Constance was beaming; this would be her fantasy come true – a date with this handsome hunk of a man, albeit in her lunch hour. Her mind was moving faster than Mo Farah’s legs, and she actually began to imagine a future together. First up would be working out how she could invite him out for dinner, once they’d got to know each other. And what better chance than to start a romance on the basis of each having a single goal – namely, the well-being of Mike’s son and her patient? It would be the best way to a man’s heart – well, in this case Mike Regan’s.

That was the theory, anyway.

***

Zara was delighted with the arrival of her new cars that morning. It wasn’t the fact that she now had two brand-new vehicles – a sporty Mercedes-Benz C-Class AMG and a Range Rover Vogue SE – but the independence she was now afforded after five years of confinement in her father’s basement suite. She had freedom, and boy, was she going to use it. She had to remember she was an autonomous, liberated woman, and she was determined to make the most of who she was.

Both cars came by transporter and were accompanied by the dealer principal himself, who had decided to make a personal appearance. Zara Ezra was a cut above even the most well-heeled of his customers at his West London showroom, specializing in the high-end market.

All the paperwork had been completed, but if he were honest, he fancied the knickers off this hot woman and thought he might be in with a chance if he impressed her by supervising the final handover himself.

But he was soon to have his nose pushed out of joint! Not only was her body language all wrong, she hardly gave him the time of day. Having received the keys, she went over to the Mercedes and was off down the drive in a jiffy, leaving both the dealer principal and the transporter driver aghast as they watched her zoom away while they were still standing on her driveway.