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“Dylan is the most trustworthy guy you’re ever likely to meet,” Michael said. “I’d trust him with my life, and the lives of my family. He’s incredibly loyal.”

“Oh,” was all Lucy could think of to say.

“You don’t need to worry about him messing you around,” Michael reassured her. “Him winding you up so much, you throw your coffee machine at him . . . that I can’t guarantee won’t happen though.”

Lucy gave a wan smile of acknowledgement. “Thanks,” she said. “I’d better get back.”

“No worries. He really is a good guy.”

Not quite believing what she was about to do, Lucy said goodbye to Michael, and returned to the coffee shop. Having been assured by Ellen that she was fine running things for a while longer, Lucy went up to her sitting room, took her mobile out of her apron pocket, and sat down on her sofa.

With a sigh, she found Dylan’s number and dialled. She put the phone to her ear when she heard him answer.

“Hey there,” he said.

“Hi,” she said. “I was thinking about your offer, and I’d like to take you up on it. With a proviso.”

“And what’s this proviso?” She could hear the humour in his voice.

“I’ll accept you investing, but only as a silent partner,” Lucy stated, firmly.

“Nope,” Dylan replied immediately.

“What do you mean, ‘nope’?”

“I want to protect my investment, and I think it’s only reasonable that I have a say in the running of the business.”

“You think I’m not capable of running my own coffee shop? The coffee shop I’ve built up from nothing?”

“Not at all,” said Dylan, infuriatingly calmly. “You’ve shown how capable you are and that your business has potential to grow, which is why I’m offering to invest. But two heads are better than one. I’ll have a different way of looking at things and new ideas.”

“Have you ever run a coffee shop before?”

“No, but I’ve been self-employed for almost a decade,” he replied. “I know about working for myself. And because I’m not as emotionally attached to the coffee shop as you are, I can look at things more rationally.”

“I’m irrational now?” Lucy said, hotly.

“You know I didn’t say that. You’re being ridiculous.”

“If I’m being ridiculous, why would you even want to go into business with me?”

“I’m beginning to wonder the same thing,” Dylan muttered. “I need to go. Let me know when you decide what you want to do.”

He ended the phone call and Lucy stomped around her flat. She was fuming. It was work with him or lose her beloved coffee shop and home! How had life turned on her like this? She took a moment and a couple of deep breaths. OK, could she do this? Could she actually work with this man? Look how just hashing out the logistics of their arrangement had turned out . . .

Calm, she counselled. It wasn’t like he was going to be standing behind the counter next to her each day; he didn’t even live in the same town. He was forty minutes’ drive away in Plymouth. He had a job which took up the majority of his time, as well as whatever woman was currently flavour of the week. Oh, and he was always in the gym trying to get his arms even bigger. How often would she even see him? He might pop in every now and again when visiting Michael, but he did that now anyway.

With a sigh, she picked up her phone once again. He has a full-time job, lives in another town and is a professional womaniser to boot, she repeated mantra-style before she connected the call.

“Hello again,” Dylan said as he answered. Did she sense an undertone of irritation? Oh well, there wasn’t a lot she could do about that. If they were going to be business partners, they needed to be able to discuss things openly.

“Hi. I’ve been thinking over your suggestion, and I think it’s my only option,” Lucy said, carefully. She would not lose her temper during this conversation. She was going to be professional. Starting off as she meant to continue.

“Is that your way of accepting my offer to buy into your business?” Dylan asked, lazily.

“It is,” Lucy said, with a sigh. “But I want the option to buy you out in a few years, for what your portion of the business is worth then.”

“What if the business is doing really well at that point and is expanding and I don’t want to be out of it?”