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to Bournemouth, you make love to me, dump me at the station like an old rag and go off on holiday without even mentioning it to me! What am I supposed to think?’
    He began to relax as he loosened his hold. ‘I didn’t mention it to you, darling, because it would have spoilt the wonderful time we were having, and I wanted it to be special, that’s all, and as for leaving you at the station, if our relationship is to survive, we can’t possibly be seen together. I’m well-known in the town, Connie. I didn’t want to put you in a compromising position, because I care about you.’
    â€˜You do?’ This took her by surprise, and now she was confused.
    He took her into his arms. ‘Of course I do, darling. You are something very precious in my life.’
    â€˜Really?’ She couldn’t help the note of sarcasm in her voice.
    He tilted her chin upwards and softly kissed her. ‘How could you ever doubt it?’
    Before she could answer, he put his hand in his pocket and withdrew a small jeweller’s box. ‘I bought this for you.’
    She was shocked into silence as she looked at it.
    â€˜Don’t you want to know what’s inside?’
    She took the box from him. Opening it she saw a gold chain with a locket shaped like a heart. She gazed up at him, speechless.
    Chuckling softly, John took the chain from the box and said, ‘Here, let me put it on for you.’ He turned her round and fastened the clasp then softly kissed the back of her neck.
    â€˜Come on,’ he said, ‘let’s get the stock or people will begin to wonder, and we don’t want that, do we?’
    â€˜No,’ said Connie, ‘and thank you, it’s beautiful.’ What else could she say? She could hardly hand it back, that would have seemed so rude.
    As they returned to the counter with the goods to be stacked she was in a state of flux … So he did think about her and … and he wanted a relationship! So she did mean something to him after all! But did she want to carry on with this affair, now she had met Sam, who was so different and who didn’t have a wife and child in the background? She couldn’t think straight.
    For the rest of the day, she kept fingering the heart, trying to make up her mind, until Betty commented, ‘For God’s sake Connie, will you leave that bloody thing around your neck alone? You’ll wear it away, and where did you get it, anyway? I’ve never seen it before and I know all your bits of jewellery.’
    â€˜I treated myself to it from my wages,’ she replied quickly and moved away.
    Connie was unaware that the whole morning scenario had been carefully noted by Gillian Spencer, the manageress of the fashion department, situated on the opposite side of the same floor. Her eyes had narrowed as John had led the young assistant away. Now what was he up to, she wondered. But when she saw them return, carrying various items, she was in no doubt. The stock room had been a place where she and Baker had sneaked into on occasion when she had been his ‘flavour of the month’.
    Their affair had been a torrid one, and as she had her own flat, meeting with him had been easy; working late had been a simple excuse for him to give to his wife. Then when Kay had given birth to his daughter, Gillian realized that any hopes of a future with this man were never going to materialize. When he started to cool off and had put an end to their relationship, she put the whole thing behind her and moved on, and when, sometime later, he’d approached her again, she’d had the willpower to refuse his advances.
    â€˜But we were so good together,’ he’d said.
    For a moment she’d been tempted, remembering how he’d made her feel when he held her in his arms and made love to her. Oh, he was so accomplished between the sheets. He made her lose all of her inhibitions, and she had thrived on his attention. But,