I can feel myself frowning. ‘Not sure I like feisty, that’s what Mum used to call the stray cat she left food out for.’

He chuckles again. ‘It’s cute, I like it!’

‘I’m not trying to be scary, am I really?’

He nods. ‘Assertive.’ His grin returns. ‘Quite a turn on, actually.’

I sigh. ‘You can’t help yourself, can you? Just forget sex for two minutes.’

‘Yes, Miss. So, why the mood?’

This is interesting. I never thought of myself as scary. Maybe because I’ve been nervous, and under pressure.

‘It’s just,’ I sigh. How do I explain to somebody I hardly know, just how important tonight was to me? Noah is the type of guy who has an endless stream of dates. ‘You won’t get it.’

‘Try me.’

‘Okay. You asked for this!’

‘Hang on, let me brace myself!’

I punch him on the arm and realise that I don’t have to move forward to do it. We’ve got kind of close again, which is a bit worrying. ‘Funny! Haha slipping off my stool, hang on!’ I wriggle back. I don’t think that was an obvious retreat. Very sneakily done, Rosie! ‘Have you any idea how long it took me to get ready tonight? I tried on at least six outfits!’ That’s two hours of my life spent finding the right outfit that I’m never going to get back.

‘Really?’

‘Don’t say it like that, as though you’re shocked! I wanted a bit sexy, but not too sexy.’

‘Oh God, no, heaven forbid! Too sexy!’ He plants his palm over his eyes. ‘Complete disaster on a date.’

He’s making me laugh again. I’ve not laughed this much for ages – well since me and Bea thought that hiring a rowing boat and taking a dog she was looking after in it was a good idea. Bad idea. ‘And I wanted to look smart, but not like I tried too hard.’ I pause. ‘Why am I telling you this?’

‘Who knows, but carry on.’

‘I guess if I stop, we’ll have to talk about you?’

‘Spot on!’

‘Right fine, I’m good to keep going. Then there was the whole waxing thing. I spent ages thinking about it and it kept me awake last night: how far should I go with waxing?’

He blinks.

‘Sorry, too much info.’

‘No, carry on. How far did you go?’ He’s doing the cocked eyebrow thing again.

‘I didn’t, so you can stop that! Just legs, armpits and eyebrows.’ It had bothered me, the whole ‘how much hair is too much?’ According to some stuff I’d read, a single hair anywhere but on a head was a hair too far these days. Not that I’d been expecting to leap into bed with Gabe, but be prepared has always been my motto – and I’d been thinking of this as a dry run for a second and third date. ‘But I don’t know what is right!’ I flap my arms. ‘I’ve never done it before!’

‘Waxed?’