romantic night for one. She sighed. She didn’t fancy reading or watching telly. She wasn’t sure what to do with herself. Next door she could still hear the soft sounds of Henry and Daisy talking and laughing.
It had been an odd twenty-four hours, with the sea rescue, seeing Kathleen, the farce of the ice carving competition and that incredible kiss that seemed to have almost been forgotten by the man who had done it. She closed her eyes and touched her lips, remembering what it felt like to have his lips there. Her memories replayed the event perfectly: his softness, the way he had held her, the taste of him, his sweet, spicy smell. She could smell him now, the warmth of his scent wrapping round her.
Suddenly her eyes snapped open, realising that his warmth and scent was a real thing. She span around and he was standing right there in her body space.
‘Sorry, I didn’t want to scare you, you seemed miles away.’
She flushed. Did he know she had been thinking of him?
‘I just wanted to say thank you for tonight, I haven’t seen Daisy smile as much for a long time.’
Penny swallowed down the emotion of having him so close. ‘No problem.’
He still didn’t move as he stared down at her. She looked away briefly, to see the connecting door was closed. He hadn’t just come to say that.
He reached out to touch her hair, running one finger down its length and rubbing the end over his thumb. She couldn’t move away from him. He was going to ruin her and there was nothing she could do to stop it. He ran a finger down her cheek and everything in her melted so she was surprised she was still standing. How could something so simple have such an effect on her?
He sighed heavily and stepped back slightly, breaking the spell between them.
‘Daisy has always hated my girlfriends. Even when she was little if I went on a date with a woman she would cry and scream. There was never that many, anyway. Raising a child on your own, there isn’t much time for anything. But I had invited one or two women back when she was six or seven and it always ended with her crying hysterically. I stopped bringing women to the house after that and dated women in secret for years. I vowed that I would never bring anyone home unless it was a serious relationship. Since she’s got older, she’s met quite a few of my girlfriends and never liked any of them either. I think Rosie was the only one she liked. They’d go out together, go shopping. When we broke up I think Daisy was more upset by it than Rosie was.’
He moved his hand to link his fingers with hers. ‘Even though she has hated almost every single one of the girlfriends she has met, she has never asked me not to date anyone before. Until you.’
Penny took a step back, wounded. ‘I’m not good enough for you.’
Henry shook his head. ‘No, that’s not it at all. I’m not good enough for you. She