‘Sure. It’s lemon drizzle – my specialty.’
‘Oh, that’s my favourite! My mummakes it a lot.’
‘I have a lot to live up to, then. Are you hungry, or have you eaten?’
‘No, I haven’t and I’m starving.’
‘I thought I’d make you my world-famous nachos tonight. Is that okay?’
‘Perfect.’ She smiled. ‘It’s not fair, you know all my weaknesses.’ Their Twitter conversations revolved around food almost as much as books.
‘I do,’ he said, with an evil grin. ‘I’ll take all the unfair advantages I can get.’
‘Are your nachos really world-famous, though?’
He shrugged. ‘Well, Twitter covers the world, so I’d say yes.’
Claire smiled.
‘Now I’ll show you the rest,’ Mark said, and led her into the hallway.
After showing her the bathroom and his bedroom, he showed her into a second, smaller bedroom across the hall from his. ‘This is you. There’s an en-suite shower, or you can use the main bathroom. I’ve left you some towels. If you need anything else, just let me know.’
‘Thank you.’ Claire smiled at him. ‘This is lovely.’ She was so glad she had established the five-date rule, that she could get to know Mark without feeling anxious about having to fend him off and make excuses for not wanting to sleep with him.
‘Well, I’ll leave you to settle in, and I’ll make the nachos. When you’ve got yourself sorted out, come and join me.’
Claire quickly unpacked a few things from her case, washed her face and put on some mascara and lipstick. When she went back to the living room, Mark was in the kitchen area. A bottle of red wine was open on the counter. He poured a couple of glasses and handed one to her.
‘Have a seat,’ he said, gesturing to the sofa. ‘This’ll be ready in a couple of minutes.’
‘Thanks.’
The coffee table in front of the sofa was set with knives, forks, plates and napkins, and there were dishes of salsa, sour cream and guacamole. Moments later, Mark joined her, placing a large plate of nachos on the table.
‘Dig in,’ he said, handing her a plate.
‘Oh my God, these are amazing,’ Claire said. ‘They deserve their reputation.’
‘They live up to expectations?’ Mark smiled.
‘Definitely. If I wasn’t here incognito, I’d tweet about them right now.’
‘Speaking of incognito,’ he said, wiping his hands. He picked up a hardback book from the side table beside him and handed it to her.
She wiped her hands on a napkin before taking it from him. She gasped in pleasure, recognising the title. The author was Mark’s latest signing, and Claire was friendly with her on Twitter. ‘Thank you! I can’t wait to read it,’ she said, turning it over in her hands. ‘It sounds great.’
‘I hope you’ll love it.’
‘How did the launch go on Wednesday?’
‘Really well. It was fun. I got it signed for you,’ he said, nodding to the book.
‘Oh!’ Claire opened the book to the title page and saw that it was signed to @NiceGirl:
whoever you may be.
‘I said I could get it to you.’
