But a second later, I was kissing him back. His mouth was firm and confident on mine. His stubble brushed against my chin slightly roughly but I didn’t mind it. The kiss deepened and his tongue found mine, and his hand on me tightened ever so slightly. I couldn’t stop a moan from escaping my mouth into his as I arched towards him, wanting to be even nearer. He took the hint immediately. His arm came down from the door to hold me around my waist, drawing me into his chest as our kiss turned even more passionate. I lifted my hands from the door and wrapped my arms around his neck, standing on tiptoe to reach him, our mouths never parting as we moved closer.

Jake made a contented noise and then finally tore his lips from mine. I took in a breath. I felt dizzy. My eyes opened to watch as he leaned down to kiss the corner of my mouth then press small kisses on my chin, along my jaw, then down the side of my neck. I gasped. He moved to the other side, letting go of his hold there as he kissed me where his hand had been. His kisses were soft but accompanied by the roughness of his facial hair. His arm around my waist held me firmly. Everything about the way he was handling me felt just right. When he lifted his head back up, our eyes met. He touched my lips, which were tingling. ‘When you anticipate a kiss for a while, your expectations can be too high. But that exceeded all of mine.’

Fuck. I quickly pressed myself back against the door because that kiss followed by such a romantic sentiment threatened to send my trembling knees over the edge. And I really didn’t want to fall over in front of him again.

‘You’ve anticipated kissing me?’ I asked when I was able to form a coherent thought again.

Jake grinned. ‘Ever since I found you sprawled on the floor at Heathrow airport with a penis pencil in your handbag.’

I burst out laughing. ‘You did not want to kiss me then!’

‘I have never met a girl like you, Freya. Seriously, I have never wanted to laugh so hard but also help someone so badly as I did in that moment. Since then, you’ve occupied my thoughts quite a bit. And God, when I saw Mulberry flirting with you, I realised how badly I wanted you for myself. Even though I knew I shouldn’t want you…’

I looked at him. ‘Are you sure it wasn’t because you heard me say I haven’t had sex for three years so you thought I’d be easy?’ I asked archly.

We stared at one another.

Then Jake started laughing. ‘This is what I mean. You’re not like anyone else. Jesus, Freya.’