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‘Yep, Stuart and Steve.’ Her eyes soften at the mention of their names. ‘I’m lucky in so many ways. I dread to think what would have happened if she hadn’t handed me over to them. She couldn’t take care of a cat, let alone a baby. The only time she spent any time with me, I almost drowned.’

No wonder she never learnt to swim.

‘What happened?’ My hand hovers over hers where she clings white-knuckled to the ledge of the deep end.

‘I was four years old. It was a beautiful summer’s day. She convinced my dads to let her take me for the day, and that she wanted to spend some time with me. We took a train to the countryside. She took me to a lake with a picnic area. It’s a gorgeous spot in Meath, with a waterfall and everything.’

I know the spot. I’ve been a couple of times. It’s secluded and stunning.

She continues, staring blankly ahead like she’s seeing it play out in her mind. ‘We packed a picnic. Took bathing suits. I remember feeling so special, so wanted. I was at the age where I was beginning to realise most people had a motherand a father, and I was so happy that mine had finally come back for me.

‘She took a million pictures of us with one of those Polaroid cameras, probably for the child benefit I later found out she was claiming, then drank a bottle of wine she’d packed and fell asleep in the sun. I was so disappointed that I’d waited to spend time with her, and instead of playing with me she fell asleep, pissed.’

I nod sympathetically but don’t interrupt her flow.

Savannah swallows thickly. ‘I went into the water on my own. It looked so inviting, but it was deeper than I thought. I got into difficulty, but when I screamed for help, she was in a Chianti coma and wouldn’t wake up. There was nobody else around, and I was petrified. I thought I was going to drown until a dog-walker heard the commotion and pulled me out of the water.

‘My dads collected me from the train station and that was the last time I saw my mother.’ She arches her eyebrows and shrugs.

‘I’m so sorry, Sav.’ I squeeze her hand, but there’s nothing sexual about it.

‘It’s not something many people know,’ she confesses. ‘I’d hate them to pity me.’

‘I don’t pity you, Savannah. I pity your mother. Look what she lost.’

Savannah flinches. She puts on a brave face, but I bet it still rips her apart that her mother abandoned her, especially now she’s a mother herself.

‘This hot mess?’ She motions to her make-up free face and forces a smile that doesn’t quite reach her eyes.

I sweep a hand across her face. ‘You’re amazing.’

‘You know you’re not too bad yourself.’ Her lips lift into a rare smile. ‘For a cocky manwhore.’

Chapter Nineteen

SAVANNAH

I’m obsessed with you. I’m obsessed with you.

It’s been playing in a loop around and around my mind for a full week.

If I was smart, I’d forget about it, but I can’t.

I thought Ronan might have called but I’ve heard nothing, apart from a text saying he can squeeze the girls in for a lesson at eleven am.

Then again, he is a manwhore, so what did I expect?

I didn’t even get him off, or tell him to get himself off while I watched, something I’ve regretted a million times this week.

What was I thinking?

Clearly, I wasn’t.

I shove the girls’ bag into the changing room lockers and head out to the pool to take my seat for the weekly perving session – oops, I mean swimming lesson.

Ronan greets the girls enthusiastically, taking Eden’s hands to help her into the water, but his navy eyes are locked on me. There’s a chemistry in the air and not just the clawing smell of chlorine from the pool

Those full, plump lips.