He reached for his wine. “Or maybe they were thinking that we make a beautiful couple.”
She put her fork down. “Will, I know you’re teasing me, but could you stop? You’re freaking me out.”
“Why am I freaking you out?”
“Because we don’t think of each other like that, and we never have.” Enough.Enough!“This duck is delicious. How is your fish?”
“It’s good.” He put his glass down. “Doesn’t your mother interrogate you about your love life?”
“No. She knows better than to waste her time. I’m not one for spilling my innermost feelings, you know that.” Except that she had, hadn’t she? With him. She could feel him looking at her and suspected her cheeks were as red as her dress. “Not usually, anyway. And definitely not to my mother. So have you datedanyone since—” She rummaged in her mind for the name of the last person he’d introduced her to. “Elsie?”
“No. There has been no one since Elsie.”
“She seemed—nice.” She tried her hardest to sound convincing, although if she was honest she hadn’t warmed to Elsie at all. “And she was totally crazy about you. When we all went to that wine bar for your birthday last year, she seemed very into you.” Which had been annoying if she was honest because she hadn’t seen Will for a few months and had been trying to have a proper conversation with him, which hadn’t been easy with Elsie draped over him like another layer of clothing. Elsie had been friendly enough on the surface, but Becky had sensed an underlying hostility that hadn’t made sense to her. “What went wrong there?”
He finished his fish. “She ended it.”
“Oh.” Becky wasn’t sure how to respond to that. Was he sad? “I’m sorry. And you even introduced her to your parents.”
“Yes. That was a mistake.” He put his fork down. “That was delicious. I assume you have room for dessert?”
“Of course.” She grinned at him. “You don’t really need to ask, do you? Why was it a mistake to introduce her to your parents?”
“Because it complicated everything.”
“Relationships are always complicated. It’s the reason I avoid them. I like things to be ordered and logical, and there is nothing ordered or logical about emotions.” She waited while their plates were removed. “Did she break your heart?” She felt fiercely protective all of a sudden. What was wrong with Elsie? Who would want to break up with Will?
He picked up his wineglass. “No.”
“Good. But now I see why your mother is matchmaking. She wants to get you out there again.”
The waiter appeared with dessert menus but Will shook his head and gave him a quick smile.
“We don’t need the menu, thanks. Just bring us anything that has chocolate. And a couple of spoons.”
“We have several—”
“Great. Bring them all. Thank you.”
Becky leaned forward. “Will Patterson, did you just order all that saturated fat and sugar? Is the god of cardiologists about to strike you down?”
“Probably. But I’m sure there are worse ways to go.”
The desserts arrived and were placed in the centre of the table. Three plates showcased different chocolate confections.
“Yum. Why did I bother with a main course? I could live on dessert. This is amazing.” Becky dug her spoon into a miniature sponge that oozed hot chocolate sauce. “I didn’t think you were a chocolate addict.”
“I’m not. But I know you are.”
“For a moment there I thought I was learning something new about you. I can’t eat all of this by myself or I’ll never fit through the door of our room, so you’d better help me.”
He picked up a spoon and tasted the chocolate tart. “So how about you? Have you been dating?”
“No. Too busy.” She saw him raise an eyebrow and sighed because she knew why he was asking. “Okay, not too busy. Too crap at dating would be more accurate. It’s like job hunting. You have to project your best self the whole time and it’s exhausting. All that small talk and smiling and trying to be interesting and magnetic when all you really want to do is head home and watch a good movie in bed with a massive bowl of popcorn.”
“You could put that on your dating profile.”
She ate half the chocolate mousse. “You don’t think mentioning bed at that point would attract the wrong sort?”
