My eyes widened a little bit that he would wonder about that. ‘Maybe that’s the point. I don’t want a line at all. I want someone genuine. Who likes me for me. Who wants a relationship, not a disappointingly quick fumble in bed followed by ghosting.’ I was a bit embarrassed by my outburst but then I remembered he had heard me be even more frank to Liv so I might as well be honest with him.

‘You deserve someone genuine,’ Jake replied firmly. ‘I like how you see the world. Full of optimism and excitement. Like today. Seeing New York through your eyes felt like I was seeing it for the first time. You’ve made me smile a lot since we set off on this trip.’

I shook my head. ‘Yeah, laughing at me…’

‘No, Freya, never at… always with,’ Jake said softly. ‘You know I let myself get a little bit cynical and bitter, I kept myself aloof, afraid to open up and let people in but you make me want to change. To get back to the man I was.’

‘I told you – I would like to get to know that man,’ I said, wishing he would open up to me fully. ‘I was so intimidated by you when we first met, and for a long time. I was so nervous about this trip,’ I admitted. ‘But I want to succeed in this career so I knew I had to get past it. And the more I got to know you, the more I saw that we needed each other. That made me less nervous of you.’

Jake raised an eyebrow. ‘You were intimidated by me? Well then, the feeling was mutual.’

I choked on a sip of wine. ‘Are you joking? There was no way you’ve ever felt that way about me.’ I gestured to myself, thinking I must be the least intimidating person on the planet. Especially to someone like Jake Richards.

‘I was nervous for this trip too,’ Jake said. ‘Everything felt like it was slipping away, and I saw on your face how disappointed you were in me. I knew you loved my books and I hated letting you down. I wanted this trip to go well. Needed it to. And when I found out that your career was dependent on it as well… I felt terrible when both the interview and the panel went so badly. I tried to fix it earlier.’ He shook his head. ‘I bet you want to just give up on me now, and I wouldn’t blame you.’

‘I do find you frustrating,’ I said, the wine loosening my tongue.

‘I want to make it up to you so bad,’ he said gruffly.