AN: Ok guys I'm afraid there's going to be some angst thrown into the mix. Even though our couple might derail, remember I would never write anything other than a HEA so please stick with their journey, there's twists, turns and new characters still to meet. Thank you for your lovely appreciation of this story.

Chapter 6

The butterflies in Molly's stomach that had appeared right after Charles asked her to dinner were now in a complete frenzy as she tried to get ready and choose an appropriate outfit. Was this a date? It felt like a date, but what if he just wanted to be friends and she turned up flashing too much cleavage? In the end she settled on a black maxi dress with silver beading and flat silver sandals. She swept her hair into a loose up do with some tendrils falling to frame her face. She was just finishing her lipstick when the doorbell rang, 7.30 p.m. on the dot. She was impressed, especially as her time keeping was not a strong skill.

She opened the front door to find Charles standing there looking every inch the catalogue model. Her breath caught at the sight of him in light coloured chinos with a navy polo shirt and brown deck shoes. He smiled nervously,

"Hi."

"Hello." She beckoned for him to come in. "I'm just going to grab my bag, give me a minute."

He stood just inside the front door gazing round her cosy living room as she ran up the stairs which curved up from one corner. When she came back down she had her bag and a silver pashmina in case it was chilly later. Charles' stomach flipped when he saw her descending the stairs. What was it about this woman? She was like a drug to him, making his senses swim and his normally logical approach to life shift completely.

"What?" Molly asked warily.

Charles realised he'd been staring,

"Uh - eh - nothing."

"Okaay..." Molly looked like she didn't believe him. "Shall we go?" she gestured to the front door.

Before he realised what he was doing, Charles had moved towards her at the bottom of the stairs. She gasped when he drew closer and looked deeply into her eyes,

"Molly," he pushed a tendril of hair back behind her ear, "you are stunning, really..." he trailed off.

Molly smiled as her cheeks flushed,

"Thank you, I-"

Her words died in her throat as he leaned down to kiss her gently. When their lips met, it felt like her senses all came online. She could feel energy coursing through her body, awakening tingles running over her skin and it made her want more. She curled her arms round his neck, pulling him closer to her and deepening the kiss. He moaned as their bodies pressed closely together and he kissed her harder this time. Opening his mouth more he caught first her bottom lip then her top lip before sweeping his tongue slightly inside her mouth. It was her turn to moan and he felt her pushing against him more. He could feel how fast things were moving especially as she brought her groin flush with his. He didn't want to rush her, but she seemed as into it as he was so he kept kissing her, savouring every sensation from touching her lips and her body, the sounds that escaped her. Tentatively he slid his hands down to stroke her ass, delighting in the mewling sound she made as he traced the line of her underwear through the flowing skirt of her dress. He was just wondering how far they would take this while standing at the bottom of her stairs when his phone rang. It took a few seconds for them to register what was happening, but eventually Molly pulled away, her eyes lidded, face flushed and wearing the appearance of someone a bit drunk on endorphins,

"Um I think that might be you?"

Charles' brain was in a fog. He could only see her beautiful face, her red lips which were swollen from how hard they'd kissed. He tried to focus on the ringing from his pocket,

"What? Oh right yes, sorry, hang on...hello? Sam? Are you ok?"

Molly looked down at the floor, suddenly aware of how close they were standing. She touched her lips, trying to suppress a smile at the thought of what had just happened. Suddenly she felt Charles' hand close round hers and he lifted it from her lips to his. She looked up as he kissed it and smiled knowingly while listening to Sam on the other end of the phone. From his side of the conversation, Molly could tell he was getting impatient.

-"Well you phoned me."

-"That was earlier, I was just phoning for a chat."

-"I appreciate you calling me back of course, I'm just a bit busy just now." He looked at Molly again who had wandered to perch on the arm of the sofa, looking at her phone and pretending not to listen.

-"I'm going out if you must know."

-"With a friend."

-"A neighbour I've met."

-"Never mind that."

-"Look Sam I realise that as your dad I seem like this ageing dinosaur, but actually I'm not quite ready for the pipe and slippers and I do manage to have a social life sometimes."

-"Well I'm not working at the moment am I?"

Molly's ears pricked up a little. He wasn't working? He was very cagey about his working life, maybe he'd been made redundant and felt embarrassed.

-"Right Sam I'm going now, I will talk to you tomorrow, unless you need something before then and by that I mean something serious, not a bank transfer of £20 so you can go into town."

-"Yes, right. Ok, yes I love you too Sam."

He hung up and looked apologetically at Molly.

"Sorry about that, um he has a habit of picking the wrong moment."

"It's fine." She smiled. "Dinner?"

He nodded,

"Yes let's go before he calls back!"

They made their way outside where Charles' car was parked. He opened the passenger door to let Molly in. She smiled at the gesture.

As he slid in beside her, there was a slight awkwardness between them, neither had acknowledged their moment of passion.

Charles snuck a sideways glance and caught Molly's eye. They both giggled, but Molly spoke first,

"So that was nice..." she teased.

Charles took her hand and kissed it again,

"More than nice Molly..."

They leaned in for another kiss which was brief, but full of the promise of more.

Charles started the engine and set off along their street while Molly sat back happily in the passenger seat.

"Can I get you some wine?"

The waiter stood expectantly by the table.

Molly looked uncomfortably from him to Charles who was studying the wine list.

"What do you think?" he asked as he looked up.

"Um..." Molly shifted in her seat.

"Can you give us a few minutes please?" Charles asked the waiter.

"What is it?" he asked Molly when the waiter had gone.

"I don't really like wine, sorry." Molly felt bad as he seemed to be somewhat of an expert if his confidence with the wine list was anything to go by.

"Well why don't we decide what we're going to eat and we can match the bottle to that."

"It doesn't mean I'm going to like it." Molly said pessimistically looking at her menu.

The restaurant was very fancy and though she'd eaten there before on a few occasions she still felt slightly out of her depth.

"Do you want me to choose for you?" Charles asked.

She looked up sharply,

"No! It's not the 1900s! And I might not know wine, but I know food!"

Charles did that knowing smile again and this time Molly felt like she wanted to simultaneously kiss him and slap him.

They went back to their menus.

"So what would you normally drink?" Charles enquired.

"Gin or Prosecco." Molly replied.

"Ah a gin drinker, a woman after my own heart."

She smiled, at last some shared ground.

Eventually they ordered their food as well as two gin and tonics and the wine glasses were filled with water.

Molly felt suddenly nervous. Now the ordering was out of the way, it was time to continue getting to know each other.

They smiled at each other, each one wondering if they should speak first. Eventually they both spoke at the same time then laughed.

"You go first." said Molly.

Charles looked like he wasn't sure if he should so Molly took a large gulp of her drink.

"I was just going to ask if this is your first marathon?"

She nodded,

"Yes and I'm bloody regretting signing up. I think it might kill me."

"Why are you doing it then?" Charles laughed.

"Lily convinced me it would be a good idea and it's for charity."

"Lily?"

"She's my best mate. She's the one on the Yoga retreat. We've been friends since we were 6. Pretty much book ends really, holding each other up through life.

Charles smiled,

"Friendships like that are rare, hold onto it." He sounded wistful.

"What about you?"

"Me?"

"The running? Are you training for something?"

"No, no I'm just trying to build my fitness back up, I had an...injury."

That explained the right leg.

"I noticed you run like you're protecting your right leg."

He looked surprised to hear that.

"Sorry, force of habit. I'm qualified in sports massage, I can see something out of alignment a mile off!"

"Wow that's good to know. Massage is so expensive these days..."

He winked to show he was joking and she laughed.

"So was it a sports injury?"

It was Charles' turn to shift uncomfortably in his seat,

"Uhm no...I was...shot."

There was silence for a moment before Molly found the presence of mind to speak,

"I'm sorry did you just say you were shot?" Molly looked incredulous.

Charles nodded.

Molly couldn't get her head round this,

"You were shot? Where? In bath?! I didn't see anything on the news!"

"No not in Bath! In Afghanistan."

"What were you doing there?" she was praying he wasn't going to say what she thought he was.

"I'm in...um...the...army."

And there it was. Molly sat in silence, shocked.

"Molly?" Charles was concerned now. She hadn't spoken and her face was crestfallen.

"You're in the army?" she asked in the smallest voice.

"Yes, why?"

"I can't do this Charles."

"You can't do what?"

"This." Molly indicated the space between them. "I can't date someone in the forces, I just can't."