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Jake unstuck his tongue from the roof of his mouth. He’d already thought Evelyn was pretty, but in tight jeans and a jumper that matched the green of her eyes, and her hair falling in loose waves, she was stunning. Her lips were glossy and pink, and made him think things that were incredibly inappropriate while her daughter was hanging on his arm.

‘Yes, I think she looks really, really pretty.’ He smiled at Evelyn who blushed, her cheeks pink, which made her eyes seem even more vivid.

‘You know, you could stay here and play more. And watch the dancing with us,’ Summer wheedled by his side.

He felt Evelyn’s eyes on him as he bent down to talk to Summer. ‘How about if I promise we can play another day? If your mum’s OK with it.’

‘Of course she’ll be OK with it.’ Summer rolled her eyes at him, and he struggled not to laugh at her. ‘But you could stay now, too.’

‘I could,’ he agreed. ‘But I think your mum looks too lovely to stay in. And what about your special night with popcorn and dancing with your nan?’

‘Good point.’ She flung herself at Evelyn and gave her a big hug and a kiss, and he found himself smiling at the picture they created. ‘Hurry and go, Mum. Have fun!’ She kissed her again.

‘Not that I’m not loving all the attention, but what’s this for?’ Evelyn asked as she hugged her daughter again and was treated to another onslaught of kisses.

‘I’m saying goodnight now, so you won’t worry about coming home early to put me to bed.’

Evelyn laughed, and the sound made Jake smile. He was hoping to have lots more opportunities to hear that laugh and wanted to be part of making her light up with so much happiness and joy.

‘Are you sure you’re OK with this, Mum?’ She shot her a worried look.

‘Of course.’ Linda wrapped her arms around her granddaughter. ‘We’ve got lots of fun planned. You go have a good time, love, you deserve it.’

‘Well, I guess that’s me told.’ Evelyn smiled at him.

‘Thank you for this, Linda,’ Jake added.

‘No need to thank me for spending time with my favourite granddaughter.’

‘Nanny, I’m your only granddaughter.’

‘Then obviously you’re my favourite!’ She looked up at Jake and Evelyn. ‘And don’t worry about coming back too early. Relax and enjoy yourselves.’

‘Thanks Mum.’ Evelyn placed a kiss on her mum’s cheek, another on Summer, and rubbed Tilly’s ears. ‘Be good girls.’

Jake held the door open for her. ‘Shall we?’ He got a whiff of Evelyn’s perfume as she brushed past him and headed to the front door where she stepped into a pair of heels that were so high they brought her almost to his height. The perfect height for him to lean in and brush his lips against hers, and see if they tasted as sweet as they looked.

‘Ready, then?’

He cleared his throat, and forced himself to stop focussing on her glossy lips. ‘Yes. I’ve booked us a table at a nice restaurant in the next town over. The pubs here are good, but I thought something a little nicer maybe, and the food at The Old Mill is fantastic. And then after that, if you’re not too tired, there’s a couple of films that look good on at the cinema, or we could just go have a few drinks somewhere. What do you think?’

‘I think that all sounds lovely, and I’m happy to just play along with whatever you want.’

He zapped his car unlocked, and held the door open for her. ‘You know, I meant what I said. It wasn’t just because Summer prompted me. I really do think you look beautiful.’

‘Thanks.’ Evelyn flushed again, but less than the last time. ‘You scrub up well too.’

Jake grinned to himself as he shut the door, and had to make sure he didn’t skip round to the driver’s side and give away his excitement at the prospect of a full evening – alone – with such a beautiful woman.

‘It’s about a twenty-five minute drive, so feel free to fiddle with the radio.’

‘Honestly, anything that’s not Disney songs or bubblegum pop is fine.’

‘You don’t like Disney songs?’ he asked as he carefully pulled out into the street.

‘Not after the twentieth run of them this week.’ Evelyn grinned. ‘Even with children, I’m not sure anyone in their thirties should know every single lyric quite as well as I do.’

‘I could probably give you a run on some of them. My niece, Sarah, is currently obsessed with Cinderella. She makes me act out half the scenes with her. Apparently I’m her favourite Prince Charming.’