‘Are you looking to move away from making toffee, then?’
‘Yes and no,’ he said. ‘What I want to do is look at other sorts of toffee.’
She frowned. ‘Am I being dense? Because toffee’s—well—toffee.’
‘Unless it’s in something,’ he said. ‘Toffee popcorn, like the one you chose tonight at the cinema. Or toffee ice cream.’
‘You weren’t concentrating on the film, were you?’ she asked. ‘You were thinking about work.’
‘I was thinking about you, actually,’ he said. ‘But the toffee popcorn did set off a lightbulb in the back of my head.’ He wrinkled his nose. ‘If I took the business in that direction, it’d mean buying a whole different set of machinery and arranging a whole different set of staff training. I’d need to be sure that the investment would be worth the cost and Farrell’s would see a good return on the money.’
‘Unless,’ she said, ‘you collaborated with other manufacturers—ones who already have the factory set-up and the staff. Maybe you could license them to use your toffee.’
‘That’s a great idea. And I could draw up a shortlist of other family-run businesses whose ideas and ethos are the same as Farrell’s. People who’d make good business partners.’
‘That’s your dream, isn’t it?’ she asked softly. ‘To keep your heritage—but to put your own stamp on it.’
‘I guess. Research and development was always my favourite thing,’ he admitted. ‘I wanted to look at developing different flavours of toffee. Something different from mint, treacle, orange or nut. I was thinking cinnamon or ginger for Christmas, or maybe special seasonal editions of the chocolate hearts—say a strawberries and cream version for summer.’
‘That’s a great idea,’ she said. ‘Maybe white chocolate.’
‘And different packaging,’ he said. ‘Something to position Farrell’s hearts as the kind of thing you buy as special treats.’
‘You could sell them in little boxes as well as big ones,’ she said. ‘For people who want a treat but don’t want a big box.’
He kissed her. ‘I’m beginning to think that I should employ you on my R and D team.’
‘Now that,’ she said, ‘really wouldn’t work. I’m used to doing things my way and I’d hate to have to go by someone else’s rules all the while. Besides, I don’t want you bossing me about and I think we’d end up fighting.’
He wrinkled his nose. ‘I don’t want to fight with you, Claire—I like how things are now.’
‘Me, too,’ she admitted.
‘Make love, not war—that’s a great slogan, you know.’
She grinned. ‘Just as long as it’s not all talk and no action, Mr Farrell.’
He laughed. ‘I can take a hint.’ And he kissed her until she was dizzy.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
OVER THE NEXT couple of weeks, Claire and Sean grew closer. Claire didn’t get to see Sean every evening, but she talked to him every day and found herself really looking forward to the times they did see each other. And even on days when things were frustrating and refused to go right, or she had a client who changed her mind about what she wanted at least twice a day, it wasn’t so bad because Claire knew she would be seeing Sean or talking to him later.
And he indulged her by taking her to one of her favourite places—the Victoria and Albert Museum. She took him to see her favourite pieces of clothing, showing him the fabrics, the shapes and the stitching that had inspired some of her own designs. When they stopped for a cold drink in the café, she looked at him.
‘Sorry. I rather went into nerd mode. You should have told me to shut up.’
He smiled. ‘Actually, I really enjoyed it.’
‘But I was lecturing you, making you look at fiddly bits and pieces that probably bored you stupid.’
‘You were lit up, Claire. Clothing design is your passion. And it was a privilege to see it,’ he said softly. He reached across the table, took her hand and drew it to his lips. ‘Don’t ever lose that passion.’
He’d accepted her for who she was, Claire thought with sudden shock. The first man she’d ever dated who’d seen who she was, accepted it, and encouraged her to do what she loved.
In turn, Sean gave her a personal guided tour of the toffee factory. ‘I’m afraid the white coat and the hair covering are non-negotiable,’ he said.