Liv grinned at me. ‘Bossy women get stuff done as I’m always telling my boyfriend, Aiden.’ She looked at her watch. ‘Right, I need to meet my editor for lunch now so I’ll see you two later.’ She headed off with a cheerful wave.

‘I hope you didn’t take anything Mulberry said seriously back there,’ Jake said as I watched Liv go. ‘You know what he’s like.’

I nodded. ‘I do but what he said…’ I trailed off, annoyed that I had let Davis get into my head about Jake’s intentions.

Jake stepped closer, the noise and sights of New York fading away as I looked at him. ‘Forget about him. Let’s go somewhere now, just us. Where else do you want to see in the city?’

I hesitated for a moment. I wanted to see more of New York and Jake had proved himself to be a great tour guide but I was nervous to be alone with him again. ‘I did want to walk along the Brooklyn Bridge…’ I admitted.

‘Then I’ll take you. If you want me to. Do you?’

‘Yes. I’m just wondering if it’s a good idea or not.’

‘Why don’t we decide that afterwards?’

I let myself laugh. ‘That is a dangerous suggestion surely.’

Jake grinned. ‘I can’t help myself. Please, Freya?’

I hesitated but I was too weak not to want to spend more time outside of work with him. And the panel had gone well so we could afford a couple of hours away from the conference. I wanted to get to know him more, to know if this could be something or not. So even though Davis’s words echoed in my head, I agreed to a walk with Jake.

We jumped into a yellow cab as Jake suggested walking from Brooklyn to Manhattan would give me a great view of the city skyline and then we could head back to our hotel. I watched the views out of the taxi window, in awe again, as we drove to Brooklyn. It still felt surreal to be here in the flesh.

‘You’re quiet,’ Jake said. ‘Did Davis upset you?’

‘I guess what he said made me think… I don’t know you very well.’

‘He doesn’t know me at all,’ Jake said firmly. ‘And he can see I like you, and you already know he tries to ruin anything I like. Why don’t we get to know each other better?’

I nodded. I did like the sound of that. I knew I couldn’t ask him what I really wanted to so I went with something else I was curious to know. ‘When did you first really think about writing a book?’