Page 92 of Coming Home to Maple Tree Lodge

She smiled at a man who had come towards her to ask her to dance and, taking his hand, shot Jake a glare before going onto the dance floor with the stranger.

‘It’s all so romantic,’ cooed Hannah, watching her friend dance.

Lily saw Alex take a step forward from where he had been hovering nearby, a hopeful look on his face.

However at that moment, Dodgy Del came up and asked them for a dance.

‘Why, Del, I’ve been waiting for someone to ask me,’ said Hannah, taking his hand in hers with a soft smile.

Del looked as delighted as Alex looked wretched.

Lily watched as Jake placed a hand on his friend’s shoulder and shook his head. ‘Missed your chance again, mate,’ Lily heard him mutter.

So she hadn’t been imagining that Alex liked Hannah, she thought.

However, Alex seemed to brush off his misery and asked Beth to dance instead. But once on the dance floor, he still seemed to be unable to take his eyes off Hannah.

Lily didn’t have too long to dwell on anyone else once she saw Ben heading across the room towards her. Her breath checked athow handsome he looked in his tuxedo. It had been such a busy evening that she had barely seen him.

She looked at him expectantly as he headed over.

‘Crisis?’ she murmured.

But he merely looked at her and smiled. ‘There will be if I don’t get a dance with you this evening.’

And with that, he took her hand and led her to the dance floor.

‘We haven’t got time for this,’ she murmured, but nestled closer into his arms nevertheless.

‘Everyone’s enjoying themselves,’ he replied. ‘The party can carry on for a few minutes whilst I hold you in my arms and dance with you. Besides, Grandad’s put himself in charge for the time being,’ he told her, his breath soft on her ear as he bent his head down towards hers. ‘He told me to ask you to dance and I never disagree with him.’

She laughed softly. ‘That would be a first,’ she told him.

‘On the most important matters, we always agree,’ he replied.

‘Of course, if you didn’t want to dance with me…’ she teased him.

‘Right at this moment, I can’t think of anything that I want more,’ he said, drawing her even closer so that every part of their bodies touched.

On and on they danced and suddenly she realised that they were close to the open veranda doors. Together they stopped and walked outside where, for a moment, it was just them alone on the veranda.

She shivered in the cool air.

‘Cold?’ he asked her, drawing her close. ‘I thought you were a country girl at long last.’

‘Hey, you’re the one in the shirt and jacket,’ she told him, relishing the warmth from his body as he held her against him. ‘I’m in a sleeveless dress here.’

‘Yes, you are,’ he said, his eyes gleaming as he ran a finger up her bare arm.

Suddenly it wasn’t the cool air making her shiver.

‘Could the night be even more perfect?’ she asked.

Then just after the moon came out from behind a cloud and lit up the starry sky overhead, she drew his head down towards hers. As their lips met, she was lost once more.

And then it was perfect.

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