She feels very self-conscious but can’t help but laugh at the understatement. ‘Older and brunette for starters?’

Ben laughs, his dimple transforming his face. She suddenly has a longing to reach up and touch it, to feel his skin on her fingertips. She wonders if he shaved freshly this morning, if she’d be able to feel the prickles of his regrowth yet.

‘Comments like that,’ he says with a shrug, pleased that she’s made it so easy for him to point out. ‘They just sucked me in. I knew I wanted to get to know you. I didn’t want you to fall in love with Ty, but I didn’t want him to send you home either because then I wouldn’t get to see you every day.’

Bonnie suddenly considers the key ceremonies in a different way, imagining Ben standing there behind his camera, hoping she’d be chosen just so he could spend more time with her. Images of their interactions keep flickering into Bonnie’s mind as she tries to pinpoint a moment where she might have seen this coming. Had his feelings been obvious and she’d just been too caught up with Ty and Ollie? She wants to bury her head in shame at having so many guys on the go at once, but she concentrates on Ben standing in front of her. ‘So, you just decided to come and tell me?’

‘No,’ he says, very matter-of-fact. ‘I’ve come here to ask you on a date.’

She smiles. She can feel it widening, taking up her whole face. Being asked on a date makes her feel young and beautiful and desired. And the idea of going on a date with Ben, who has always been nothing but lovely to her, is very appealing. But she can’t let herself be swept downstream in the giddiness. ‘What about Sofia?’

‘What has Sofia got to do with this?’

This throws her for a second. ‘Well, is she still your girlfriend?’ There’s no way she’s even going to entertain the idea of getting involved with a man who is in a relationship again.

But Ben laughs, his head tilting back. ‘Sofia’s my cat.’

‘Your cat?’ Everything suddenly shifts in her mind. Ben hadn’t been going home each night to cuddle on the lounge with his girlfriend. Instead, he’d been at home with his cat, possibly even thinking about her. Bonnie can feel her cheeks reddening.

‘I haven’t had a girlfriend since that ex I told you about.’

He’s been single for a couple of years. Unlike Bonnie, who feels like she’s been jolting from the possibility of love from one guy to the next. ‘And you’re sure you want to get involved with me?’

He nods. ‘Believe it or not.’