She lifted one eyebrow, thinking of the pictures of him with numerous women.

‘I’ve not led a blameless life and I might not go to confession anymore but I hope I do right by people. The newspapers exaggerate.’

‘I know that.’ Her face crumpled. ‘My poor sister ended up in a national newspaper after she went viral on social media.’

‘What did she do?’

‘Unfortunately, she made a rather public proposal to her boyfriend, who’d got cold feet about their relationship and hadn’t bothered to tell her. Or that he was shagging her best mate. A friend recorded it and posted it on Facebook – it went everywhere.’

‘Some friend.’

‘To be fair, it was a mistake. They thought they were posting it privately, didn’t realise their settings weren’t right and a friend of a friend shared it and’ – she lifted her shoulders in a resigned shrug – ‘once it’s out there, there’s no stopping it. Anyway, the newspapers made a right old meal of it, painting her as some manipulative bridezilla who was determined to bag her man, even though in actual fact, he was the one that had discussed the church they’d marry in and what their kids would be called.’

‘Ouch. Poor thing.’

‘It made me so mad because it just wasn’t true! And there was nothing we could do about it.’ She clenched her hand on the table; the frustration still rankled. ‘Luckily Mina had left the country by then, so she was oblivious.’

‘So you do know then what the papers are like.’ He sighed and took a long swallow of his pint before he spoke again, his forehead creased in disgruntled lines. ‘I’d be at some do talking to some woman – you know, party talk – “Oh I love your show”’, he spoke in a high-pitched American accent, ‘And I’d do the polite, “Thank you, that’s very kind of you. What do you do?”’

She burst out laughing. ‘Conor Byrne, I’m sure you were a lot flirtier than that. I’ve seen you in action, don’t forget.’

He gave her a sheepish grin. ‘OK, I might have played along a little but I’d only have to speak to someone and the next thing, the papers were printing that we were having it away with each other. If I’d slept with half the women I’m supposed to have done, I’d be a broken man.’

She giggled. ‘I’m sure you would have risen to the challenge.’

‘Well, I always do my best.’ He winked and she felt the quick stain of a blush rush up her neck and across her chest as her heart did one of those funny loop-the-loop things.

She took a strategic sip of her drink, hoping he hadn’t noticed – she really was doing her best to come across as completely cool about things.