Page 44 of Unapologetic Love Story

An older man was invading the girl’s space and wetly whispering in her ear, causing her to grimace and flinch. She seemed to be frozen to the spot, too nervous to tell him to desist but also too shocked to move.

Raina got to her feet, not even bothering to excuse herself from the group. She marched towards the girl, sweeping into the crowd with ease and determination.

‘Babe!’ she cried with pretend recognition, pulling the girl away from the leering older gentleman and giving her a universal smile that said ‘I’m here to save you’. ‘There you are! Sorry, we were sat down already.’

‘Oh, no worries,’ the girl said, playing along and smiling at Raina with barely contained panic mixed with gratitude.

‘Anita, this is my friend Abbie. Can she have – what do you want, Abbie?’

‘My friend Abbie’ had been a code that Anita and Raina used to signal that a woman was being harassed in the bar. Anita’s eyes filled with understanding and she waited for the girl to shakily order a white wine. She locked eyes with Chris, the bouncer, and he made a beeline for the bar.

‘Put it on our tab,’ Raina told Anita, authoritatively moving the girl away from her harasser while Chris sternly suggested he move on to another pub.

‘Thank you so much,’ gushed the girl after the man eventually loped off. ‘I didn’t know what to do.’

‘No problem,’ Raina said, and she meant it. ‘You going to be okay? You’re welcome to sit with us.’

‘I’m all right, my friends are almost here.’

‘Offer’s there if you change your mind.’

The girl nodded enthusiastically and thanked Raina profusely. Raina waved away the appreciation and was about to head back to her party when she saw him, standing over by the entryway.

Tom Branimir. Across the room. Staring right at her.

Tom didn’t enjoy the White Horse when it was busy. He was waiting behind an enthusiastic group of underage boys, who were now being stopped at the doorway of the pub by the bouncer. When they fumbled their excuse for not having ID with them, the bouncer told them in no uncertain terms where to go and they started to protest. Tom closed his eyes. He was about to slip around them and step into the warm hubbub of the pub when he spotted a scene unfolding at the bar.

The bouncer suddenly moved to intercept said scene, redirecting a lustful and somewhat creepy man away from two young women. When they moved away from the bar and into the centre of the room, he recognized her at once.

She was always prettier than he remembered, and she was damn gorgeous in his memories.

They gazed at each other in astonishment for a few seconds, both clearly wondering how on earth the other had found them.

Tom knew he was innocent; he’d come to meet Seb and Ottie. Nothing had suggested she would be here. Not that such a thing would have stopped him from coming – quite the opposite – but he needed her to know he was completely blameless.

Her email had been abundantly clear. Don’t contact me any more. It had torn a chunk out of him but he was respectful. He hadn’t even replied, setting the requested boundary straight immediately.

Maybe this was some sort of test and she wanted him to walk right by her as if she were invisible. An impossible test. He had to know how she was, how she’d been over these last few weeks.

To his relief, she moved towards him.

To his greater relief, there was a reluctant smile on her face.

‘I have no issue about getting a restraining order,’ she said teasingly.

‘This is my local, young lady. If one of us has to leave, it should be you.’

Please don’t leave, he thought.

‘I think the people you’re meeting are sitting with us,’ she told him, jerking her head towards a table in the far corner.

Tom followed her direction and grimaced. Seb, Ottie and Pepper Cousins, all sitting together.

‘Got here just in time then,’ he said, giving her a knowing look.

‘I was thinking of sneaking out the back but they’re your friends, not mine.’

‘Well, you know all the ins and outs of this place.’