Page 87 of Fundamentals in Flirting

“We’re going to do this our way, just you and me. No one else is going to interfere, right?”

“Ok.”

I was being drawn in, leaning forwards, unable to resist, despite all of this being a bad idea.

“Including the little voice in your head telling you that this is a bad idea.”

How does he know about that?

“Because it’s not a bad idea, us being together. It’s the best fucking idea of my whole life, Hannah.”

“Ahh.”

The ability to speak was gone. Kaput. I was just a wobbly mass of feelings and squishy internal organs. So enraptured in the ferocity and heat of his gaze that I couldn’t back away. I couldn’t bring myself to do anything other than stare back into the dark pools of his eyes.

“Edward?”

The quiet, quavering voice nearby broke the spell, and we both turned as one to see Agnes, looking confused and a little fearful. Her usual twinkle was missing and her body was stooped and frail.

“Have you seen Frank? He said he was coming back, but he hasn’t. I don’t know where he is and I need him.”

“Agnes, it’s me, Teddy. Are you ok?”

He dropped my hand and stepped towards her, touching her shaking shoulder, his large hand dwarfing her thin frame.

“Where is he?”

“Shall we head back to the goats?” I suggested gently, and it was then that Agnes noticed me behind Teddy. A little spark of recognition lit up behind her eyes.

“Hannah?”

“Yes, Agnes. Shall we go and find Deidre?”

“Deidre? Yes.” The vacant look began to dissolve, and the Agnes we knew, the shrewd and intelligent woman with her bright, sharp gaze, returned. “There you two are.”

“Here we are. Is everything ok?”

“Yes,” She replied unsteadily. Perhaps she was still a touch uncertain, fighting through the fog of confusion as she looked at us.

Lacing my arm through hers, I started to steer her back towards the goat stand where a number of children were clambering on the fence and reaching in to pat Deidre. With some of them precariously close to falling into her pen.

“Come on. We’ll help you sort through this rabble, then get you home later. Is that ok?”

“Oh yes, dear, I’d be so grateful. Some of those children are really quite delinquent.”

Teddy laughed and took her other arm in the crook of his elbow, and together we walked back to rescue the goats from being mauled by sticky fingers, and to ensure that Deidre didn’t manage to eat everyone’s ice creams.

* * *

As the end of the day drew to a close and the crowds began to disperse, we tidied away the gazebo and loaded the goats into the back of Teddy’s Land Rover, hefting Deidre’s sizeable bulk into the vehicle alongside her kids and closing the door securely.

“Are you coming, Hannah? I can give you a lift back to the surgery.” Teddy opened the passenger door, and I slid across the bench seat and into the middle where I had to, unavoidably, place my legs either side of the gearstick, while he helped Agnes up next to me.

When he climbed into the driving seat, Teddy’s thigh was very firmly pressed against mine, and with a delightfully naughty smirk, he started the engine and reached between my knees to put the car into gear.

“I really love this car.”

Agnes chuckled softly to my left, and I felt myself set on fire every time Teddy reached to change gear on the fairly short trip back to Abbots Lane.

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