‘Say yes. Take a chance. If you can get the time off work.’

‘I’m on leave at the moment,’ she muttered.

‘Well,’ Ewan beamed. ‘That’s perfect then. It’s fate. It was meant to happen.’

Jo felt a shiver of excitement. Could she really do it? Her mother would say yes, of course. Libby would say yes. Noah would absolutely say yes, and even Lorcan would nudge her to do it, she was sure. Clara might be a harder sell, but her mother would kill her if she turned down this chance solely because of her little sister. She’d assure her that Clara would be fine, and Jo knew in her heart that Clara would be. The real question, she realised, was whether she could afford not to do it. Opportunities like this didn’t come around very often, if ever.

‘Ewan,’ Libby’s voice cut through, ‘people are starting to queue, so if maybe we could bring you through and get you set up. I’d like to soundcheck the radio mics before we open the doors.’

‘Of course,’ Ewan said. ‘Jo and I can have a chat after, can’t we, Jo?’

She looked at him, and melted under the warmth of his expression. Jo nodded, the power of speech lost for a moment, then stuttered, ‘Yes, of course. We’ll talk later. Thank you again for your time.’

‘It’s my pleasure,’ Ewan told her, flashing her that George Clooney in ER smile again.

He stood up and followed Libby into the main body of the shop while Jo remained seated and could only wonder what the hell had just happened. Had this guy been for real? His offer was so incredibly generous and so far she hadn’t been able to spot a single hidden camera. She wished she could grab Libby and talk to her about it. Or Noah. But she knew Noah would be sitting in the front row in full support of his fiancée and it would be grossly unfair of her to drag him away to beg for advice.

She wondered if Lorcan was there yet. Maybe she could grab him for a quick chat? She knew she just had to talk to someone to see whether this was all a crazy dream or maybe, just maybe, it was the chance she’d been waiting for all along. A chance delivered on a golden platter by someone who looked like he’d walked straight out of a romance novel.

Libby had opened the doors to Once Upon A Book and it was filling up quickly. There was a buzz of conversation and laughter. Eager book fans were clutching well-thumbed copies of Ewan's earlier works, while others lifted copies of his latest release and started to flick through the pages while they queued.