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‘Well, it probably should be. I lied anyway.’

‘You did?’

‘Yeah. My number one wasn’t even on there.’

‘Really, so what was it?’ she asked, ready for whatever cocky remark he was about to give. Instead, he took her hand again.

‘Talking to you. Getting to know you. That’s it. That’s been the best bit. Even without all the other bits. Without the kiss, or the holding hands, it’s been the best night I can remember having in a long time. No, scrap that actually,’ he said, correcting himself. ‘Ever. I can’t ever remember having a night like this.’

She wanted to tell him he was being ridiculous. Soppy. Or maybe he was just great at playing her, but she didn’t think that was the case. She may not know him well, but you didn’t get such loyal friends as he had by being a player.

‘But,’ he said, sitting up straight and picking up his wine, ‘the dessert is really good, so maybe I should wait until we’ve had that before we make a concrete list.’

Bex shook her head, wishing he didn’t make her laugh quite so much. ‘Maybe you should,’ she agreed. ‘Dessert is normally my highlight, after all.’

43

The dessert was mouth-wateringly good, but even so, it didn’t come close to Bex’s number one spot of the night, though it was hard to know what had. At some point, their chairs had shifted around the table so that they no longer had to lean across it to kiss one another, and it felt like any second Duncan’s hands weren’t occupied with cutlery, they were touching her. Touching her legs, stroking her arm, running his fingertip in lazy circles across her palm. Bex had heard of people talking about their love languages before, but she never really thought about it too deeply; yet now, if she was asked, she would have to say that Duncan’s was touch. And judging from the way her body reacted to him, hers was too.

He was busy stroking the top of her thigh with the back of his hand when his phone buzzed. He pulled it out of his pocket and glanced at the screen.

‘So, our taxi is waiting outside,’ he said.

‘Taxi? You already sorted one?’ Somewhere between the first kiss and now, Bex had totally forgotten that she needed to find a way to get home, but thankfully, Duncan seemed to have the issue sorted. Although when, she had no idea. He hadn’t left the table, or her side, all night.

‘Sort of. It’s pretty difficult to get one here, so I just pulled in a favour instead.’

‘Well, now I’m intrigued,’ she replied, gently pressing another kiss against his lips.

‘Just don’t set your expectations too high, all right?’

Bex backed away, her eyes wide. ‘After this evening? I should probably tell you now that if there’s not a limo waiting outside, then this entire night’s going to be bust.’

The first hints of a grin formed on Duncan’s face. ‘The entire night? Does that mean it’s already over?’ he said, kissing her again.

‘Well, let me see how bad this taxi is before I make up my mind.’

‘Sounds fair enough,’ he said.

Duncan’s ‘taxi’ turned out to be a Land Rover, driven by none other than Roddy.

‘Ma’am, we meet again,’ Roddy said, tipping his head as Bex approached.

She couldn’t help but arch an eyebrow. ‘Roddy, I don’t know what I may have done to make you think I’m old enough to be referred to as a ma’am, but please, never do it again.’

‘Aye, gotcha,’ Roddy said, quickly backing up towards the driver’s seat.

‘Do you want to sit in the front or back?’ Duncan said, reaching to open the car door.

Bex paused. What she actually wanted was to sit beside him. She wanted her body to be as close to him as possible. After the last hour, the thought of not being able to touch him caused a deep throb to ache in her chest. But she was being ridiculous. It was just the wine talking, that was all. Not that they’d had that much. One bottle between the pair of them throughout the entire meal. They’d been too busy talking and kissing to manage more than that. However, not wanting to seem crazy, she simply said, ‘I’m fine in the back.’

After helping her up, Duncan slid into the front seat and Roddy started the car as he began asking Duncan questions, mostly about Fergus and the grounds. Bex watched as Duncan tried his best to answer, but he wasn’t focusing on Roddy. Instead, he kept glancing back at her, and each look made her stomach flip. This was ludicrous, she thought. Absolutely ludicrous. There was no logical reason for this to work and as far as she could tell, even in the best-case scenario, one of them would come out with a broken heart. But the thought of forgetting about the night, the kisses, the conversation, his damn laugh, just felt impossible.

‘Am I dropping you at the castle or the lodge? Or both?’ Roddy asked, throwing Duncan a look.

‘Umm, I’m not sure. I’m at the lodge.’

A pause slid into the car. One Bex knew she was responsible for filling.