Our eyes connected and I saw something in him shift; somehow, incredibly, it looked like I’d won him over. His face relaxed, he inclined his head towards me and the first genuine smile I’d seen from him lit up his face. ‘Why not? Hell, I might even serve it at our official opening party.’

My smile was so big I nearly turned myself inside out. ‘I’ll hold you to that.’

He laughed. ‘I don’t doubt it for one second.’

‘Thank you to my guests this afternoon: Olivia Channing from the English Wine Board,’ said Fiona, ‘Thomas Devine from Devine Kitchen and Lottie Allbright from Butterworth Wines, whom I think we’ll be hearing an awful lot more from in the future.’

Once our slot was over, the production assistant wasted no time in escorting us back down to reception and signing us out and within minutes I was back on the pavement in Leicester Square. After surprisingly amicable farewells, both Olivia and Thomas had jumped in taxis and zoomed away. It was four o’clock; Jensen would be heading into his meeting so I had some time to kill. My head was buzzing from my exchange with Thomas Devine and I couldn’t wait to talk to Jensen about it. I walked round to stretch my legs for a while, merged with the crowd to watch a bare-chested fire eater and then headed to a coffee shop and ordered a skinny decaff latte.

Beating the French champagne had given me an incredible boost. The truth was that our wines were amazing and the company ethos was fantastic. Ted Butterworth had created a legacy which was simply too awe-inspiring to let it slide into someone else’s hands. Fiona was right when she said I was ambitious for wanting to expand into China and grow the Butterworth brand internationally; I’d meant every word.

It was a tall order given my current circumstances, I acknowledged, stroking my baby bump, and Betsy’s circumstances too. But right now, I felt I could conquer the world and maybe if I could somehow persuade Jensen to help me do it, I actually would.

Chapter 28

Alone at a window table, watching a continuous stream of tourists, city workers and fast-food delivery guys pass by, I sipped my latte and turned on my phone. A barrage of notifications flashed up on the screen but before I had a chance to open any of them a call came through from Pippa.

‘The library event went SO WELL!’ she squealed. ‘It was amazing, they loved it, they loved ME!’

‘Of course they did,’ I replied, thrilled for her. ‘You’re an expert on Butterworth Wines and people recognize passion when they see it.’