Ellie grins at her. ‘I can’t think of one.’
‘Does this mean we can start playing good songs again?’ Rach asks.
‘You’re getting carried away,’ I reply.
‘Am I? I bet he’s a tiger between the sheets.’
‘I doubt he’ll be jumping into bed with anyone anytime soon,’ I say, involuntarily squeezing my knees together. ‘He’s only quite recently come out of a serious relationship. Plus I saw a photo of his ex-girlfriend. She was a stunner.’
‘You’re a stunner,’ Amy points out loyally.
‘It can’t have been that serious,’ Rach says. ‘And he’s clearly over it now.’
‘Why do you say that?’ I ask.
‘Because he can’t take his fucking eyes off you,’ she points out.
I feel myself growing hot as I glance at Amy and Ellie.
‘It’s true,’ Amy says with a grin, while Ellie says, ‘She’s right.’
Rach leans forward. ‘And you seem to like him too.’
‘How could I not? He’s gorgeous.’
And kind, and caring, and oddly protective of me, even though we’ve only known each other for a few days.
Rach turns to Amy with a smug look. ‘You might be able to put Brit Easton on your wedding playlist after all.’
‘Shush!’ Amy snaps at her, throwing an awkward glance in my direction.
I’m plagued by a sudden bout of nausea at the mention of the pop star’s name.
‘What’s this?’ I ask warily.
‘Amy has been playing “We Could Be Giants” on repeat,’ Rach reveals. ‘She loves that song and is too scared to tell you.’
‘Stop causing trouble,’ Ellie berates her girlfriend with a frown, while Amy looks as though she wants the floor to swallow her up.
Tom and Dan come back with our drinks and I try to force a smile onto my face, but I can’t stop thinking about the song.
Or the woman who sings it.
And especially not the person who wrote it.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
It’s fair to say that I am very tipsy indeed. I hit the Prosecco after Tom and Dan came back from the bar and then we won the drinks voucher and they went and got a second bottle. The bubbles have gone straight to my head.
‘I can’t believe we won!’ I exclaim as I try to walk straight on the steep hill down to Beach Cottage.
‘I can’t believe you knew which Mr Men characters wear shoes,’ he replies.
I laugh. ‘Mr Silly and Mr Noisy were easy, but I was pretty pleased with Mr Chatterbox.’ We only had to name three out of nine. ‘How did you know that Edinburgh was further north than Vancouver and Moscow?’ I reach over and shove his arm, proud as punch.
‘It’s bloody close.’
‘Still, I went to Edinburgh and I never would have guessed. Did you go to university?’ I ask.
