The road wound along the coast and Hannah gazed out of the window, watching the sea that appeared here and there, white surf frothing on the dark, rocky crags below until they turned inland, crossing through wide valleys fringed with rolling hills that were dotted with sheep grazing with contended placidity. Conor drove at a steady speed as they passed the odd car here and there. The pace of life was so much slower than she was used to and she found herself imagining what it would be like to live here. Driving, as she’d already discovered, was a pleasure, instead of the stressful stop-start of the rush hour in Manchester and the manic aggression on the motorways as everyone tried to get home of an evening. It had become an inescapable fact of life and until now she’d never considered that you didn’t have to put up with it.

‘Do you ever get traffic jams here?’ she asked.

‘Yes, when Pádraig O’Brien’s sheep get out on the road. And the summer can be murder, all the coaches touring the Ring of Kerry – they block the roads entirely. There’s an unwritten rule that they drive the route clockwise so you don’t have the coaches trying to pass each other on the boreens. Although some of those drivers drive like fecking eejits.’

‘Boreens?’

‘You know, the smaller roads.’

‘Not heard that one before and can you explain? What is the Ring of Kerry?’

‘It’s a circular drive, a hundred and eleven miles, that takes in some grand sights like Killorglin, Gap of Dunloe, Kenmare, Skellig Michael, and Ross Castle.’

Hannah sighed, enjoying listening to his rolling accent. ‘They all sound wonderful.’

‘Well, I’m biased but I do think you see some of the best Ireland has to offer. Maybe I’ll take you to see a few parts. In Irish it’s Mórchuaird Chiarraí.’

An unexpected shiver ran across her skin at the deep register of his voice. The words sounded like a caress and his accompanying smile held a touch of seduction, as if he knew exactly how they’d affected her. Cross that he could read her so well and uncomfortable that he knew it, she said, ‘That sounds like it’s from Tolkien, a place in Middle Earth or something.’

‘Some of us call it the Kingdom of Kerry. There’s no place finer.’ He glanced across at her. ‘I didn’t have you for a Lord of the Rings fan.’

‘I read all the books as a teenager and of course I’ve seen the films.’ She shot him a quick grin, feeling like she was back on steadier ground. ‘Big Aragorn fan, although that might have something to do with Viggo Mortensen.’

‘I’m more of an Eowyn fan myself. Can’t beat a Shieldmaiden of Rohan.’

‘Not Liv Tyler?’