“Oh, right. Have you got something I can borrow?” She looked at me like I was a complete idiot. Of course she had something, and of course it was perfect. It was a pashmina, the same blue as the swirls on my top. I folded it up and put it in the tote, then had a final look in the mirror. I fingered a wayward curl, but quickly gave up trying to make it behave. “I think I’m going to wait for James downstairs.”

“Nervous?” She knows me so well.

“A little.”

She reached up and gave me a big hug. “Have the most amazing time.”

I hugged her back tightly. “I will.”

“And if he proposes, say yes!”

I broke the hug so I could give her a chastising look, which she brushed off by laughing. She clearly thought she was hilarious.

“Go!” She pushed me out of her bedroom into the hallway. “Go pace in the lobby.”

“I will then!” I said with faux indignation.

“Love you,” she called as I went out the door.

“Love you back!” I replied over my shoulder. I shook my head as I waited for the elevator. I adore my mad little sister.

Just then, she popped her head out of her front door.

“And get a photo this time!”

I take that back. My sister is a massive pain in the bum.

*

“Hello, you,” said a very handsome silver fox. He took my tote from me with one hand and pulled me in for a kiss with the other. It was a lovely kiss.

“Hello to you,” I said, smiling dreamily. He opened the car door for me and while I got settled and seat-belted, put my tote in the boot. When he climbed into the car, I checked him out properly and he looked good. It was that Ralph Lauren model look again. Black jeans, slim fit—not skinny—and a light-blue dress shirt, untucked, with the second button undone and the sleeves rolled up to show his tanned forearms. Wowser.

When we pulled away from the kerb, I couldn’t contain my curiosity any further. “So, where are we headed?”

“Well, I’ve actually planned an evening in,” he said, and then added, “sort of.”

“Now I’m really intrigued.”

“I’d prefer to keep the details a surprise.” He glanced at me and returned his eyes to the road. “Would that be all right—the surprise part?”

“Absolutely.” I had already started to reassess my dislike of surprises, mainly because James was so good at them. My excitement built as I watched London pass by my window.

Could I live here again? I wondered. London was an incredible city, and Cat was there. And James, of course. A life with James … It was one thing to fantasise about Sunday mornings and window seats, but what would real life with the silver fox even be like? When we were in Greece, James had said he was looking for that, for something real, but that didn’t mean he wanted it with me. And even if he did, could I give up my life in Sydney? My home?