‘Bold take,’ I said, smiling. I nestled into his jacket and breathed in. It smelled like him.

‘So, what was the phone call you had to think about?’ he asked. ‘Because I should have mentioned we have a strict no-stripper policy at this bar.’

‘It was about a job,’ I laughed. ‘I’m starting my own podcast network.’

‘Ros, that’s terrific,’ John exclaimed, grabbing hold of my hand and squeezing. ‘What a brilliant idea. That’s perfect, now you can do whatever you want.’

‘And then Patrick showed up and we had a chat,’ I added. John loosened his grip on my hand but he didn’t let go. ‘He wanted to give things another try.’

His fingers tightened around mine again.

‘Did he now?’

‘And I told him I didn’t want to.’

John considered this news, nodding as he stared straight ahead. A light breeze blew his hair in front of his face, dark wavy locks dancing over his forehead.

‘None of my business but I think that might be for the best,’ he said finally.

‘I agree,’ I replied. This time I was the one who gave his hand a squeeze. ‘I need to work out who I am and what I want without the thought of him looming over me. I need to stop thinking about what might have been and get on with what is.’

‘Seems to me that you’ve got a lot of things to be excited about,’ John said, raking his hair away from his face.

‘The present doesn’t look too shabby,’ I agreed. ‘Trying not to get hung up on the future.’

‘Well,’ he said as he turned his body away from London and towards me. ‘If we’re focusing on the present …’

‘The thing is,’ I started before pausing for a moment to take him in. His black hair curled in the damp air that followed the storm, brushing the collar of his shirt at the nape of his neck. His big, dark eyes, his broad face with its strong nose and wide mouth were all focused on me so intently but there was nothing in his expression but hope.

‘The thing is, I don’t know if this is the right time to be rushing into … something,’ I said as I let go of his hand. ‘I’m sorry.’

‘I don’t want to be your rebound,’ he said solidly, eyebrows creasing in towards each other. ‘And I absolutely want you to take all the time you need. But there is one problem.’

‘What’s that?’

John leaned in towards me and my body moved to him, our fingers winding around each other, furling and unfurling, one hand learning the other, the light pressure of his thumb stroking circles around my palm.

‘I think I might be in love with you.’

‘Really?’ I asked, snapping out of the moment.