‘Not as much as you might think,’ Ewan cut through her thoughts. ‘So it’s almost always lovely. You’ll find that out yourself, one day.’ She couldn’t imagine how she would react if it were to ever happen to her. Would that make her feel as if she was a bona fide success?

Ewan reached across the table and took her hand again, sending electrical impulses through her body. In her hazy state and against her better judgement, she contemplated what it would feel like to be kissed by him. She was suddenly very aware of her lips, craved the intimacy that only a kiss could bring. She found herself staring at Ewan’s lips, full and firm. She held her breath, only daring to exhale when a man in his fifties shuffled over and handed over a dog-eared copy of one of the McCreadie books for Ewan to sign.

As the man chatted, and asked questions as if McCreadie was a real-life friend of his, Jo decided the most sensible thing to do was to escape the temptation of Ewan and his lips and slip off to bed. It was easy to leave without a fuss as Ewan was deep in conversation with his fan and they seemed to be settling down for a long chat.

Back in her room, Jo changed into her pyjamas, washed her make-up off, brushed her teeth and decided she would text Ewan just to thank him for a lovely evening and explain her quick departure.

A knock on the door distracted her, and when Jo peeped through the spyhole, she saw that it was Ewan himself who was outside, looking irresistible.

‘I was just going to message you,’ she said as she opened the door, conscious of being without make-up and in her comfiest nightwear. ‘Just to say I thought it was better to leave you to your chat with your superfan.’

‘That’s fine,’ he said. ‘But you forgot something back at the bar and I didn’t want you to lose out.’

Jo glanced behind her, where she had thrown her laptop and notebook on the bed. ‘I don’t think I did…’ She looked back at him, confused.

Then she watched as he took a step forward, raised his hand slowly and placed it with the gentlest touch on her cheek. Jo looked him directly in the eyes, her breath catching as he took another step closer until she could feel his breath, warm on his face.

‘You forgot this,’ he said, before he moved that little bit closer and pressed his lips to hers.