BIG SURPRISE AHEAD!!! EastEnders airs surprise love declaration in mysterious Lauren and Mark story

EastEnders’ Lauren Beale and Mark Fowler found some chemistry together tonight, after a business deal went wrong for Lauren. The pair have had a rocky relationship in recent months, with Mark setting Lauren up to have one of her cars stolen as well as trying to rope her into one of his dodgy schemes.

But Lauren has become pretty desperate in recent weeks, after making a bet with Max that she could sell £80,000 worth of cars within a month.

If Lauren is successful, her dad will give her half the business.

On Monday’s episode, Alfie Moon put Lauren in contact with his friend Ray, who had vintage cars for sale.

She also struck a deal with Phil Mitchell, with him agreeing to repair the cars before they’re sold on.

Lauren then purchased a car from Ray but when it arrived, she realised she’d been conned as the car was nothing more than a heap of junk.

Tonight (Tuesday, 21 April) Mark, who Phil had passed Lauren’s work on to, had a look at the car and confirmed it was unsellable.

Knowing Lauren was upset about being scammed and losing her money, Mark offered to sort the problem for her.

At the gym, Mark phoned Ray and asked him to come down and meet him. Not trusting Mark, Lauren said she would talk to Ray when he arrived.

When Ray got to the gym Mark brought him into the office where Lauren was waiting.

Lauren told him that she wanted her money back as the car he’d sold her wasn’t as described.

When Ray refused to refund her, Mark stepped in, saying he was Lauren’s boyfriend and he wasn’t going to stand for anyone scamming the woman he loves.

While Lauren told Mark she could fight her own battles he continued, telling Ray that her anger towards him was affecting their relationship.

Mark told Ray: “You’re breaking up the greatest love story ever told here,” as Lauren continued to tell him to stay out of it.

But when Ray still wouldn’t agree to a refund, Mark changed tact, telling him he’d looked into his family and knew where his children went to school.

Issuing a threat, Mark said that if Ray wanted his kids to be able to walk home safely, he’d better give Lauren what she paid for.

Ray agreed and later Mark and Lauren went to The Vic together and celebrate over a drink.

When Lauren wasn’t as grateful as Mark expected her to be, he asked if she was annoyed about him pretending to be her boyfriend.

But Lauren shrugged it off, telling him: “It’s the least believable thing you said.”

Alfie then told Lauren that Ray was sorry and didn’t mean to ‘scam’ her and her new car would be there tomorrow.

After Alfie left, Mark told her: “If I was your fella, that’s how everyone would treat you”, to which Lauren responded: “Yeah but that’s something we’re never going to find out.”

Mark then said he believed their partnership was going to be good and he could teach her some things.

Later, in The Arches, Mark offered to teach Lauren some basic car mechanics so she could “spot a wrong ‘un a mile off”.

“Trust me, I can spot a wrong ‘un,” Lauren told him, before walking off.

Could Lauren and Mark’s partnership blossom into something more?

Given how EastEnders’ Lauren Branning (Jacqueline Jossa) loves exposing other people’s affairs, you’d be forgiven for thinking she would be staunchly against any extramarital activities.

Not so, it seems.

Lauren – who famously and explosively revealed the affairs of both dad Max Branning (Jake Wood) and Stacey Slater (Lacey Turner) and mum-in-law Cindy Beale (Michelle Collins) and Junior Knight (Micah Balfour) on Christmas Day 2008 and 2024 respectively – looks set to embark on a steamy romance with hunky gangster Mark Fowler Jr (Stephen Aaron-Sipple).

The BBC soap sets the wheels in motion for a possible relationship between the pair this week when Mark comes to Lauren’s rescue following a carjacking, when she takes him out for a test drive in a vintage motor.

However, Lauren has no idea that Mark is embroiled in the criminal underworld thanks to his dodgy dealings with the same drugs gang Ravi Gulati (Aaron Thiara) has been wrapped up in.

Following Mark’s knight in shining armour routine, Lauren is drawn to Mark once again next week after a disastrous Mother’s Day lunch, which sees her dad Max at loggerheads with his family (for a change).

Forthcoming scenes will see Mark offer Lauren – who recently went into business with Max after buying the car lot – a huge deal to supply her with a stream of luxury motors to sell, which she agrees to.

A suspicious Max soon questions Lauren on the validity of the paperwork, but she insists the cars are legit.

However, local copper Callum Highway (Tony Clay) later informs Lauren that the classic car involved in the carjacking incident has been found, and a list of high-value motors in the neighbourhood have started to go missing, instantly leading her to suspect Mark of wrongdoing.

Lauren then goes to confront Mark, but given his smooth-talking ways, could tension turn into passion between the pair?

It certainly seems likely, back in the New Year’s Day flashforward episode, it was heavily hinted that Lauren had been cheating on husband Peter Beale (Thomas Law).

She was then later seen sharing scenes with Mark, who, at the time of the flashforward ep airing, was unknown to the audience.

Something tells us we should be keeping a very close eye on these two in the coming months…