Lenny’s front teeth teased his bottom lip with my name as he enunciated slowly and clearly, and I felt myself ovulate from both ovaries at the same time. He took my suitcase from the driver before he looked over his shoulder, nodding down the docks.

‘There she is,’ he said. ‘What do you think?’

Whatever I had been expecting, this was not it. Three hundred and fifty sleek feet of glass and steel and whatever else yachts were made of because I had literally no idea; all I knew was that it was beautiful. It towered over the boats moored on either side, looking like Stew’s MacBook had shagged a whale, and against all the odds, they had made an extremely beautiful baby. It was awesome in the truest sense of the word, and the closer I got, the louder it screamed ‘not for the likes of you’.

‘It’s gorgeous,’ I said, almost lost for words. ‘I don’t think we’re going to need a bigger boat.’

‘Jaws wouldn’t dare,’ Lenny laughed. ‘Welcome to The Songbird.’

‘Miss Cooper, I’m Captain Mark Shaughnessy.’ An older gentleman with steel grey hair and a movie star smile welcomed me onto the deck, politely looking away as I fastened the middle button of my shirt which had worked itself open at some point in the last few minutes, presumably giving Lenny a great look at my delightful white T-shirt bra. ‘Captain Mark, if it’s easier. Welcome aboard.’

I noted his perfectly fitted navy trousers, his sparkling white short-sleeved shirt and counted four gold bars on the epaulettes as I shook his hand. He had a distinct air of ‘firm but fair’, which was extremely reassuring, and eyes so blue I had to wonder if he was wearing contacts.

‘Thank you,’ I replied, trying not to look as overwhelmed as I felt.

‘Lenny will be your main point of contact on board, but if there are any issues at all, you can reach me at any time. Lenny, would you like to give Miss Cooper the grand tour?’

‘Absolutely,’ Lenny replied as the captain gave me the briefest of acknowledging nods and disappeared inside the boat. ‘Shoes off.’

I leaned over, braid flopping over my face as I removed my sensible black heels. Sarah had prepared me for this. No shoes allowed on deck unless they were the hideously ugly deck shoes I had packed away in my suitcase. It seemed unfair to create something so glamorous and beautiful then expect people to tramp around it in the shoe equivalent of an anorak, but then again, the things rich people did rarely made sense to the rest of us.

‘Like the captain said, if you need anything, I’m your guy. If you can’t find me, pick up any of the phones on board and press star, you’ll be connected to me directly, day or night.’