He was so wide-eyed, so earnest, and his words so meaningful that she didn’t know how to respond. So she let her body do the talking instead. Walking backwards and pulling him along with her, she perched on the edge of the kitchen table and wrapped her arms and legs around him, guiding his head down for another kiss. She gave it her everything, doing her best to tell him with actions what she couldn’t seem to put into words. That she thought it would be worth it too. That she’d let go of her past and make a fresh start with him, and do her very best to make him happy.

The mischief in his eyes and the smile threatening to take over his lips were infectious. Sydney couldn’t help it – she laughed. And once she started, she couldn’t stop. When she eventually calmed down enough to take a breath, she put the gifts he’d brought her on the worktop and stepped over to where he stood by the boiling kettle. She slipped her arms around his waist, and he quickly reciprocated.

Harry leant down for a kiss, then paused, seemingly thinking better of it. ‘Does that mean you’re going to give us a chance?’

Standing on her tiptoes, Sydney pressed a kiss to his lips. ‘What do you think?’

‘I’m going to take that as a yes.’ With that, he captured her mouth with his, and they quickly became lost in one another, this time with no reason to stop.

Sydney felt much better about their kiss this time. Firstly, she too had spent time during the night thinking about their potential relationship. She’d eventually come to the conclusion that it was pointless trying to guess what would happen. The only way to find out if things would work out between them was to try. She couldn’t punish him – and herself – for her ex’s deceit. If she never trusted another man again, then she’d never be happy. And she deserved happiness – everyone did.

She pulled away, feeling pleasantly dizzy and sucking in a much-needed deep breath.