Lucy Vine is the author of Date With Destiny

They say there are five love languages – words of affirmation, quality time, physical touch, acts of service and receiving gifts – but c’mon, there’s definitely a sixth: sleeping.

For me, a day spent in bed napping with someone you fancy is the ideal summer date. It’s intimate, dreamy, sexy and – oh man – so warm and comfortable. Who needs a lukewarm sunny day with unpredictable British showers when you have a 10.5-tog duvet?

Picture it: you start your date with a lie-in together. That’s followed by a sleepy coffee – the pair of you shut away from all those noisy summer tourists outside. After breakfast (surrounded by a pillow fort), it’s time to ignore the world as you enjoy a late morning pre-coital nap. Half an hour or so later comes the post-coital nap. Then it’s time for a picnic lunch – mind the bed crumbs – rewatching Pen and Colin make out in Bridgerton, before another roll in the bed-hay.

If the guilt over not making the most of summer (eye roll) gets too much, I’ll allow for one short butterfly-chrysalis moment outside to grab dinner before a return to the bedroom for an early night.

OK, so I’m not saying a day in bed should be a first date. But it sure does make a great third or four-hundredth. And to me, it’s the peak of romance, whatever the season.

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