by Heidi Rice
‘Is this some sort of game you and your boss play with men you set up on the Internet? For all I know you could be pretending to be your PA because you don’t like what you see or maybe you’re using your boss’s Internet account to meet someone above your pay scale. Am I close? Which one is it?’
Andy stared at him in horror, the blood pounding in her neck.
‘A game? Of course it isn’t a game. Elise doesn’t even know that I’m here. And I would never use her account to meet people. That’s a terrible accusation. No, it’s nothing like that. Nothing at all.’
‘Okay. Then what is this all about? Why are you here?’
‘Well, I am beginning to wonder, because, if you must know, my boss cancelled less than an hour ago and I didn’t like the thought of you sitting here all alone waiting for a date who has stood you up. There. That’s it. Happy now?’
And before he had a chance to answer, Andy picked up the Panini with both hands and took a huge bite. And the second her teeth hit the toasted bread, a large squeeze of tomato shot out and hit her straight on the chest. And her white blouse. Her only, her favourite, her best and most expensive, white blouse.
Gulping down the rest of her overfull mouthful of food, she tried to scrub at the spot with her napkin. Only it was pink and made out of paper so that she now had a pink dye and a hot tomato stain on her blouse.
She put down her shredded napkin, took a quick glance at #sportybloke, who was looking at her in disbelief.
‘Fast food. Always a risky business. The steak sandwich is not the only dangerous item on the menu,’ she murmured, sighed out loud, picked up the Panini and took another bite. She couldn’t do any more damage so she might as well finish her food.
#sportybloke blinked several times, pushed his shoulders hard back against the chair and unfolded his arms so he could stretch them out on the table, his palms flat on the gingham. The white scars on the backs of his hands and knuckles were just large enough for her to notice, but then she had to look at something, because he was doing the laser stare again.
His gaze seemed to be locked onto her face, as though he was looking for something, and she tried desperately not to squirm. And failed.
‘Happy would be pushing it, but I completely agree.’ He nodded, a strange smirk on his face, then tapped his forefinger against his full pink lower lip, then pointed towards her. ‘About the food. Especially the cheese.’
Cheese? What cheese?
Andy patted her napkin against her lip in a dainty and ladylike fashion and all was going well until she dropped it back to her lap to reveal a string of molten yellow plastic-looking cheese, which must have been dangling from the corner of her mouth.
Well. So much for the sophisticated and elegant look.
‘That’s better,’ he said with a fixed smile, sitting back. ‘And the name is Miles, by the way. Now where were we? Oh, yes. Being stood up. Does that still happen?’
Miles? She looked at him with raised eyebrows.
She had rain-damp hair, a stained blouse and she had been sitting there in blissful ignorance of the fact that cheese strings were dangling from her lips.
Why did he trust her with his real name? If it was his real name.
Her mouth opened, ready to share her name, but then she closed it again. Not yet. But she could answer his question.
She paused and looked up at the ceiling. ‘Oh, yes, it has happened to me more than once. I think that’s why I hated the idea of doing it to someone else. Yes, I know that we have only talked through emails, but texting is not the same as apologising in person. Or at least it isn’t to me. That probably makes me sound very old-fashioned, but that’s the way I am.’
He seemed to think about that for a second before replying. ‘I happen to agree. And your boss doesn’t know that you are here?’
Andy shook her head. ‘She’s changed her mind about the whole Internet dating business. But there wasn’t enough time to call you and cancel. So here I am.’
Then she braved a smile over the top of her sandwich. ‘I hope you’re not too annoyed or disappointed. Especially since I’ve eaten most of your food and I’m not actually your proper date.’
He sat back, eyebrows high, and pressed one hand to his chest. ‘My pleasure. You have seen through my evil plan to win over a lady with toasted cheese and coffee. I feel the shame.’
‘You should.’ Andy nodded and inspected the last part of her Panini. ‘Even though this was a most superior cheesy snack. So thank you for that.’
‘Glad you approve,’ he murmured, and raised his coffee beaker. ‘Here’s to cheesy snacks, although I am curious about something. Does your boss often ask you to pimp for her?’
Only just as the words left his mouth Andy was swallowing some coffee and between spluttering and coughing it took her a while before she could attempt to reply with a raspy voice. ‘First time. And the last. We went to school together so I suppose Elise trusted me not to let her down.’ She flashed him a glance. ‘Did I? Let her down?’
A long, slow, languorous smile crept like dawn across the whole of his face, and then he wrapped his hands around his beaker. ‘I might have chatted to a couple of girls. But this is the first Internet date I have ever agreed to.’
He rested his elbows on the table to support his chin. ‘The only one. Does that answer your question?’
Andy froze, her coffee beaker suspended in mid-air.
‘This is your first Internet date?’
‘Absolutely. So far, not quite what I expected, but getting better by the minute.’
Her hand dropped. ‘Oh.’
Of course it is—fool. He doesn’t need to go on the Internet to meet women. But it did make her wonder. Why? Why now?
‘I enjoyed reading about all the wonderful countries you have visited for your work.’ She twirled one hand towards his shirt. ‘I suppose that must be a problem for your, um … romantic relationships.’
Oh, shut up now before you make an even greater fool of yourself, you idiot. Andy winced and picked at some salad, to avoid looking at him.
‘My romantic relationships?’ He sniffed. ‘Actually my romantic relationships, as you call them, are just fine. That isn’t the problem. Just the opposite if anything—I spend my days surrounded by sporty girls of all shapes and sizes, and usually they are wearing remarkably little in the way of clothing.’
He lifted his chin and smiled. ‘Did I mention that we specialise in water sports? Everything from paddle boarding to kite surfing. Our bikinis are very popular.’
A short chuckle and a nasal snort made her blink. ‘No, I have plenty of female company. But I don’t get to meet other kinds of women. And now I’m back in London, it might be interesting to meet girls who know more about the city than surfboards and sunblock. Plus I happen to enjoy meeting new people and getting to know them.’
She leant forwards, glancing from side to side as though about to tell him a secret of some sort.
‘I have a terrible fault.’
His eyebrows rose towards the ceiling but he did not take the bait.
‘Curiosity.’ Andy nodded. ‘I am well known for it. So you see, I can’t help but wonder … why now? What made you decide to come out on a wet night to meet this particular girl when you don’t even know her name?’
And without permission or any kind of warning, he clasped his long fingers around the palm of her right hand, raised it to his mouth and kissed her knuckles for two seconds before releasing her hand.
‘I wanted to meet the girl who wrote those emails. The girl I am looking at right now.’
His lips had been warm and full and soft and she was so totally taken back by how gentle and tender that ultra-soft whisper of his lips on her skin had been that she just sat there, still, and in silence. While he smiled at her. And this time his eyes were smiling as well as his mouth and all she could hear was the sound of his breathing, slow and deep, which matched hers perfectly, breath for breath.
The coffee shop and t
he background clatter of people and machine and chairs being dragged on wooden floors faded into some other world which she no longer had any part in.
The air in the space between them seemed to bristle with electricity, tense and thick with unspoken words and silences. The pulse at the side of his neck was mesmerising, strong and steady in tune with his breathing.
Killer. Absolute killer.
Then he leant slightly forwards and said in a low whisper, ‘I have a confession too. My brother Jason was the one who set up my profile and filled in the forms. Apparently he got fed up of my constant complaints about not being able to find a date for when I am in London.’
He raised his coffee cup and looked at her over the top of it—but his gaze was locked onto hers and somehow it was impossible for her to look away. ‘To online dating virgins everywhere,’ he whispered and took a long sip of coffee. ‘Perhaps we should exchange notes?’
Ah … so that was it. She should have worked it out. Miles was a sailor with a girl in every port. Online dating virgin indeed!
They looked across at one another in silence, his mouth curled into a smile for so long that the air crackled across the table.
Andy felt as though a small thermonuclear device had just been planted somewhere low in her stomach and was threatening to emerge as a girly giggle.
She did not do giggling, simpering or anything that came close. Not even for hunky hotties like the one sitting opposite her nonchalantly drinking his coffee as his gaze stared into hers, waiting to see how she responded. Maybe this was some sort of test?
‘I’ll drink to that,’ she replied, with a smirk. ‘Although it does make me wonder.’
‘Wonder?’
‘What were you planning to do with the hazelnut cookies?’ she replied in a flash, and pressed both of her lips tight together before sitting back in her chair, her head tilted to one side.
He roared with laughter. A real laugh, head back, shoulders shaking, holding onto the flimsy table, making it rock as his whole body joined in the joke, and this time she could not help herself. And for the first time in a very long while, Andy Davies laughed. Really laughed. Laughed until the tears were running down her cheeks and she was starting to wheeze.
She never laughed like this. Ever. And it was wonderful.
Even if people on the other tables had started to give them furtive glances.
Oh, Nigel would have been so mortified if she had made this kind of a scene on the few times when he was with her.
Nigel. Andy felt as if a bucket of icy water had been thrown over her head, and she instantly sat up straighter in her chair and tried to clear her head.
Stupid girl. She was not here to flirt and laugh with Miles. No matter how much he had brightened up her cold, wet evening. She was not ready to flirt and laugh with anyone.
She glanced up into his smiling face and a small shiver of disappointment and regret fluttered across her shoulders.
This was a horrible mistake.
It should be Elise sitting here, not her.
But he was worth meeting. If anything he was more open and extrovert than his emails had suggested. She couldn’t lie.
Andy’s gaze slid over to his long, muscular, tanned arms and she inhaled slowly.
Men like Miles stood at the helm of sailing ships and jumped off mountain peaks with only a pair of skis strapped to their legs. They did not do executive buffet lunches with mini canapés and fizzy pink water, which Elise specialised in.
It was time to call a halt to this embarrassing charade and make a quick getaway.
Stealing a secret smile, Andy was just about to make her excuses and leave when her view was blocked by the long cream designer raincoat of the most notorious gossip in Nigel’s office, who was standing right in front of her.
Leering.
Andy reared back in horror, a fixed smile cemented onto her face. She had walked out of Nigel’s office in tears six weeks ago and this was the first time that she had met any of the people she used to work with.
Worse. There were two of them. The second most feared, time-wasting gossip in the whole office building was glaring at Miles, her mouth hanging open in shock and lust.
‘Hello, Andy,’ the gossip whined, her eyes flicking from Andy to Miles and then back to Andy again. ‘Fancy seeing you here. I heard that you were working nights somewhere.’
‘Oh. Just taking an evening off,’ Andy replied, in a casual voice, refusing to get involved in any kind of conversation with these two. ‘You?’
‘Thought we would catch a movie,’ came the casual reply. Then her lips twisted into a knowing smirk. ‘Amazing who you meet on the way.’
‘Isn’t it? Have a good time at the movie. See you around,’ Andy replied with a quick wave of her hand, then her fingers clamped around her coffee beaker instead of the girl’s neck.
Sniffing at being so obviously dismissed without being introduced to Andy’s mysterious date, the two shuffled over to the only spare table, which thankfully meant that they were facing away from Andy, but from the sly sniggering glances they were giving her it was obvious that their lives were now complete.
Who needed a movie when they had just found out that Andy Davies was out with a hunky bloke in a coffee shop? Just think! Who would have thought she had the nerve, after Nigel had made such a fool of her?
It would be around the office in five minutes. In fact, they were probably texting all of their pals and her colleagues on their mobile phones at that very minute.
‘Friends of yours?’ a male voice asked from across the table.
She opened her eyes and blinked. Not only was Miles still there, but he was smiling at her and had started work picking out the whole hazelnuts from his cookie. She had been so absorbed in her own dilemma that she had forgotten about him.
‘Girls I used to work with in my last job. And no, they certainly are not my friends. Far from it. I despise them.’
Now why had she said that? It wasn’t their fault that she had fallen for all of the lies Nigel had told her so that she would work on his business proposals for nothing, night after night, while all the time he was living with the boss’s daughter and taking the credit for her work. And she was the only one who was not in on the joke. The rest of the office had been laughing behind her back for weeks. Just waiting for Nigel to dump her the second he got his promotion. And he had. Oh, yes. And in public. And in style.
That familiar cold dark blanket of humiliation and bitter disappointment wrapped itself around Andy’s shoulders, and she shivered inside her thin suit jacket.
‘I see. They tell me that girls can be hard to work with. I’m sorry if my being here is going to cause you a problem back in the office.’
‘Problem?’ She whimpered and slumped down. ‘You don’t know the half of it.’ Then she caught his change in breathing, and saw a flash of concern in his eyes. Tossing her head, she ran her fingers through her hair and smiled. ‘Sorry. It’s fine. Let’s try and ignore them. They have nothing to do with my life now.’
He rested both elbows on the table and leaned forwards until his fingers were almost touching hers, and nobody else could hear what he was saying, his back to the room. ‘None of my business but in my mind there are two ways to deal with office gossips. You say so what, and shrug it off. Or …’ He picked up Andy’s hand and started playing with it.
‘What are you doing?’ Andy snapped, trying to pull her hand away, but he was holding it in a vicelike grip. ‘They’re looking this way and taking photos on their cell phones,’ she groaned in a strangled voice, as if things could get any worse.
‘Excellent,’ he replied, in a low calm voice. ‘So let’s try the other option, and give them something to really talk about.’
There was something in his voice that should have warned her that actually things were going to suddenly get a lot worse, but her gaze was locked on his mouth as he licked his lower lip with the tip of his tongue.
Then without warning his entire body
moved in one single continuous motion, so that as he lifted slightly from his chair his right hand reached back and cradled the base of her head.
And then he kissed her.
Not just a peck on the cheek. Oh, no. His warm, full, moist lips moved gently across hers in a kiss so tender and so loving that her eyes instantly filled with tears and she had to blink them away as she closed her eyes and tilted her head so that he could kiss her again.
Only this time it was deeper and she felt just the slightest tingle of his tongue, chocolate and coffee on hers before he slid his mouth away, leaving her staggered, wobbly and unable to speak and attempting to breathe again.
Wow.
Andy opened her eyes and he was breathing as hard as she was. She could not resist staring at his full mouth, which was still wet from her kiss, and in another place and another universe she would have liked to know what it would feel like to lift that shirt over his head and find out what kind of man was able to kiss a perfect stranger like that.
She wasn’t sure if she was meant to push him away and hit him for taking advantage, or pull him closer, and jump into his lap.
He did it for her. ‘Andy?’
‘Yes?’
‘Do you think that is enough to keep the gossips happy?’ he asked in a hoarse, breathless whisper.
‘Oh, yes. That would do it,’ Andy answered, and looked over to the girls who seemed to be huddled together over their phones. ‘That will definitely do it.’
She pulled back, scraping her chair along the floor, grabbed her bag and stood up. ‘Back in a moment. Too much caffeine,’ she lied and almost ran to the ladies’ room.
‘I’ll be right here,’ he murmured behind her back. She turned back to look at him, as his fingers started flicking across the screen of his smart phone. The way his fingertips pressed the keys told her a lot more about his finesse and gentle touch than any online profile could.
Miles would be amazing in bed. She sighed as she turned away.
