Isaac had spent the whole of Sunday telling himself he wasn’t going to go back and see Bella again. He had done some decorating in his house, repainting the whole of the lounge in order to try to distract himself from her. He’d taken Rocket, his spaniel, for a long walk and he was quite looking forward to spending the evening with a glass of wine and a good book.

But somehow here he was, standing outside Bella’s house again, waiting for her to come home.

He’d thought perhaps he would come to her and explain the truth but what he wanted more than anything was another night of chatting to her, of things being wonderful between them. He was drawn to Bella in ways he just could not explain. His experience of dating other women just didn’t compare. In London everyone knew who he was and how much he was worth. He never knew whether women were only after his money or whether they were really interested in him. Conversation was always stilted, and whether that was because he held himself back or because he didn’t have anything in common with these women he didn’t know, but Bella was different. She made him laugh, he could listen to her talk for hours and, despite knowing that he was getting way above his head, despite knowing that if she got the job he would be her boss and that would be all kinds of wrong, he just couldn’t stay away from her.

He’d been waiting outside her house for over an hour, a sure sign that fate was telling him this was a bad idea. He’d go before she got home and she’d never know he was there.

He’d grabbed his bag and was just about to leave when Bella walked into her street. He would tell her. As soon as she got close he would tell her the truth. Her red hair gleamed like fire in the setting sun as she walked. She had a bounce to her step that she hadn’t had the day before and he liked seeing the smile on her face. Could he really be the one to take that smile away from her?

Coward.

When she saw him her whole face lit up into a huge smile and before he knew what was happening she ran towards him, throwing her arms around him and hugging him tight. It was so unexpected that for a second he just stood there frozen. This was all kinds of wrong but he found her just so damned endearing. Without his consent, his arms wrapped themselves around her tiny frame and he found himself leaning into her, with his head on top of hers.

He was going straight to hell.

* * *

‘I’m so pleased you’re here, I’ve been thinking about you all day. I even spent an hour tonight down on the docks hoping that you might be hanging around there if you weren’t able to get a boat to St Mary’s and I tried in the main high street too. And all this time you were up here waiting for me.’

She pulled back to look at him and he stared at her in bemusement.

God, why had she hugged him? She barely knew him. She had just been so happy to see him again and she had forgotten that they were still in the very early stages of their friendship. It felt like she had known him for months, not just one day.

She tried to take a step back but his arms were still locked around her.

‘Sorry. I, er—’

‘Don’t be sorry. That was the best greeting I’ve ever had.’

She noticed Barbara from Sapphire Cottage walking slowly past them, a lot slower than her normal speed as she took in Bella and Isaac standing there with their arms wrapped around each other. She gave Bella a huge smile and what she clearly thought was a discreet thumbs-up and a wink before scurrying off to her house. Bella knew half the town would probably know before Bella had even got inside her own house and, considering the population of Hope Island was around one and a half thousand people, that was no mean feat.

Isaac released her with that gorgeous smile. ‘Have you had a good day?’

‘I saw my family and they strong-armed me into taking some food. As predicted Rome has bought me some steak. Two pieces actually so we can eat like kings tonight. I need to have a quick bath so my hair has time to dry before the interview tomorrow, but then we can eat after.’ She walked to the door and he followed her. She let them both in. ‘Did you have a good day?’

He hesitated before he spoke and she cursed herself. Stupid question. Zach was homeless and good days were probably few and far between.

‘I couldn’t get off the island.’

‘I’m sorry… Well actually I’m not. I had a lovely night last night and I was really hoping I would see you again. And tonight you can have a decent meal and a warm place to sleep and tomorrow you can come with me to the Umbrella Foundation to see if they can help you.’

He followed her into the lounge but he didn’t say anything for a moment as she went to fill the kettle up in the adjoining kitchen. A cup of tea was definitely in order; she hadn’t had tea in a long time and she’d missed that.

‘I don’t think that’s a good idea,’ Zach said, quietly.

She filled the kettle with water and put it on to boil before she turned back to him.

‘You know Isaac Scott?’

He stared at her.

‘Your note said that I would hate him as soon as I saw him, so I’m guessing you know him to make that statement.’

He didn’t speak for the longest time but eventually he spoke. ‘He’s a nice bloke, I think. But he’s very protective over his charity. Some of his methods for ensuring he has the right person for the job are a little unorthodox. I don’t think you will like them or agree with them.’

Well this was just sounding weirder and weirder. What on earth did Isaac Scott do in his interviews that she wouldn’t like? Zach said he was a nice bloke so surely whatever Isaac did couldn’t be that bad.

‘How do you know him?’

He rubbed the back of his neck, awkwardly, and stared at the floor. ‘I’ve known him forever.’

‘And does he know you’re homeless? Because if a friend of mine was in your situation I would do everything I could to help him. This Isaac doesn’t sound that nice if he would leave you on the streets.’

‘He doesn’t know…’ Zach trailed off. He looked so miserable about this conversation and so uncomfortable talking about it. ‘Look Bella, I need to tell you something—’

‘No, don’t. I’m sorry, it isn’t my place to pry. This is clearly a difficult subject for you and you don’t want to talk about him so let’s just leave it. How do you like your steak?’

She went to the fridge and pulled out the steaks. There was a lot more to this Isaac Scott than Zach was letting on but hopefully, one day, he would trust her to talk about it.

‘Why don’t I cook dinner for us?’ Zach said, coming up behind her he took the packet from her but she could feel his heat all down her back and it made her breath catch in her throat. ‘I make a mean steak. Do we have potatoes and cream? I could do dauphinoise potatoes to go with it.’

She turned to face him and he was standing so close, staring straight into her eyes. His were the most beautiful shade of blue, with deep tones of purple, indigo and that midnight blue of damsons.

She swallowed and she saw his eyes go to her lips for a second. ‘There’s cream in the fridge and potatoes in the cupboard next to the microwave.’

He nodded and stepped back out of her space. ‘Why don’t you go and have a bath or something and I’ll have it all ready for you by the time you come back down.’

‘OK. Thanks.’

He shrugged. ‘It’s the least I can do.’

She left him to it and went upstairs. It was a very weird feeling to hear him clattering about in the kitchen when she was used to silence. Though he did seem to be clattering with extra force than was necessary. That conversation about Isaac Scott had upset him and she didn’t know why. There was so much to Zach that he wasn’t telling her and she wanted to know everything there was about him.

She quickly had a bath and washed her hair, then plaited it and wrapped the plait around itself into a bun.

Bella thought about what she should wear. Normally after a bath, she would just get into her pyjamas but there was nothing sexy about them and while she doubted anything would happen between them that night, she liked seeing that look of desire in his eyes when he looked at her. She pulled her black satin robe on but that felt way too forward.

She padded out into her bedroom in her robe, determined to find something sweet, sexy, but not overly dressy to wear, when there was a knock on the bedroom door.

Crap.

She opened it slightly to see Zach standing there.

‘The steak is ready, you should come eat it while it’s hot.’

‘Oh, let me just get dressed.’

His eyes cast down her appreciatively. ‘You look perfectly respectable. Come on. It’s just me and you. I hardly think you need to wear a ball gown for dinner.’

Bella laughed as he offered out his hand and she placed hers inside his warm strong paw.

They walked downstairs and though she had wanted him to appreciate what she was wearing, she was glad that the robe came down to the knee and was fastened up quite high round the neck because when Zach had looked her up and down it was the same look a ravenous lion would give to a deer.

There was a solitary white candle burning in the middle of the dining table and she was touched that Zach had made an effort.

He held out her chair for her as she sat down and she smiled at his impeccable manners.

The steak looked delicious and that gorgeous scent of garlic hit her nose as he sat down opposite her.

‘This all looks wonderful, thank you.’

‘A celebratory meal for when you get the job tomorrow,’ Zach said, offering out a glass of wine.

She picked hers up and chinked it against his with a smile. ‘Thank you. But apparently I have some hoops to jump through first.’

Zach put his glass down. ‘Please don’t be worried about tomorrow. I already know you’re going to get this job. You’re one of the most incredible people I’ve ever met and they will snap you up.’

‘I’m not worried.’ Bella took a sip of wine and let the bubbles dance over her tongue. ‘Isaac Scott, if he turns up, and the rest of the panel will have to take me as I am. I’m certainly not going to pretend to be someone I’m not just so I get the job. What will be will be. I’m honest, hardworking and passionate about making a difference and if that’s not good enough for them, or they don’t want me just because I’m not wearing the right shoes, then there’s nothing I can do to change that.’

Zach laughed. ‘I fear I’ve given you a terrible impression of the charity and that’s not what they’re like at all. They are looking for someone special and, believe me, you tick every box.’ He took a bite of his steak and sighed. ‘Isaac was homeless himself for a short time when he was in his teens. He was basically adopted by a couple of people who lived on the streets who helped him and made sure he was looked after. So the charity is really important to him. Just bear that in mind when you see him tomorrow; that his passion for the charity comes from the heart.’

She stared at him. ‘I didn’t know.’

‘He’s very private.’

‘You really do know him.’

‘Yeah, and I’m questioning his life choices right about now,’ he said, shaking his head. ‘Look I’m sorry, I really am. I shouldn’t have come here last night and I certainly shouldn’t have come here a second time. I shouldn’t be sitting here with you now like we’re best friends and giving you all this completely ambiguous information. Please know that coming back here tonight was nothing more than me wanting to see you again and spend time in your company. But I should go. This was a mistake.’

He stood up to leave and Bella felt a slice of panic rip through her. ‘Wait. Please don’t go. I have no idea what’s going on between you and Isaac Scott but I promise not to say anything more about it.’

He hovered.

‘I really enjoyed your company last night too and I was really looking forward to another night talking to you. You’ve made this delicious steak, you should at least get to finish it. If you still want to leave after that, I won’t stop you. I’m really sorry if I’ve upset you.’

He sat back down. ‘You haven’t upset me. Not at all. I’m more concerned about my actions upsetting you because that’s the very last thing I want.’

‘Well, you leaving would upset me, so how about you eat your steak and we can talk about something else?’

He nodded, a smirk fighting on his lips at her bossiness, and as she tucked into her steak she cast around for a more suitable topic.

* * *

Isaac watched as Bella plonked herself down on the sofa next to him and poured some wine into their glasses. The steak had been finished a long time before and they had polished off most of the bottle of wine between them. They had moved to the sofa and the log fire was burning away quite merrily, casting a cosy glow over the room. Things were good and easy between them and – apart from that little blip earlier when he had ended up talking about himself in the third person – she hadn’t suspected a thing.

He hated deceiving her like this but he had made a very selfish decision not to tell her the truth. He strongly suspected that if he told her now, she wouldn’t show up for the interview at all and he needed her for this job. His company needed her. He wasn’t sure how he was going to play it tomorrow. He had intended on sitting in on the interviews with all the candidates but maybe it would be best if he left it to the rest of the panel to conduct them or at the very least not sit in on Bella’s interview. Then she wouldn’t have to see him and wouldn’t know who he was until she had agreed to do the job and turned up at her first day of work.

It was messy and complicated and he knew he only had himself to blame but it was important that he got Bella on board, someone with real passion for his charity, someone who could tackle the job of events manager with a breath of fresh air. He would take any anger from her when she found out as long as he could get her to work for him.

‘Tell me what you wanted to do when you were a kid, what was the dream?’ Bella asked him as she passed him his glass of wine.

He put it down on the coffee table; he needed a clear head because right now, with her sitting so close, her intoxicating scent swirling round him and a glass or two of wine inside him, it was taking a lot of willpower not to lean over and kiss her.

‘That’s easy,’ Isaac said. ‘I wanted to create computer games. I was an avid video game player when I was a child. There was one called Dizzy which was basically the adventures of an egg trying to solve puzzles, collect treasure and save his friends. It was a platform game and a really fun one but even as a child I kept thinking of ways I would make it better. Later I loved all the Crash Bandicoot ones, they were brilliant and I knew I wanted to create something like that. I went to university and learned about coding and how to design basic programs. And then I learned how to make those programs better and more convoluted. I loved it. It’s funny though how life takes you in a completely different direction than the one you envisaged.’

She smiled sadly, taking his hand. ‘This is a little bump in the road for you; you’ll get back on your feet again.’

He smiled.

‘I didn’t mean this. I just meant that after university I never ended up working for the gaming industry as I thought I would. My skills at computer programming led me down a very different path.’ This was getting too close to home and he knew he had to change the subject. ‘What about you? What did you want to be?’

‘A vet,’ Bella said.

He couldn’t help but smile. Of course that’s what she’d wanted. She would always be someone who wanted to help others.

‘Nursing sick animals and making them better appealed to me.’

‘And what happened to that dream?’

‘Oh I’m terrible around blood, makes me ill. I used to pass out in science lessons in school when we used to have to dissect animals. It obviously wasn’t going to be my calling. Shame really as I’ve never been great with people. Much better with animals.’

He frowned. ‘You’re doing pretty well with me.’

‘Oh, I’m much better now but as a child I wasn’t great. After what happened with my parents I had trust issues and was afraid of letting people in. Still do in many ways. I end up pushing people away.’

‘I don’t see that at all. You’re warm, happy, funny, achingly endearing, so kind, easy to talk to, engaging…’ he trailed off as she was watching him with surprise. He brushed a red curl off her face. ‘And beautiful,’ his mouth said, without any consent from him.

She stared at him for a moment and then without warning she leaned forward and kissed him.