‘Not the whole point.’ But maybe it is.

‘Come on.’ He tries to tempt me over the threshold as though I’m an unwilling puppy. ‘It’s my favourite shop!’

That figures. I scowl at him. The most daring I’ve been in the past, when it came to knicker choices, was to go for black and a hint of lace. If you’ve been with the same guy since puberty, spending this kind of money on sexy undies isn’t really on the agenda – a new sofa seems more important.

‘Aww please.’ She smiles at me. ‘I’m Rach, by the way.’ She looks from Noah to me and back again. ‘I want to see what you think about this stuff I was thinking of getting for my wedding anniversary, but I wasn’t sure if it was too much.’ She grins at me. ‘Don’t want to give Darren a heart attack! I need a second opinion.’

I glance at Noah, who has actually gone a bit of a funny colour. Bloody hell, he’s blushing! Which makes me giggle. And it makes my mind up. Despite all the flirty comments, if undies can make him blush then he can’t be a complete womaniser, can he?

And then I think about that Christmas. The one time I did nearly go in this shop. I’d wanted to because I’d thought that camisole was going to make me feel sexy, desirable.

And then common sense had won the day.

‘Okay.’ I take a deep breath. This feeling good about myself could seriously damage my bank balance. Then I hold up a hand to block Noah. ‘Not you. You can sit over there on that bench.’

‘I’ll bring you a coffee, babe.’ Rach laughs out loud at him. ‘Looks like you’ve finally met your match, Noah!’

‘Oh no, no, he’s not met his match,’ I follow her in, trying to explain, ‘we’re not a couple. We’re just—’ Oh flip, we’re just what? I can’t explain to a complete stranger! ‘Friends, we’re friends.’

Rach isn’t listening. She is standing next to a display of very flimsy undergarments which she grabs and waves in the air.

‘Oh, I don’t think those will …’ I suddenly realise I’m boosting my boobs up in my hands, ‘work,’ I say, letting go abruptly and feeling my skin heat up.

‘Ahh but they’re Noah’s favourites, aren’t they?’ She frowns.

‘I wouldn’t know, like I said, I’m not, we’re not … I’m not sure they’re me.’

‘You’d be surprised how much of a firm hold you’ll get.’ Rach carries on. I’m not sure if her comment is a double entendre, or just praise for the manufacturing standards. ‘Look what they’ve done for me!’ She jiggles her own rather ample chest and I have to admit to being impressed. If they can hold that, they can certainly cope with my offering.

‘Might be a bit of overkill for me.’ I edge off to look at something that has caught my eye.

You’d have to be colour blind for it not to have done.