‘God, Liv.’ I reached up to touch the corner of my eye to stop a tear from destroying the perfect winged eyeliner I had just applied. ‘You are going to ruin my make-up. I won’t settle for anything less than the kind of romance we read, and you two write about, I promise.’

She nodded. ‘Good girl.’

I choked a little bit, trying not to laugh.

‘Are you okay?’ Tessa asked, frowning at me as I tried to compose myself. But after Jake calling me that in bed, I wasn’t sure I could hear those two words outside of the bedroom with a straight face again.

I nodded as I sucked in oxygen and forced ‘good girl’ out of my mind. ‘Sure. I’ll take your advice on board, guys. I am just going to have fun tonight. I’ll be okay, I promise.’

I got up to go into the bathroom to spritz on some perfume but in the mirror, I caught Liv and Tessa exchange a worried look behind me.

28

When I next opened the hotel room door, Jake was on the other side. Liv and Tessa had left ten minutes before, telling me to have a good time but I knew that deep down, they didn’t think this was a great idea. The problem was when my eyes met Jake’s, any good sense seemed to fly out of the window. He broke into a sexy smile as he took in my appearance and I admired his right back. He was wearing dark trousers and a dark shirt that I imagined immediately unbuttoning. There was instant heat between us.

‘You look stunning,’ Jake said, leaning in to kiss me softly on the lips. ‘Are you ready?’

‘Yes,’ I said, coming out of my room and taking hold of the hand he offered to me. We walked to the lifts and got in one to go down to the lobby. When the doors opened, Jake let go of my hand. I spotted a couple of people I recognised from the conference who were clearly staying in our hotel too. I wasn’t sure whether to feel disappointed or relieved that Jake had stopped touching me. I thought about what Liv had said – I didn’t want Hayley to find out about this – but my heart still sank anyway. Maybe this thing between us was destined only to exist here in New York.

‘I hired a car,’ Jake said as we stepped across the lobby towards the revolving doors. ‘And booked a table somewhere that I hope you will like.’ He gestured to a sleek, black limo waiting outside the hotel.

I sucked in a breath as I looked at it. ‘Am I dressed fancy enough?’ I asked, worriedly. In bed together earlier, we had felt like equals but now suddenly, the differences between us seemed to loom large again.