‘Come on, you,’ the man shouted at the dog, who carried on skittering around his feet, its tail wagging furiously and its face wearing what looked like a soppy grin. ‘Get in, for god’s sake.’

Had I not just had the biggest fright of my life I would have been amused by the farcical scene, but I was still too wound-up to laugh about anything.

‘It’s well behaved, isn’t it?’ I pointedly observed.

‘It’s a he,’ the man said defensively. ‘And he’s only a baby. He belongs to my brother and his training has been a bit neglected recently.’

He wasn’t wrong. The loopy thing was completely out of control.

‘Oh, I give up,’ said the guy, scooping the reluctant hound awkwardly into his arms and bundling him in the back. ‘Now bloody stay there,’ he commanded, once he had unclipped the lead and slammed the door shut.

Feeling slightly steadier on my pins, I went to make my escape, but didn’t manage it.

‘Let’s get in,’ he said, before I had a chance to move. ‘I’ve got a flask of coffee, that’ll warm you up.’

He pushed back his hood once he’d finished bossing me about and I felt my mouth fall open.

‘Well . . .’ I breathed, but stopped when I realized he was staring at me too.

It was hard to be sure, with the rain blurring my vision, but he seemed just as taken aback as I was. For a second, his eyes mirrored the same surprise as mine, but by the time I had blinked again he looked perfectly composed.

‘Coffee,’ he suggested for the second time. His voice sounded completely different now and I was much more inclined to accept. ‘Yes?’

I nodded and slipped round to the passenger door self-consciously ruffling my hair. I was too numb to speak but not because of the resulting shock of my near-death experience. I could hardly believe my eyes. Not only had I finally got around to revisiting the site of my first kiss, I had also managed to conjure up the very person who had administered it. Thank goodness I had ignored Mother Nature’s cyclonic portent! This was my brain’s way of throwing me – quite literally – into fate’s path.

I licked my lips as I remembered the soft but firm pressure of his and the tip of his tongue which had sent shocking waves of exquisite pleasure darting about my hormonally charged teenage system. I might have been much older, but I could almost feel those very same sensations as I climbed up to sit in the seat next to him.