Mr (Not Quite) Perfect. Jessica Hart

the front, where Stella was looking sphinx-like and Marisa, her deputy, harried. ‘Could we have a moment of your attention?’

      Allegra fought the impulse to say, Yes, miss. ‘Yes, of course.’

      ‘Making Mr Perfect...did you get anywhere with that?’

      Clearly expecting the answer to be no, their eyes were already moving down the list, on to the next idea. This was her moment.

      ‘Actually, yes, I did,’ Allegra said and a ripple of surprise ran round the room.

      ‘You found someone to take part?’ Stella’s expression was as inscrutable as ever but Allegra told herself that the very slight life of her editor’s immaculate brows was a good sign.

      ‘Yes,’ she said.

      ‘Who is he?’ That was Marisa.

      ‘The brother of a friend of mine. Max.’ Why did just saying his name suddenly make her feel warm?

      ‘What does he look like?’ asked Marisa practically. ‘I suppose it’s too much to hope that he’s a hunk?’

      Allegra glanced down at her sketch of Max on the sofa: solid, steady-eyed. Ordinary. Nothing special. Her eyes rested on his mouth for a moment and there it came again without warning, a quick, disturbing spike of her pulse. She looked away.

      ‘I wouldn’t say that he was a hunk, exactly,’ she said cautiously, ‘but I think he’ll brush up well.’

      ‘Sounds promising. What’s he like?’

      ‘He’s a civil engineer,’ said Allegra, as if that explained everything. ‘He’s pretty conventional, plays rugby and doesn’t have a clue about style.’ She lifted her shoulders, wondering how else to describe him. ‘He’s just a bloke, really.’

      ‘No girlfriend in the wings? We don’t want anyone making a fuss about him spending time with Darcy.’

      Allegra shook her head. ‘He’s just been dumped by his fiancée and he’s going to work abroad soon so he’s not interested in meeting anyone else at the moment. He’s perfect,’ she said.

      ‘And he knows exactly what’s involved?’ Marisa insisted. ‘He’s happy to go ahead?’

      Happy might be stretching it, thought Allegra, remembering uneasily how she had had to blackmail Max, but this was no time for quibbling. Her big chance was this close, and she was ready to seize it.

      ‘Absolutely,’ she said.

      Marisa glanced at Stella, who nodded. ‘In that case, you’d better get on to Darcy King and set up the first date straight away.’