Swinging round, she saw that it was Alexander Norcross, Mr Presentable himself, looking very smart in a charcoal-grey Crombie and with a plump, shivering brunette in tow.

‘Oh hi.’ She probably had bits of toffee stuck to her teeth but she smiled anyway. ‘Yes, we’re having a great time.’

Ella tugged at her arm. ‘Janey, can you lend me fifty pence for the hoop-la?’

‘Rip-off, these places.’ Alexander glanced down at Ella, who had just proved his point.

‘How these people have the nerve to charge fifty pence for the opportunity to win something that costs ten, ‘I don’t know. If you ask me, there should be a law against it.’

Smart but mean, recalled Janey, pressing a pound coin into Ella’s gloved hand. With exaggerated politeness she said, ‘Oh dear, does that mean you aren’t enjoying yourself?’

‘I’m not saying that,’ protested Alexander. ‘Fairgrounds can be entertaining, so long as you don’t waste your cash. We’ve been here for almost two hours now,’ he added with evident pride,

‘and it hasn’t even been necessary to open my wallet. Now that’s what ‘I call real value for money.’

The brunette didn’t just have a red nose, she was almost blue with cold all over.

‘You mean he hasn’t bought you a cup of coffee?’ Janey looked shocked. ‘Alexander, this poor girl is going to end up with frostbite. What she needs is a hot espresso and a couple of stiff brandies to warm her up.’

The girl, looking almost pathetically grateful, said, ‘That would be nice. Alex, could we do that?’

‘Are you cold?’ He sounded surprised. ‘Well, maybe it is time we made a move. I know.

We’ll get back to my house and have a nice cup of tea.’

Janey had the urge to scream: ‘Make him take you to an expensive restaurant! Better still, tell him to take an almighty running jump into the sea ...’

But she didn’t, and the next moment Josh and Guy arrived back from the shooting gallery.

Guy, realizing that she was talking to someone she knew, hung back and maintained a discreet distance. Josh, who was far more interested in money than discretion, charged up to Janey and yelled frantically, ‘Quick, I’ve run out of change!’

‘Two kids,’ Alexander remarked, when Josh had pocketed another pound coin and shot off to join Ella. ‘Well, well. So you found yourself a family man. Bad luck, Jane.’

Janey risked a glance over his shoulder. Ten feet away and eavesdropping shamelessly, Guy grinned.

‘Bad luck?’

‘Oh well, maybe you get on well with them.’ Alexander shuddered with disapproval. ‘Some girls don’t mind that kind of set-up, after all. But you do want to be careful, Jane. Single mothers are bad enough, but single fathers are an even dodgier prospect. Is he interested in you, or is he just desperate to find someone to look after the house and kiddies?’

‘Gosh.’ Not daring to meet Guy’s gaze, Janey bit her lip and looked worried. ‘I hadn’t thought of it like that. You mean all he’s really after is some kind of substitute nanny?’

‘That’s exactly what I mean,’ Alexander declared with a knowledgeable nod. ‘You see, nannies don’t come cheap and they aren’t always one hundred per cent reliable. As far as the man’s concerned, it’s simpler and more economical in the long run to find himself a new wife.’

Guy, approaching them, gave Janey a ghost of a wink. She didn’t even flinch when he slipped his arm around her waist and gave her a fleeting kiss on the cheek.

‘Darling, I thought I’d lost you. We really should be getting home, you know. It’s way past Ella’s bedtime.’

Janey gave him a cold stare. ‘Oh dear, is it? Well in that case we’d better run.’

‘What’s the matter?’ Guy raised his eyebrows. ‘Is there a problem?’

‘I don’t know,’ she replied evenly. ‘But I think I’m about to find out. Let me ask you a question, Guy. Did you invite me to move in with you because you loved me or because you needed someone to take care of your children?’

His smile faded. After some consideration he said, ‘Well, sweetheart. If you think back, I didn’t actually invite you to move in with me at all. As far as I recall, I arrived back from Amsterdam one night and there you were, unpacking your suitcases and generally making yourself at home. Not that I’m complaining of course, but--’

‘But you do love me?’ A note of hysteria crept into Janey’s voice. ‘If we’re going to get married next week I need to know if you really love me.’

Alexander and the brunette stood in fascinated silence. Janey prayed Josh and Ella wouldn’t pick this moment to come back.

‘Sweetheart, of course I do.’ Guy gave her a placatory hug. ‘We all do. In fact the kids are so smitten, I’ve decided to sack the nanny. From now on you can look after them all by yourself.

Now isn’t that just the most wonderful surprise?’

‘That’s it,’ she said flatly. ‘The wedding’s off.’

The brunette, who had been staring at Guy, snapped her fingers. ‘I know who you are.You’re Guy Cassidy, the photographer.’ Her eyes widened. ‘You’re famous.’

‘Doesn’t stop him being a cheapskate double-crossing toad,’ Janey snapped.

‘Guy Cassidy?’ said Alexander, deeply impressed. ‘The Guy Cassidy? Of course you are!

Hey, it’s really nice to meet you.’

‘I don’t believe I’m hearing this.’ Janey glared at Alexander. ‘You’ve just told me not to marry him and now you’re fawning all over him like some kind of groupie!’

Guy frowned. ‘He told you not to marry me? Why ever would he say a thing like that?

Janey, you’re making it up.’

‘Look, I’m sorry.’ Alexander shook his head. ‘I didn’t know it was you.’

‘Too late,’ declared Janey, prising Guy’s hand from her arm. ‘I wouldn’t marry him now if he was Mel Gibson.’

Chapter 36

‘And I thought Maxine was the actress.’ He caught up with her by the win-a-goldfish stall, where Ella and Josh were engrossed in the task of flipping rubber frogs on to lily pads. ‘Carry on like that and you’ll end up starring in toilet-roll commercials.’

Janey grinned.The expression on Alexander’s face had been superb. It was a shame Guy couldn’t have captured it on film.

‘You started it.’

‘Couldn’t resist it. My God, when I heard what he was saying to you; no wonder you’re wary of men.’ He shook his head in disbelief. ‘I must say, you certainly know some extraordinary people.’

At least he didn’t know how she’d met Alexander, Janey thought with some relief. He’d already caught her out once, and that was enough.

‘My bloody frogs keep falling in the water!’ complained Ella, unaware of Guy behind her.

He tapped her on the shoulder.

‘Oh, sorry Daddy.’ She gave him an angelic, gap-toothed smile.

‘Good.’ Guy winked at Janey. ‘Because we don’t want any bloody goldfish anyway.’

‘My feet ache,’ said Janey as they made their way back to the car two hours later.

Josh and Ella, clutching helium balloons, armfuls of Day-Glo furry toys and an inflatable giant squid, were running on ahead, the squid’s pink plastic tentacles wrapping themselves around Ella’s legs as she struggled to keep up with Josh.

‘My wallet aches.’ Guy gave her a rueful look. ‘I’m financially destitute. And all because my daughter fell in love with a squid.’

‘And you didn’t enjoy trying to win it?’ Janey mocked. ‘Come on, you loved every minute on that rifle range.’

‘I would have loved it even more if the sights hadn’t been ninety degrees out. Fifteen quid for a squid,’ he groaned. ‘And what’s the betting that by tomorrow morning it’ll have a puncture.’

‘Stop complaining. You’ve had a wonderful time.’

‘OK, so maybe I have.’ He grinned.The next moment, he grabbed her arm and pulled her towards him, so abruptly that Janey almost lost her footing.

‘Wha—’

‘Sorry, dog shit on the pavement,’ said Guy romantically. ‘You almost stepped in it.’

‘My hero,’ Janey murmured, because although she had regained her balance he hadn’t released his hold on her. If she moved away she would feel silly – it was hardly the romantic gesture of the decade, after all – but at the same time she couldn’t help wondering what Josh and Ella would make of it if they should choose this moment to turn round. Why, she thought with some embarrassment,was he doing this? Why wasn’t he saying anything? And why didn’t he just let go?

Guy was deep in thought. He wasn’t normally slow off the mark but something had just occurred to him, something quite unexpected, and it needed some serious thinking about.

The big stumbling block, he now realized, had been the fact that Janey’s unfortunate past had rendered her so totally off-limits from the start. With a history like hers, the last thing she needed was the kind of involvement which could only bring more pain. And when you were a man with a history like his, thought Guy grimly, it was easier simply to steer clear. As he’d told her himself only days earlier, his relationships had a habit of coming to grief. He didn’t do it deliberately but it happened anyway. He always seemed to be the one at fault. And it was always the other person who got hurt.

But although he hadn’t even allowed the possibility to cross his mind before, Guy now acknowledged the fact that he had been deluding himself. Throughout the past week he’d been telling himself what a great nanny Janey was. In truth, he realized, it was the simple fact of her being there that had been great.

One of the major points in her favour, however, was also one of the major drawbacks, and it was something else with which he was woefully unfamiliar. Janey didn’t flirt, and he didn’t know if that was because she simply wasn’t a flirtatious person, or if it meant she didn’t find him worth flirting with. Consequently, he had no idea whether or not she was even faintly attracted to him.Their relationship up until now had been entirely platonic. Over the months - and not without the occasional hiccup along the way - a friendship had been forged. Aside from that, he just didn’t know how Janey felt about him.