Mills & Boon Christmas Delights Collection. Rebecca Winters

did I. I was just on my way home from a meeting down on the coast. Thought I’d stop in.’

      That explained the slightly more formal appearance. Although he still looked to be favouring the rumpled look.

      ‘Didn’t fancy ironing those clothes then?’ Janey said, running her eyes over him.

      ‘Lovely to see you too, sis,’ he said, ignoring the jibe. ‘How are you both?’ he asked, his eyes taking in the bump as he bent and kissed her on the cheek before balancing himself on the edge of the bench seat I was on. I shuffled along a little so that he had more room and he did the same. As he did so, the fresh citrusy smell of his aftershave tingled my senses.

      ‘We’re fine, thanks.’

      ‘Good. And you?’ he asked, turning to me as he took a swig from his beer bottle. ‘Had a good week?’

      ‘Yes, thanks. Busy.’

      ‘No difficult clients, I hope?’ His eyes danced with laughter as his smile disguised itself around the top of the bottle.

      ‘Only one. Thankfully. Huge pain in the backside.’

      Janey laughed. ‘I knew you wouldn’t be able to get one over on this one Mikey. She’s got your number.’

      ‘Oh, I’m always happy for a pretty girl to have my number,’ he countered, grinning.

      I made an ‘ugh’ noise which caused Janey to laugh even more.

      ‘Oh God. Stop it. I need the bloody loo again now.’ And with that she stood and made her way through the crowd once more.

      Mikey stretched out his long legs in front of him, giving a glance around as he did so.

      ‘No boyfriend tonight?’

      ‘No, not tonight. He’s working.’

      ‘Tomorrow?’

      I turned towards him. ‘I don’t know. Probably not. He’s very busy at the moment.’

      ‘Too busy to take his girl out on a Friday night?’

      I squared myself against him. ‘I’m not “his girl” and yes, he’s busy on a Friday night. It’s not the end of the world. And, as it is, I’ve had a very nice evening. So, it’s absolutely fine.’

      Mikey tilted his head. ‘Have you been drinking?’

      ‘No.’

      Yes.

      ‘I’ve had one glass of wine.’

      One very large glass of wine.

      ‘Glad to hear it. It clearly loosens you up.’

      I made the ‘ugh’ noise again, mostly because I couldn’t think of anything else to say. Annoyingly, I knew I’d have a humdinger of a witty retort ready in about an hour’s time. He gave a chuckle and leaned in.

      ‘I meant it as a compliment.’

      ‘Then you need to work on your compliments.’

      He nodded. ‘You’re probably right.’

      I looked up at him. There was something in the tone of his voice when he said it, and his eyes had taken on a faraway look.

      ‘Are you all right?’ I asked, unsure why I was bothered as to whether he was all right or not. But I was.

      He pulled his gaze from the middle distance and focused the full force of it on me. I really wanted to look away but right now that was proving harder than it should be.

      ‘Of course. I’m sat next to a pretty girl who’s nicer to me the more alcohol she has inside her. So how about I buy you another drink?’

      I sat up straighter. ‘Really? You really think that’s going to happen?’

      He shrugged and took another swig from his bottle, clearly not bothered as to whether it happened or not.

      ‘Well, it’s not.’

      He turned his gaze back on me. ‘I didn’t think for one minute that it would.’

      My mouth dropped open.

      ‘So why even say it?’

      ‘Because you’re incredibly sexy when you’re all worked up.’

      ‘And you’re…’

      He quirked an eyebrow, waiting to hear exactly what I thought he was. The problem was I wasn’t exactly sure what I’d been going to say.

      ‘I’m what?’ he prompted me.

      ‘I don’t know,’ I said, admitting defeat. ‘But it definitely wasn’t anything good!’

      He grinned and I took a vicious swig of my drink, just as Janey returned to the table. She looked from one of us to the other.

      ‘Oh, for the love of God Mikey! What did you do now?’

       Chapter Five

      I waited at the door, huddled against the biting wind that was barrelling along the avenue and insinuating itself into every fibre of my body, despite all the layers I’d equipped myself with. A few moments later, Michael opened the door, dressed as usual in his beaten-up jeans and a T-shirt that looked like it had never been introduced to an iron in its entire lifetime.

      ‘Jesus, you look frozen to the bone. Get in here.’ He reached an arm out and took the bag I was carrying, hurrying me through the door at the same time.

      ‘It’s so cold out there today!’ I said conversationally as I shed my coat and almost immediately started shivering. I put my coat back on. ‘Actually I think I might keep this on for a bit longer.’

      ‘I’ll get us some hot drinks. Don’t worry the bedroom is nice and warm.’

      I looked up in surprise. And for once, Michael O’Farrell wasn’t wearing that self-assured, confident look. His face showed almost as much surprise as mine.

      ‘That sounded a lot different from how it was supposed to.’

      ‘Right.’

      ‘I just meant that the bedroom – the guest room – you wanted to make a start on today is warm. For us to work in. Work on. Oh, for Christ’s sake. Put me out of my misery, will you?’ His face was equal parts pain and amusement.

      I laughed and saw his face relax entirely. It was something that had been happening from a little more the last couple of visits and I was glad of it. I’d hated the tense atmosphere of the first session. It wasn’t only uncomfortable, but it stirred up memories I wanted to keep buried. This slight relaxation in the mood worked much better for me. And I couldn’t help but think it better for Michael too. Don’t get me wrong, we were hardly friends, but for the most part he wasn’t glaring at me and I wasn’t calling him names, so we had definitely moved on a little.

      I pulled a couple of items out from under the spare bed. In one hand I held a copy of The Hungry Caterpillar, in the other the tiniest thong I had ever seen.

      ‘Interesting combination.’ I held them up to Michael.

      ‘Oh! That’s where it went. My nephew was looking for that.’

      ‘Not to be judgemental, but I really hope you’re talking about the book.’

      He smiled at me. ‘I am.’

      I looked at the pants dangling in my other hand, barely held by the minimum portion of fingertip and thumb required.

      ‘I think the hungry caterpillar may have been at these. They can’t possibly have been that tiny to start with.’ I shifted my eyes to him. ‘I take it these aren’t yours?’

      ‘No. Not