Page 101 of The Village Inn of Secret Dream

‘It’s fine,’ said Belle, with a sunny smile. Too sunny, in fact.

Lucy immediately frowned. ‘Stop faking it,’ she said. ‘It’s me. What’s going on?’

Belle sagged briefly. ‘I’m wearing my top like I promised,’ she said in a dull tone.

‘Yeah, I told you it looked great, didn’t I?’ said Lucy, before comprehension appeared to dawn. ‘Ah. I get it. He didn’t like it, did he?’

Belle shrugged her shoulders. ‘How would I know? I don’t think he’s even noticed.’

Lucy rolled her eyes. ‘Men,’ she muttered. ‘They’re hopeless. Look, you’re going to have to be a little more obvious. Flirt with him a little.’

‘Flirt?’ whispered Belle, horrified. ‘I’m not sure I can.’

‘Just try,’ said Lucy. ‘What harm could it do?’

Belle thought that it could do a great deal of harm actually. Especially if he laughed at her, or worse, rejected her.

But still, something had to give. Neither of them had mentioned the kisses that they had both seemed to enjoy only a few weeks ago. Surely Pete hadn’t forgotten about them already?

It was driving her crazy, the not knowing. So when their family and friends had left for the evening and they were alone, Belle knew that now was her chance.

‘That went great,’ said Pete, with a wide smile as he locked the front door. ‘I think the restaurant might just make it after all.’

‘Well, the bookings are coming in thick and fast,’ she said, watching as he went over to the restaurant.

Her feet automatically followed him and she came to stand next to him just as he switched off the main lights.

‘Is everything okay?’ he asked, frowning. ‘Did I forget to do something?’

He looked over the restaurant, which was now only lit by the hundreds of fairy lights in the oak beams above.

‘No,’ she told him, before clearing her throat and trying a more husky tone of voice. ‘Everything’s wonderful,’ she added.

He looked at her. ‘Are you getting a cold?’ he asked.

‘No,’ she said, frantically shaking her head. She rolled her eyes to herself as he headed over to the other side of the room to turn off the fairy lights by the switch on the wall.

She could hear Lucy egging her on in her mind but didn’t have a clue what to do next. In the end, she leaned up against the doorway in what she hoped was a seductive, sexy look. She even threw her hand above her head, to show off how good her figure looked in the top.

At least it slowed Pete’s walking down as he neared her.

‘Are you sure you’re okay?’ he asked. ‘You’re, erm, being a little odd.’

‘Only a little?’ she drawled before she could stop herself.

Pete broke into a smile. ‘That’s better,’ he told her. ‘I was worried that you’d gone soft on me.’

But as he began to walk away, she blurted out, ‘I can be soft when I want to!’

He turned to raise an eyebrow at her.

‘Okay,’ she said, with a sigh. ‘I really can’t.’

He shook his head as if she had made some sort of funny joke and then went to walk away once more before stopping to look back at her.

‘Nice top, by the way,’ he said, with a wink before walking off.

She smiled to herself. He’d noticed after all!