Her eyes wanted to close, the lids getting heavy. The air was thick and warm, Alan’s garlicky breath pungent in her nostrils, the heat of him as he leant close to her, his arm brushing against hers making her skin crawl. She had a sneaking suspicion he was looking down her cleavage and finally decided she’d had enough.

She turned to get James’s attention, wanting to ask him what time they were going to leave, but he was deep in conversation with the lady on the other side of him – a petite Chinese woman in a beautifully ornate dress, who was giggling at his jokes as though they were hilarious.

Her phone buzzed and she pulled it out of her bag, heart skipping a beat. It was a message from Matt.

Where are you? Ezra making a fuss because he’s woken up and you’re not here.

Grateful to have a genuine excuse to leave, she tapped James on the shoulder, and he turned, obviously surprised at being interrupted. ‘I’m so sorry, but I’ve got to go. There’s a problem at home. Ezra’s not well and Matt doesn’t know what to do.’ She stood, her mind made up. ‘It’s all right, you stay. I’m going to get a cab.’

James made a grab for her arm, trying to stop her, but she pulled away.

‘Thank you so much for a lovely evening,’ she said to him before turning to Alan. ‘So nice meeting you.’

Alan’s eyes widened in surprise. ‘You’re not going, are you? You can’t, not yet.’

‘I’m afraid I have to. My little boy isn’t well.’

James stood, following her as she started to make her way to the door, aware that she was being watched. Nobody else had left, and she hoped her departure wouldn’t undermine his efforts to get some good deals. Will it still count as payment off my debt? Oh God, I hope so; please don’t let this be for nothing. It had been a tortuous evening and she couldn’t contemplate having to do it again.

‘Let me make sure they call you a taxi,’ he said, ever the gentleman.

Once they were outside the room, however, the smile slipped from his face, to be replaced by a scowl. ‘You going home early was not part of the deal,’ he murmured, clearly not wanting their conversation to be overheard, even though the door was shut.

‘I’m sorry, but that man next to me was getting a bit creepy; honestly, if he’d touched me again, I would’ve hit him.’

James stared at her for a moment, his hand clasping her wrist so she couldn’t walk away. ‘So there isn’t an emergency at home then?’ His eyes sparked with annoyance.