Page 86 of Starry Nights over Dragonfly Lake

‘I always have been,’ he told her with a nudge of his elbow. ‘You were just too busy looking upwards to notice.’

She was grateful that it was the first relaxed conversation that they had had in a fortnight. Perhaps being friends with him would be all right after all.

‘Well, you’re amazing too,’ she told him, as they reached the front door. ‘And I mean it. You’ve taught me so much and I’m grateful.’

‘You’re welcome,’ he murmured.

He opened up the door for them butthey stayed on the threshold, staring at each other. His dark eyes were even darker but she couldn’t tear hers away.

‘Don’t worry about all this praise,’ she murmured. ‘It doesn’t mean that I love you or anything.’

He smiled back at the standard joke between them.

Except as she followed him inside, Beth realised that it was no longer true. She wasn’t sure when her feelings for him had changed and yet everything had. She loved him. She loved Noah.

All the other relationships hadn’t been like this. They hadn’t felt real. This was the magic that she had been waiting for. And she had no idea what to do about it.

In a daze, she watched as he switched on a light and closed the front door behind them. She stared around the lodge, looking at the pieces of Noah which were everywhere. A boat-building book. Some tools. Aftershave. A pair of gloves. And the compass she had given him for Christmas was on the coffee table by the sofa.

She went over to stare down at it. When had she fallen in love with Noah? Was it when she had bought the present? No. It had been longer than that. Perhaps even from that very first kiss in front of everyone. It turned out that she really was a sucker for love after all. But the joke was truly on her because her fake love had turned into the real thing.

She only realised she was still staring down at the compass when she felt Noah come to stand next to her.

‘I’ll take the sofa,’ he told her.

‘No need,’ she said quickly.

He smiled. ‘You had the sofa last time.’ He reached out to stroke her cheek with his finger. ‘This is becoming a habit of ours, sharing a room.’

‘I know,’ she said, with a shake of her head. ‘I’m sorry.’

‘I’m not.’

With his words hanging in the air, he headed into the bathroom, giving her the space to get changed. He had left one of his t-shirts on the bed for her to use as a nightshirt. She picked it up and could smell the faint tang of his woody aftershave.

She quickly put it down before he came out of the bathroom and found her sniffing his top.

With a sigh, she reached around to try and unzip her red dress. But try as she could, she couldn’t get the zip to budge. It had always been a little tricky but this time it was well and truly stuck. She groaned just as Noah came out of the bathroom.

She took one look at him in his tracksuit bottoms and nothing else and felt the heat rise to her cheeks.

‘Are you wearing that dress to bed?’ he asked, picking up a pillow from the bed and throwing it onto the sofa.

‘I might have to,’ she told him, trying not to look at his bare muscular chest. ‘I can’t take it off. The zip’s stuck.’

‘Here, let me,’ he replied, going to stand behind her.

Beth reached up to lift her hair so that he could see what he was doing.

She gave a little start as she felt his fingers touch the bare skin at the bottom of her neck.

‘Sorry,’ he said in a soft voice. ‘Are my fingers cold?’

She shook her head, unable to speak as she felt his warm breath on the nape of her neck as he leaned into her.

Beth closed her eyes, willing herself to not give in to the sensation of having Noah’s fingers on her skin but it was no use. She gulped and it sounded loud in the still quiet of the cabin.

Noah took a few seconds to manoeuvre the zip until finally it gave out and he slowly slid it down her back.