I nod quickly. ‘Yeah. I’m good. It was… good. Thanks again for all the clothes.’ And, you know, the ridiculous orgasm.

‘My pleasure.’ He hesitates before sliding a warm hand around the back of my neck. ‘This is all new for me too, you know. This kind of arrangement. So when you’re not happy, I need to know you’ll speak up.’

I make myself come out with it. ‘I’m a bit sore. I might need to… be careful tomorrow.’ Ugh, I hate saying it. He’s bought a new toy, and he’s played with it precisely once, and it’s already defective. ‘Let’s just see,’ I add hurriedly. ‘I might be fine. I’m out of practice, but I’m sure I’ll get used to it.’

He’s shaking his head. ‘No, no way. If you’re sore, you’re sore. You’re not a blow-up doll, love. I don’t expect you to just put up and shut up, okay? Like I said, we’re both new to this. And for it to work, we both have to be happy.’ A dirty smile spreads across his face. ‘For the record, you did great today. I went hard on you.’

‘Okay,’ I whisper. ‘Thank you.’

‘I’m the one who should be thanking you.’

Our eyes are locked. He really is indecently attractive, but I’m still trying to figure him out. He clearly has a heart of gold, but, from the sounds of it, my early instincts about this being a nannying job may also be right.

I wonder what a Monday evening for Mr Brendan Sullivan looks like.

‘Do you have any plans for this evening?’ I blurt out.

He looks for a moment like a deer in the headlights. His fingers flex on my neck. ‘I’ve got a… dinner. In Chelsea.’

I nod brightly. A dinner. It’s none of my business. Our sordid little arrangement ends at six each night, and that goes for Brendan as well as for me.

‘Have a lovely time,’ I say cheerily.

I’m pretty sure his eyes stay on my bum as I walk out of his office.

That bike ride definitely didn’t help my swollen undercarriage. When I walk gingerly into my building, it’s weird on so many levels. I feel like a weary traveller who’s seen another world and can’t unsee it.

Tabs and I live in New Cross, just south of the Docklands in South East London. It’s an area that can optimistically be described as “up and coming”, but there are still far too many grotty parts. Its only positive, really, is that it’s close to my new place of work—around a fifteen-minute bike ride if I pedal quickly.