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Feeling a flutter of exciteuests, Savannah slowly turned full circle one last ti in

He was annoyed at being late, but it couldn’t be helped The land squad was already here He’d seen their coach in the courtyard He could hear the sound of hter as he strode across the hall He ran up to his rooet back down and support Savannah There was tooIt was only on his way downstairs again that he realised the sounds he could hear were not co-room He frowned as he retraced his steps across the hall The room had been shut up for years…

A manservant opened the double doors for him with a flourish, and as he stood on the threshold he was momentarily stunned The scene laid out in front of hi-roolory It was a haven of colour and warhter drew him in

If Savannah had chosen to be a theatrical designer rather than a singer, she couldn’t have conjured up a lamorous set But in the centre of that set was the centre of his attention: Savannah, lookingthan he’d ever seen her

Looking…There were no words to describe how Savannah looked With her soft, golden curls hanging loose in a shila hostess to the squad in a stunning pale-pink gown that fitted her voluptuous figure perfectly This was no child, or so her wares in front of a roomful of men This was a real woht in her eyes, a woside men on her parents’ farm, which explained her ease of manner That hat made it so easy for his friends on the squad to relate to her, he realised

‘Ethan…’

Seeing him, her face lit up, and as she came towards him he realised he had expected to be shunned after the churlish way he’d treated her, but instead she was holding out her hands to invite him in She was more than beautiful, he realised in that ood

‘Couests, Ethan’

His attention was centred on her after that h he was quickly immersed in the camaraderie of the team he was acutely aware of her every second

The boys in the squad laughed goodnaturedly, and anised for thereed, and eventually even he was laughing What Savannah had done for the team had made them feel special She made him feel special

It thrilled Savannah to see what an inspiration Ethan was to the younger players Everyone showed hi next to him She couldn’t bear to think this was the last occasion when she would do that

‘Here’s to England winning the Six Nations,’ he said, standing up to deliver the toast ‘And here’s to the only one ast us without a broken nose’

It took Savannah a lass to her, and as everyone laughed and cheered he added, ‘To our gracious hostess for the evening, the lovely Savannah Ross’

‘Savannah Ross!’ the squad chorused, raising their glasses to her

Savannah’s cheeks were cri for us?’ he murmured discreetly As his warm breath brushed her cheeks her heart beat even faster She was touched by the request, but terrified at the thought of singing in front of a room full of people, all of whose faces she could see quite clearly There was no nice, safe barrier of blinding footlights to hide behind here