Avril Tremayne – The Dating Game (страница 16)

She kept glaring at him, but finally, with a stamp of one foot, capitulated. ‘Okay! Got it! No need to have a coronary.’

‘Fine.’

‘Fine,’ she sniffed.

‘And I have a solution for Saturday night, so you can relax about that, too.’

‘What is it?’

‘I’ll use a false name. What do you think about Lucas Green? It has a suitably MI5 feel to it. Matches the whole “down low” ethos, don’t you think?’

She laughed then, and he knew she didn’t want to so it charmed him all the more. ‘For a banker, you’re kind of out there, you know.’

‘Yes, I do seem to be these days. But then again, I’m only half a banker. So, when and where on Saturday?’

‘I’m meeting Erica at six o’clock at Midnight Madness in Newtown—do you know it?’

‘Yes, I know it. Unfortunately.’

‘Hey, what’s wrong with it?’

‘Let’s just say it attracts quite a young crowd.’

‘Um … yeah! In case you hadn’t noticed, I happen to be young.’

The simple comment pulled David up short, and he looked at her, really looked at her, absorbing the truth of that. She was young—in years, in appearance, in outlook. Why was it shocking him to acknowledge that when it was the simple truth? ‘Yeah, I guess you are, aren’t you?’ he said, and stuck on a smile he couldn’t quite make himself feel. ‘Okay then, Midnight Madness it is, and I’ll try to repress my old-man shudders.’

‘Thank you sooooo much.’

‘What time should I arrive?’

‘Between six-thirty and seven?’

‘Done. Now, lean a little towards me, that way you do.’

‘What way?’ she asked, and David could only marvel. She really had no idea.

‘Like you’re going to tell me a secret.’

‘Like this?’ Leaning.

‘Perfect.’

‘I was just thinking …’

‘Hmm?’

‘What you said about Craig. What do I do if he calls me?’

‘You tell him you’re not interested. But you’ll be blocking him anyway, so he won’t be able to call.’

‘I will?’

‘You will.’

‘Then what will you do if he asks you about me?’

‘I’ll tell him you’re not interested.’

‘Are we sure I’m not interested?’

‘We’re sure. We don’t date people who wear fedoras inside bars and then don’t call us for four days.’

She sighed. ‘Good thing I didn’t follow through on my compatibility plan, then.’

‘Your what?’

‘I’ve been weighing up the pros and cons of having sex as early as possible in a relationship. Is it something you do yourself? Have sex on the first date?’

His pencil stopped on the page. One, two, three beats, and then he looked over at her.

‘So that’s an affirmative,’ she said—and talk about smug! ‘As I already knew.’

‘Whoa! Just— Whoa! In my case, they’re called one-night stands, because I’m not interested in a relationship. Your case is completely different.’

She shrugged—a little too casually. ‘But it still makes sense to fast-track the easy stuff, if you ask me.’

‘Easy stuff? Sex is the easy stuff?’

‘Yes. Does the sex work—yes or no? If the answer is no, you can call it quits with minimal time wasted. If the answer is yes, you move on and explore the more emotional areas.’ Another shrug. ‘It’s like snipping off the low-hanging fruit first.’

‘Low-hanging—?’ David took a deep breath, and then surprised himself by bursting into laughter again. ‘Remind me to keep the scissors and my low-hanging fruit out of your reach!’

Sarah’s eyes dropped to the front of his jeans.

‘Thank you!’ David said, when she started giggling. ‘Nice to know my genitalia is the source of some amusement to you.’

‘I haven’t actually seen it so I can’t say.’ Another giggle. ‘Although I certainly felt it last week in the storeroom.’

‘It’s a mystery to me why you haven’t been murdered yet,’ David mused, and when she giggled again said, ‘All right, brat, let’s back up a step. Tell me: did you want to have sex with Craig?’

‘I definitely thought about it.’

‘So that’s a “no”. Because if you wanted to have sex with him, you would have had it, trust me.’

‘But he didn’t call me, which has to mean he wasn’t interested in having sex with me.’

‘Different things, sex and dating,’ he said dismissively. ‘I’ll bet he kissed you goodnight—or at least tried to.’

‘Well, yes.’

‘How did he kiss you?’ David asked and then regretted the question. The idea of messy, sloppy, long-haired Craig with his mouth near Sarah was making him feel queasy.

‘What do you mean, how?’

Oh God. And now he had to get specific with his words? ‘Cheek, mouth, tongue?’ he got out. ‘Did he whisper anything?’ Dear God. ‘Sniff you?’

‘Cheek. Then mouth. No tongue. No whispers. No sniffing. And I was wearing Jasmin Noir.’

Okay, that was too adorable not to enjoy. ‘Jasmin Noir and he didn’t even sniff you? God, what a slow top!’

‘Dimples! I can see them! And stop twitching your mouth.’

‘Sorry, but it’s funny. So … what did he smell like?’

She frowned, as though trying to recall, but in the end, shook her head. ‘I don’t think he was wearing any cologne.’

‘Now there you’re wrong. Craig drenches himself for a regular day in the office, so I’m going to go out on a limb and suggest he wears at least a hint of Old Spice when he’s on a date.’ Which meant what? Not much of a kiss had occurred—that seemed certain! Good. Craig was the worst possible choice, a huge mistake on David’s part. ‘So … what? Didn’t he get close enough for long enough?’

‘Of course he got close enough. I told you, he kissed me.’

‘What did he do with his hands? Where did he put them?’

‘On my shoulders. Hey!’ As David shook his head, disgusted … and relieved. ‘It was a simple goodnight kiss, not a deep-dive tonsillectomy!’

‘And you didn’t like it, did you?’

‘It was … all right.’