“No, not now. Let Giles hopefully work out for himself that he shouldn’t be on this date after all,” Radia says.
An uneasy churning starts in my stomach, because maybe Giles won’t realise that. Maybe Tony knows exactly what to say and when to say it and their drink will go better than Giles expects.
The churning turns into a sharp ache. An agonising pain I know I’ll have to put up with as I clean up the café and lock up.
“Go on, both of you, get out,” I say.
“But we need to close up?” Chloe says.
“I will close up.”
“I don’t mind helping,” Radia says looking anything but keen to help.
“No, it’s okay. Go enjoy the sunshine and each other. I kind of want to be on my own and then I may go to the gym after.”
“Really? You’re not going to mope about Giles being on a date with another man.”
“Only a little bit,” I reply honestly. “But I’m also going to spend the time figuring out what to say to him because I think you’re both right. I am worthy of him.”
“You so are,” Chloe says with a proud smile and I turn to see Radia’s lips twitching, holding back her own grin.
“And he’s more than worthy of me,” I say. Maybe I just need to helphimsee that he is.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Giles
Ican’t get the way he looked at me out of my head. I can’t seem to erase the narrow-eyed glare he gave the three drinks I placed on the table. I can’t forget the elongated ‘Okay’ he gave in response to me explaining that I couldn’t choose between two smoothies which is why I ordered two for me as well as the one for him.
Which is a lie. Because it had nothing to do with choice. In fact, the very opposite. I felt compelled to order two drinks so that we would have three drinks in total on our table. I told myself if I had three drinks on the table, then this date would start to feel a bit more comfortable than how it is very predictably starting to play out.
Because I don’t want to be here.
There really is nothing wrong with Tony. Sure, he’s a little camp and has made a few scathing comments about the teenage employee’s style choices but I’ve gone out with more annoying and much ruder men in my time. And I’ve been able to ignore it in order to have some often fun and meaningless sex.
And that’s the goal of today’s date. That’s why I’m here doing my very best to not wrinkle my nose as Tony flirts with me very blatantly.
“So why the juice bar at the gym?” He crosses his legs in my direction. “Aside from the fact the menu is so good you have to order two drinks.”
I clamp my mouth shut because part of me, the counting obsessed part of me, wants to tell him that actually I ordered three drinks. Three is the important detail. A detail he would never understand.
I don’t know if Marcello understands, but he seems to want to.
Marcello. Marcello. Marcello.
I shouldn’t be thinking about him.
“Is it because you want to be sober enough to remember every single second with me?” He blinks in rapid succession and I realise he’s actually trying to flutter his eyelashes at me.
My stomach flips and doesn’t quite settle.
“I just thought it would be neutral territory,” I say, honestly. Too honestly perhaps when I see Tony’s pout slip from his lips.
“Afraid I’m going to corrupt or kidnap you?” He forces a smile.
“No, nothing like that.”
“I mean, I could if you wanted.” He blinks rapidly again. Doesn’t that make him feel dizzy?
