‘Do you have to go?’ he asked, brushing the hair from my face with his fingertip.

I felt my breath quicken as the urge to fold myself into his arms grew stronger and stronger. My head was whirling with all the things I wanted to say but didn’t dare. It wasn’t fair to say anything that might change his mind, however much I wanted him to turn down the job.

‘There’s a train in forty minutes,’ I said. ‘If I leave now, I won’t have to rush.’

‘I’m not ready to say goodbye,’ he said, his blue eyes holding mine.

I swallowed, forcing back the ball of emotion in my throat. ‘Me neither.’

‘Then stay.’ The pad of his thumb stroked my cheek. ‘Stay the night with me.’

It was all I needed to hear.

I answered by grabbing hold of his hand, leading him to the kerb and flagging down an oncoming taxi.

‘Where to, love?’ called the cabbie.

I laughed and climbed into the back. ‘His place.’

‘It’s very neat,’ I said, choosing my words with care as Jensen let me into his flat on the top floor of a modern apartment block in Farringdon. ‘And minimalist.’

‘You can be honest,’ he said, dumping his keys in a glass bowl on a glass console table in the hall. He showed me into an open-plan kitchen and living area and gestured for me to sit down. ‘I know it’s a bit boring. My previous girlfriend was a fan of owls: pottery owls, stuffed owls, candles, pictures, cushions in the shape of owls … I moved into this place on my own after we split up and relished being clutter-free. It’s become a habit.’

He put the kettle on to make tea while I kicked off my shoes, sat down on the sofa and tucked my feet underneath me.

‘I know something you could do to make it less boring.’

‘Oh?’

I patted the cushion next to me. ‘Come over here and I’ll show you.’

He didn’t need asking twice …

It was a perfect evening filled with laughter and, on my part at least, the first sparks of love. Jensen was the perfect gentleman, insisting on making up a bed for me in the spare room while we waited for our Chinese food to arrive later that night. (Despite my huge sausage and mash lunch, the adrenalin-filled day had made me ravenous.) We kissed and talked and held each other as we watched night fall across London. The conversation was light and easy and we swapped funny stories about our childhoods and our dating disasters, talked about our first gigs, our first kisses, favourite films … each of us building a picture of the other. I knew I’d remember this night for the rest of my life.