I winced, unable to stifle a small yelp of pain. Ironically, I think I’d made less fuss when the lightning had struck me.
Rhys was beside me in a second.
‘Did it sting you?’
‘Yep.’ I pulled the fabric of my dress away and peered into the void. ‘It’s still in there.’
I’d been undressed by others before him, but never with such speed or dexterity. Rhys reached behind me, his hand going unerringly to the zip of my dress, which he slid down as though his fingers had been primed to do so all night. Although probably not in the middle of a pub garden, with every head turned our way. My dress fell open, and the bee tumbled out onto the grass. It wasn’t the only thing to spill, as my bra was the half-cup style and so flimsy the outline of my nipples was clearly silhouetted through the lace.
Once again, Rhys’s reactions were fast, sweeping up the discarded blanket and throwing it protectively around me.
‘Come on,’ he said, placing a guiding arm at my back. ‘Let’s go inside and get some ice for that sting.’
I resisted as he tried to tug me gently towards the warm lights of the pub.
‘It’s okay, Rhys. I don’t want to make a fuss.’
‘You’re not,’ he said. ‘We just need some better light to see how bad it is.’
Never before had a man said that he wanted to see my boobs to assess how bad they looked. I could have stayed and argued with him in the middle of the beer garden, but doing so would only draw even more attention our way, so I scooped up my bag and allowed him to lead me towards the main building.
If the pub had been busy before, it was now positively heaving, so Rhys left me standing beside the door as he wove through the crowd towards the bar. It was two-to-three-deep in customers, but somehow he caught the barman’s eye as he approached.
‘Could we have some ice for a bee sting, please?’ I heard him ask, with an apology for queue-jumping to those waiting to be served. The bartender passed him a beer glass filled to the brim with ice cubes and the crowd parted like a biblical sea as he made his way back to me.
‘That was impressive,’ I said. ‘I bet you’re great at hailing taxis.’
‘Being tall helps.’
It was more than that. It was being him. Being Rhys. But that was taking me back into dangerous waters, so I simply nodded as though that explained everything.
‘Shall we find somewhere more private and get you out of that dress.’
I couldn’t help a small snort of laughter.
‘Has that line ever worked for you in the past?’
I liked the twinkle in his eyes and the way he pretended to seriously consider my question.
‘Not so much, now you mention it.’
I had a feeling he was lying.
With his hand cupping my elbow, he steered us towards the Ladies’. I reached to take the glass of ice, but Rhys had already knocked on the door and, getting no response, nudged it open with his shoulder and pulled me inside.
That took the smile from my face.
‘You can’t be in here,’ I said, which was nonsense, as he was very much in there already.
‘There are unisex toilets everywhere these days,’ he replied easily.
‘Yes, but this doesn’t happen to be one of them.’
I shot a glance towards the row of cubicles. The open doors revealed they were all empty and there was no one at the hand basins. For now, at least, we had the room to ourselves.
‘People will think we’re in here for another reason,’ I said, seizing on the first objection I could think of.
Rhys’s eyebrows rose.