It took only twenty minutes to reach Southampton Dock, and as she stepped out of the car and stared up at the Ruby Spirit, Paula forgot the biting cold.

The cruise ship towered over the smaller yachts and sailing boats surrounding it, rising elegantly out of the water. It had a sleek black body with gold lettering and a red trim curving along the passenger rails.

Paula took a step back and shaded her eyes from the weak sun as she tried to count the decks.

‘My God,’ she whispered. She turned to Tommy, who stood to one side as the taxi driver hauled their bags out of the car. ‘It’s huge!’

He paid the driver and made his way over, winking as he patted at his crotch. ‘Thanks, so I’ve been told,’ he joked.

She wrinkled her nose and turned away from him. ‘Don’t spoil it,’ she muttered.

‘What? Come on, you can’t say something like that and not expect—’

She shushed him as a porter approached. ‘It’s not appropriate to say things like that when we’re about to board something like this.’ She jabbed a finger at the vast ship.

‘What the fuck?’ Tommy said loudly.

Cringing, Paula moved to stand in front of him and smiled brightly at the porter.

‘Can I be of assistance with your luggage?’ he said, and Paula dipped her head, grateful that he either hadn’t heard Tommy’s crudeness or had chosen to ignore it.

‘Thank you,’ she replied, and nudged Tommy. ‘The tickets?’

Still with a face that held traces of his mood, Tommy handed them over.

The porter studied them briefly before turning up the wattage on his smile. ‘The Expedition Suite,’ he confirmed. ‘The best suite,’ he emphasised.

Inside her chest, Paula’s heart swelled. Outwardly, though, she remained calm, as if being in a better-than-first-class cabin was what she was accustomed to.

And that was the way it should be, she thought to herself as she trailed Tommy and the porter down the quayside to the walkway. She had spent years learning how to conduct herself: classy at all times; impeccably dressed, hair styled, face made up, even if she wasn’t planning on going anywhere.

And yet Tommy, the man who had worked his way up through the perils of the stock industry, occasionally slipped into someone he’d never been. It saddened her; that her every action was for him and the way he expected her to behave.

‘The Expedition Suite,’ announced the porter. He stood with one arm behind his back, the other braced on the door handle.

Tommy and Paula came to a stop in the corridor, a moment of expectation built by the porter with professional panache before he swept open the door and gestured for them to enter.