‘I hate to hear you talking like that. You just haven’t found your person. If I can, so can you.’

‘You found him when we were fifteen; it’s not a fair comparison,’ I said, but I wasn’t bitter about that. Carly and her husband Luke had been at school with me and once they’d started dating, that had been it for the both of them. I don’t think either had even looked at someone else. Their love used to give me hope; now I just felt like I’d never find it.

‘It’s Tessa.’ Carly muffled the phone. ‘She’s okay…’

‘You can tell him,’ I called out. Luke knew pretty much everything in my life, like Carly. If I was honest, he was the only man, apart from my father, that I trusted now.

I could hear her telling Luke about the Paris reminder email and how it had sent me spiralling. ‘Okay, so Luke has an idea. I’m putting you on speaker…’

‘Tessa,’ Luke said, coming on the phone. ‘Why are you talking to Carly instead of packing?’

‘Huh?’ I said, confused.

‘Paris!’ Luke cried. ‘Why don’t you still go on your own?’

‘Oh my God! That’s genius,’ Carly said. ‘You should do that!’

‘No way,’ I replied firmly. ‘Walking around the City of Love by myself? Sounds depressing with a capital D.’

‘But you need to write your next book,’ Luke insisted. ‘Where else can you get that kind of inspiration?’

‘If anything can make you believe in love again, it’s Paris,’ Carly agreed.

And that phone call was the reason I was currently on the Eurostar.

All by myself.

I picked up my Kindle and opened up the new romance novel I was reading. First Impressions by Liv Jones. She was best friends with my publicist at Turn the Pages, Stevie, who had told me I would love this book. But I tried and failed to even read the first page. I closed my Kindle case quickly. Not only could I not write about romance, but I also currently couldn’t bear to read it either. But I still hadn’t been able to bring myself to admit that to anyone at my publishers. My editor Gita had no idea I hadn’t written a word of the novel that was due in only three weeks’ time. I’d never missed a deadline before. That just wasn’t me.

But then Joe had screwed me over.

Gazing out of the train window, I watched as St Pancras faded away and we headed towards the City of Love. I regretted letting Luke and Carly talk me into this, but I was desperate. I needed inspiration. Something to pull me out of my hating-love mindset. Otherwise Joe would not only have taken my heart and trampled on it, but he would ruin my career too.

Please, Paris, work your magic.