‘That’s a very kind offer,’ says Dad, ‘but we cannot impose, thank you.’ Apart from looking briefly horrified at this suggestion, Dad appears perky; what’s left of his hair is flattened by rain, but he has an animated look on his face I also haven’t seen for a long time: an almost raffish air. It makes me want to giggle, suddenly. ‘Prue and I have a table booked at Pizza Express,’ he fibs.

‘Only the best for us,’ I quip.

I turn to look at Salvi and he is staring at me intently. I realize the wrong side of my face is closest to him. I want to get my hand and place it right over my cheek.

‘Thank you,’ I say to him, ‘for helping me up.’

‘Damsels in distress can never be ignored,’ says Salvi. ‘Or a pretty lady.’ I wish he would stop saying that. ‘So, I have to go now. It’s been really nice meeting you,’ he adds, still staring at me. ‘Can I have your number?’

‘What for?’ Knee-jerk, again; that metaphorical knee is busy today.

Salvi looks amused. ‘So I can call you. We could go out sometime.’

‘Go out? Where?’ Men don’t ask for my number. Men never ask for my number.

‘A bar, a restaurant, you know, like people do. Please may I have it?’

I fight the urge to look behind me again. For another woman with a fringe. Why is he asking me out? What does he want with me? ‘Really?’

‘Yes, really.’

‘Oh, for heaven’s sake, give him your number,’ says Dad. ‘I’m starving and I want to get going.’

‘You could be a serial killer,’ I offer.

‘I’m not a serial killer,’ says Salvi, both mock wearily and with another wink. ‘Honest. I just like the look of you.’

Those fir-green eyes are dancing. That smile curls at the edge of his lips. Would I be contemplating saying ‘Yes’ if he wasn’t so mesmerizingly magnetic? Would I be thinking about saying it if he hadn’t said I was pretty? And wouldn’t I be saying ‘No’ if I didn’t feel that somehow, when my eyes opened, there he was …?

‘OK,’ I say. I open my bag and scribble my mobile number on the back of the receipt for a bottle of water and a packet of Extra Strong Mints. Salvi folds the piece of paper and tucks it into the tiny pocket on his waistcoat.