‘Whoa!’ she said, turning round slowly to take in the full sophisticated glory. ‘Nice shower,’ she called out to Conor. It was one of those with a dozen dials, levers, and shower heads, except the whole thing was made of some matt-blue finish set into a bronze shimmering wall. The fittings on the rippled glass shower screens were all bronze to match and the sink was a big beaten copper bowl with a large marble stone in the bottom to act as a plug. It was over-the-top opulence which once again reinforced the complete lack of imagination of her own home. She made her mind up there and then. She was going to move. Sell the apartment and find something… well, not as sophisticated as this, something homely, something that offered a welcoming embrace when you came home from work with sofas to snuggle into and handy cashmere throws to wrap yourself with. Perhaps with a garden for chickens.

‘I think the interior designer got a bit carried away in here,’ said Conor. ‘It makes me feel as if I should only come in here if I’m preparing myself for the Oscar ceremonies or something.’

‘It’s striking,’ Hannah said trying to be diplomatic, although she could see exactly what he meant.

‘There’s a fine balance between being striking and intimidating, first rule of Byrne’s Design. You want people to be comfortable in their homes not scare the bejesus out of them. Coming in here, I’m worried I have to perform like a porn star and do all sorts of clever standing-up things.’ His horrified expression made her laugh.

‘Standing-up things aren’t all they’re cracked up to be,’ she said, remembering the cold tiles in the shower at the cottage.

‘Thank the lord for that. I don’t think I’m cut out to be a stud.’

‘Really?’ said Hannah, with mock disappointment. ‘Does that mean I have to find someone else this weekend?’

With a laugh he pulled her to him and gave her what she considered a particularly stud-worthy kiss. ‘Or maybe not,’ she murmured against his lips.

‘I think we should have a drink in the bar before we go out, for old time’s sake. Don’t you?’ Conor suggested as they towelled down. They’d shared a shower, but not before testing out the bed rather thoroughly.

‘Where you took shameless advantage of me.’

‘I took advantage?’ She shook her head. ‘I still can’t believe I did that. It wasn’t like me at all.’

‘Wasn’t it? You were solving what you perceived to be a problem by taking decisive action.’