I emerged, feeling fresh and pretty, to find him dressed in a dark blue pair of dress jeans and a grey, finely checked button-down shirt, with brown lace-up shoes and a brown belt. He looked ridiculously handsome, but far less caz’ than I did. I looked down at my outfit. Flats. I was wearing flats. I needed to change into boots.

I stepped out of my shoes and rummaged in my suitcase for my black boots. James came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist. “You look beautiful.” I appreciated the compliment, but I was also a teensy bit annoyed that he’d interrupted me getting ready. Yes, really—I am particularly skilled at self-sabotage, you know.

He turned me around to face him and out of my shoes, he seemed so much taller than me. I felt my annoyance fall away as he leant down and placed a soft kiss on my lips, seeming to take care not to smudge my lipstick.

I smiled. When a man looks at you the way he was looking at me, you smile, believe me. “Almost ready?” he asked, still holding onto my waist.

“Yes. Just need to put my boots on and grab my handbag.”

He kept smiling down at me, not letting go. “You’re tiny out of your shoes, aren’t you?”

“Tiny” was not something anyone had ever called me. I’m five-foot-six. But standing there with James, who was well over six feet tall, and wrapped up in his arms, I did feel tiny. When he popped a kiss on the end of my nose, I also felt cherished. I wanted to forget about dinner and let him cherish me all night long.

He let me go and I felt the sting of disappointment—what a rollercoaster of emotions in just a matter of minutes. I pulled on some socks, then my boots, and checked my handbag for my wallet, tissues, lip balm, phone—the usual. I draped the strap over my shoulder and declared myself, “Ready.” James held the door open, his eyes locked to mine and a sexy smile on his lips as I walked past him.

That smile was going to be my undoing, I just knew it.

We were having dinner at Attiqa, which had a rooftop bar and restaurant where we could watch the sunset while we ate. We wouldn’t have a direct line of sight to the sun setting, of course—Queenstown is firmly landlocked—but we’d be able to see it disappear behind the mountain range, and I just knew it would be spectacular.

When we arrived, a buzz of energy emanated from the warmly lit restaurant downstairs, with people talking and laughing in groups, and tables filled with platters of tapas. Following the host, we made our way upstairs and stepped out onto the sundeck.

Wow. Just, wow.

With Attiqa positioned at the north-east corner of the waterfront, it had a spectacular view of the Queenstown Gardens and of Lake Wakatipu and its surrounding mountains. I paused for a second to take it all in, catching up to James as the host removed a ‘reserved’ sign from a table in front of a low couch.