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‘Marcus works in law, but he wants to become an MP. He’s ready to find the right woman and settle down. Being a family man gets votes.’

‘Great!’ Kat throws back her champagne and wobbles to her feet. ‘Oh shit.’

‘What?’ Freddy asks.

‘I might need my cane.’

‘Is that a problem?’

‘Yes. I didn’t bring it. It wouldn’t fit in my bag and I hoped … I don’t know. That the world would be kind and make me steady on my feet tonight. When I’m stressed …’ Kat looks away. ‘Sometimes my body starts rebelling. It’s hard to predict.’

‘Use me as your cane if you need to,’ says Freddy. ‘Lean on my arm. I’ll be the best-looking walking aid you ever used.’

‘Oh fine.’ Kat grabs Freddy’s arm. ‘You’re nothing if not a problem solver.’

Freddy wonders why his stomach feels so strange when Kat links her arm through his. He should probably get himself checked over. Diabetes runs in the family.

CHAPTER21

The Oxo Tower restaurant hums with the gentle clink of cutlery, glasses and low, dignified conversation.

Okay. Deep breaths. One foot in front of the other. My legs are both working fine. Which is excellent. But you never know with my body. Sometimes it rebels at all the wrong moments.

‘Remember you’re exclusive,’ Freddy whispers. ‘Value yourself. You are here to assess your dining companions, not the other way around.’

‘Easy for you to say,’ I whisper back. ‘What if I get anxious and my leg starts kicking one of our dining companions?’

‘Is that likely?’

‘It’s not unlikely.’

‘You’ll be fine.’ Freddy clenches me tighter in his steel bolt of an arm.

We approach a dining table, where two handsome, suited men wait with eager expressions on their faces.

I feel a smile growing as I see them. ‘Well done, Freddy,’ I whisper. ‘They’re both really good-looking –’

‘REMEMBER you’re exclusive.’

We reach the table, and Freddy smiles and nods at the men. ‘Marcus. Ahmet. Allow me to introduce my friend and business associate, Katerina Friedman. She’s an award-winning publisher and heads up T&Cs literary output.’

Ahmet leaps up and gives me a warm handshake. ‘Hello there. Great to meet you.’

‘Hi.’ I take a seat opposite him, smiling.

The man diagonally opposite gives me intense eyes. ‘Good to meet you, Katerina. I’m Marcus Ajulo.’ He reaches to shake my hand.

Marcus looks like someone stuffed a champion athlete into a business suit. He has smooth black skin, straight, white teeth and the sort of fiercely intelligent eyes you’d rely on for anything. Under normal circumstances, I’d give him my business card immediately. But Freddy’s earlier warnings about exclusivity have hit home.

‘And Ahmet manages T&Cs real estate acquisitions,’ says Freddy.

‘It’s a boring job but someone’s got to do it.’ Ahmet has a very sweet smile and gleaming, chin-length, black hair tucked behind his ears. His shirt is a colourful blast of paisley and fits close to his toned body.

Both men look like they have mortgages and a solid pension plan in place, which is excellent.

‘So, you run a publishing company?’ Ahmet asks. ‘You’ll have to tell me more about that. I’m a real bookworm. I’m on my second literature PhD. My house looks like a library.’

‘Me too,’ I laugh. ‘Not the second PHD. The house library. I’ve got bookcases up the stairs. In the kitchen. On my front porch. Everywhere. I even set up a book exchange box in my front garden. But I had to take it down because people kept putting empty beer cans in it.’