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‘Oh yes, he is.’ Shea nudged her with her elbow. ‘Look, he can’t take his eyes off you.’ Caught in the act, Connor swiftly turned his attention elsewhere. ‘Maybe you should go and hang out with him for a bit, reminisce about the old times and all that.’

‘Nope.’ Samantha felt giddy at the thought, but quickly blamed it on the alcohol. ‘I don’t want to reminisce with him in the slightest.’

‘Wow.’ Folding her arms, Shea eyed her sceptically.

Samantha eyed her back. ‘What?’

‘Bit defensive, don’t you think?’

‘Sorry.’ She waved a hand through the air dismissively. ‘I’m just getting tired.’

Once the toilet duties were done, she found herself being dragged towards the stage for a begrudging bout of karaoke. ‘I don’t want to sing in front of everyone, Shea.’ She tried to yank herself free of Shea’s deathlike grip. ‘Get one of the other women to do it with you.’

‘They’ve all left.’ Shea wasn’t giving up. ‘And therefore, you soooo want to sing in front of everyone so I don’t have to do it on my own, like a good friend would.’

‘Noooo.’ She fought to dig her heels in again. ‘I don’t.’

‘Oh, come on, spoilsport.’ Shea finally let go of her wrists. ‘What’s happened to the Sammie that used to be up for almost anything? Did you go and lose her in London?’

She had, but wasn’t about to admit it. ‘Right, come on then.’ She stomped past Shea. ‘Let’s do this before I go and chicken out.’

‘Yay!’ Shea shrieked her reply as she clapped her hands madly.

The throng of people staring straight at her, or so it felt, cheered as she and Shea climbed the four steps and walked into the blinding stage light. Nervously, she leant into the mic and, at first quietly, sang the lyrics of the Cold Chisel song she knew all too well. ‘Rising Sun’ was a typical party song, one that would always fill the dance floor. And it didn’t fail to this time around either. One chorus in, and the crowd was so pumped, and the beat was so snappy, and Shea was giving it her absolute all, that she couldn’t help but throw her whole heart and soul into it too. The enthusiasm of the pub, and Shea, was contagious. Her courage quickly gathering momentum, she lifted the mic from the stand and leant back, bellowing the chorus, not giving two hoots if she was out of tune. She and Shea belted the final chorus out together, along with the crowd, and when it ended, she surprisingly found herself keen to stay up on stage so they could sing another song. But the next duo was already beside them, ready to grab the microphone. Flushed with exhilaration, she bowed to the adoring throng of partygoers, as did Shea. Passing the mic over to a tall ginger-haired lad who looked all of eighteen, she realised too late that she’d gone and taken things a step too far. Literally. Time seemed to stall. All sound ceased, as if people were holding their breaths. As she flailed through the air, the stage disappeared, and she tumbled forward with her arms flapping as if she could fly to save herself.

All she could think in that suspended moment was, oh god, I’m about to fall flat on my face, and probably break some bones. On ya, Evans!

But strong arms caught her, held her, helped her find her equilibrium and then placed her back on solid ground. ‘You right?’ Leaving his hands on her arms, Connor stared at her, his blue eyes searched hers.

Thank goodness for the shadows they were standing in because her face would’ve been the brightest of reds. ‘Uh-huh.’ With her trembling bottom lip between her teeth, she nodded. ‘Other than a bruised ego, I think so.’ Legs still trembling, she leant into the wall because leaning into him would spell a whole world of danger. ‘Thank you for saving me from landing flat on my face.’

‘Hey, anytime.’ Pushing his shirtsleeves up, Connor offered her his trademark brazen smile.

A rush of heat scorched her insides. ‘And just when I thought I was one of the cool kids.’ She laughed, a little too forcibly, in a bid to ease her awkwardness, because if she blushed any harder from embarrassment, she swore she’d spontaneously combust.

‘You’re still hip as, Sammie.’ His lips quirking at the corners, he shrugged casually. ‘Just tell everyone you did it on purpose.’

Her forehead wrinkled in confusion. ‘I did what?’

‘You know, crowd surfing, like all the cool kids do.’

‘Oh, yeah.’ She loved the idea, and she also loved that just like in the old days, he still had her back in any given situation, even one as embarrassing as this. ‘Great idea.’

‘Don’t worry, Sammie Samsung, I got you.’ His words were playful, but his expression spoke otherwise.

‘Mm-hmm.’ It was all she could get past her pulse beating wildly in her throat. Oh, how she wanted him to get her right this very second.

Then something between them shifted and gave way. She could feel her emotional armour beginning to lose its solidity as his electric blue regard of her, so knowing, so pervading, added a kindling to the fire he’d already re-ignited deep down inside of her, and the sudden flare made the flames jump high enough to brand the edges of her heart. The feeling was so intense she now fought to breathe naturally.

He stepped a little closer.

Dangerously close.

The impact of what he could do to her, without laying a finger on her skin, burst in her chest.

She was falling for him again.

No, she couldn’t be.