‘Cat,’ she corrected, indignantly.

Ben held her face and kissed her lips, flicking his tongue tip over them before standing back and grinning at her broadly.

‘Ready to play?’ Ben asked. Cat shook her head solemnly. Ben regarded his watch and then raised an eyebrow. ‘I’d timetabled you in,’ he said, ‘my only free slot, young girl.’

‘I haven’t finished my work yet,’ Cat apologized, ‘old boy.’

‘Fresh air and a banana,’ Ben proclaimed, ‘brain food – mark my words.’

‘Trust me, I’m a doctor?’ Cat cajoled. Ben acquiesced with a tilt of his head. ‘Well, here’s the fresh air,’ Cat continued, ‘and I’ll grab a banana from the buffet. Promise.’

‘Let’s go and sit somewhere,’ Ben suggested, his hand lightly at the small of Cat’s back, guiding her through the park, down a deserted narrow side-street and to a small tabac on the corner with just two tables outside.

‘How much caffeine have you had today?’ Ben asked. Subconsciously, Cat pulled her bottom lip through her top teeth as she thought. When it sprung out, Ben’s mouth was there. He bit her bottom lip and then sucked it quickly. His eyes open, observing that hers were closed. Cat had to sit down.

‘Five,’ she said at length.

‘Five?’ Ben asked. ‘Out of five? Out of ten – are you grading my osculation?’

‘Coffees,’ Cat explained, licking her lips to lap up the taste of him.

Your kissing is way off any scale I know.

‘You’re on the Tour de France,’ Ben said gravely, ‘you’re over the caffeine limit.’ He ordered two citron pressés. ‘Had a good day?’ he asked.

‘No,’ said Cat forlornly, ‘poor Fabian, poor Bobby.’

‘But you,’ Ben stressed, ‘how’s your day been, journaliste McCabe?’

‘Not so good, Ben, not so good.’ Cat explained to him the uncertainties at Maillot in great detail. ‘I’m brimming with ideas and overflowing with passion.’ Ben raised his eyebrows in delight. ‘Seriously,’ Cat implored, punching him gently, jolting his glass and causing a dribble of citron pressé to course down his chin. She took her forefinger to it, ran it up to his lips and let him suck it. ‘I’d justified following the entire Tour as having supreme purpose: a dream job at the end of it. Now that is uncertain, being here feels like an indulgence. I’m barely covering my costs.’

‘Don’t go home,’ Ben said seriously. Cat’s look of utter distaste at the thought brought the doctor instant relief. ‘There are so many people here,’ he continued, ‘something’ll come up.’

‘Would Luca mind me interviewing him after the Time Trial?’ Cat asked. ‘Even if I can’t guarantee a publication date?’

‘Luca,’ Ben proclaimed, ‘would be delighted. Where are you staying tonight?’

‘I don’t know,’ Cat said. ‘Josh knows all that stuff. I just take my rucksack from his car to a different but basically interchangeable room each night.’

‘Well, I’m staying at the Ibis. Room 324. Finish your work, feed and bathe and revive yourself and then come to me. I’m going to have another pressé,’ said Ben.