‘You’re good at this.’

‘I am, I told you.’ The cheeky grin comes and then drops away. ‘So are you. It just has to be about the person you’re with, that’s all.’ He leans in closer. ‘Yeah, I’ve got an ego the size of an elephant, but I just put it on hold. The only secret is to forget you for a moment. Let’s face it, Rosie.’ He takes my hand. ‘Most of the time you’re thinking about other people, aren’t you? You’re kind, considerate.’ Blushing at the moment. ‘I’ve seen you at work, or with your mates, and you’re more interested in other people than yourself. You just get hung up when you’re with a guy you don’t know.’ He smiles, but his thumb is stroking the back of my hand. It’s mesmerising and I’m liking it far too much; I feel like he’s hypnotising me, drawing me into his world. ‘If you go in feeling confident that you look your best, you are your best. It’s easy, Rosie. It’s only hard when you’re thinking about how you feel, not how you can make the other person feel. So,’ he lets go of my hand, leans back and twinkles again, bringing me back down to earth and back to lesson-land, ‘if you weren’t ridiculously lucky and able to be here with sex god Noah, name three top qualities your perfect date must have.’

‘Reliable.’

‘Woah.’ He holds a hand up. ‘I knew we had to get back to your man-requirements and get real.’

‘Do you remember everything?’ I sigh.

He grins. ‘When it comes down to you, I do. Strange eh?’ The wink makes me all gooey inside. Then I twig what else he said.

‘What do you mean, get real?’

‘It’s a rubbish list!’

‘There’s nothing wrong with wanting somebody reliable!’

‘Well no but, number one requirement? You’re kidding, me?’ He grins.

‘Shut up, this is my list!’ I screw my face up and think. ‘Considerate.’

He groans. ‘Twenty-five going on fifty? Safe job, everything in moderation.’

‘You’re impossible!’

‘You should be having fun, you deserve it. I consider it my duty to turn you around, to make you forget that boring list and come up with a new one!’

‘Don’t I deserve somebody good, faithful?’ Somebody not like my father.

‘Are we talking about Hugo again here?’

‘Shush!’

‘Rosie, somebody can be fun and faithful, if they’re the right person! I’m going to prove that to you.’ He taps the table to make his point. ‘Look, you deserve somebody,’ he hesitates as though looking for the right words, ‘somebody who brings out the best in you, somebody who makes you feel good, who makes you feel like you can do anything.’

‘I do?’

‘We all do. Nobody wants their other half to be just part of the fixtures and fittings. Don’t settle for a doormat just because you think it’s the safest option. What if one day the doormat wakes up and realises you’re too good for it?’