Anna slipped past Tommy, brushing his side as she walked smartly into the lift. With one last glance down the hallway, he followed her inside.

He was all over her as soon as the lift doors closed. Hands grabbing roughly at her shoulders, hips and waist. He was drunker than she’d thought, she acknowledged, as he shoved her hard against the mirrored wall.

She caught sight of her reflection, her cheeks flushed, hat askance, and she seemed so small in comparison to his big frame. She liked that, the sensation of being tiny, helpless, in need of a man like Tommy. It wasn’t true, she’d never needed protecting in the physical sense, but it felt good to fool him.

The elevator juddered to a halt. Tommy pulled away from her, stabbed at the buttons, no doubt to keep the lift where it was so he could carry on pawing at her. But the doors opened, and Anna ducked under his arm and out onto the deck.

He stared at her, confused, before staggering out to join her.

She walked the length of the ship in the freezing night air, a few feet ahead of him, glancing back every so often to see if he was still following her. She paused, looking up, as a streak of white light raced across the sky, arcing over her head. A trail from the Leonids. As the shooting star blazed and faded where the sky met the sea, she recalled the notification that had pinged through on the app tonight. Behind her, Tommy’s heavy tread sounded, announcing his approach, and she turned to watch him.

The bitter air seemed to sober him rapidly, leaving him blinking at her, his hand scratching his face as if he couldn’t understand how he had come to be out here.

‘I think you’re really something,’ he said, catching her up. He stood a few feet away, no longer buoyed by the shield of booze. He didn’t look cautious, or shy. He looked like he had done this dozens of times before.

Like a fish, he was hooked. She grinned and shimmied her way over to him. She had to play it carefully now; she mustn’t just hand it all over so he was sated. He needed to be left wanting more; he had to desire her in a way that was more than just a quick fumble.

She lowered her face coyly, buying time as she considered her next steps. They would get off the ship tomorrow in Iceland, and she still had things to think about apart from Tommy. Paula for one, and Patrick Duane, the officer who had questioned her about Mark.