Six
Jenny braced herself as she opened her car door and got out to greet her date. This was the last one, she told herself firmly.
‘Hi,’ she said, pinning the fake smile in place as the man greeted her in the carpark where she had been waiting, before feeling it melt into something almost genuine. Craig was … not too bad.
‘Jenny,’ he said. Was that a note of relief in his voice she detected as well?
She nodded. ‘Nice to meet you.’
Craig was surprisingly easygoing—at least compared to overconfident Derrick and nervous Alan.
She glanced at the white four-wheel drive he’d just locked with his remote. ‘Nice car. How long have you had it?’ she asked.
He sent her a wide smile. ‘A little over a week. She’s my pride and joy.’
‘It’s really nice.’
‘Yeah. I’ve got lots of camping trips planned and a few four-wheel drive tracks I’ve been wanting to try.’
Camping.She knew the guy had to have something wrong with him. It was too good to be true. She let him continue to fill her in on all the great camping spots he liked to go to as they headed indoors.You can do this.
The lunchtime crowd seemed a little more laid-back on a Sunday. A guy with a guitar sat in the corner playing live music, adding to the relaxed vibe of the place. The place was beginning to grow on her. She really should make an effort to come back here on a weekend—without a date. Since the weather was nice, they chose to sit outdoors under the pink bougainvillea, the mouth-watering scent of delicious meals filling the air around them.
‘And you’re a teacher?’ Jenny said once they were settled and looking at each other, hoping to find some common ground—any common ground, really.
‘Yeah. Maths.’
Oh God.Still, it could have been worse—he could have been a PE teacher. She had an even worse history with PE at school.
‘But I trained as a PE teacher.’
Ofcoursehe had.
‘I’ve been training for an upcoming marathon next month. Your profile said you jog?’
Son of a—‘I, ah, did some muscular damage a while back,’ she said, schooling her face into something she hoped resembled vast disappointment. ‘Sadly, I had to give up running.’ They’dpromisedher there wasn’t any more weird shit on her profile. Why had she believed them?
‘Wow … that’s terrible.’
She felt a tinge of guilt as the guy’s face fell. Like, actually crumpled in dismay.
‘Yeah, but it’s okay … I barely miss it any more, I keep pretty busy.’
‘Oh, yeah? Doing what? What other sports do you do?’
‘I, ah … yoga,’ she said, and his face instantly brightened.
‘Me too!’ He grinned. ‘There’s a sunrise hot yoga work out over in Hamwell on a Sunday morning. It’s amazing, you should come along.’
Right. Getting up before sunrise on a Sunday to do yoga. Sounds freaking amazing—not. She managed a weak smile and had never been so grateful to be interrupted by the tall but still disconcerting bartender, who suddenly appeared beside their table.
‘Are you ready to order?’
‘You’re doing table waiting now, too?’ she asked, lifting a surprised eyebrow.
‘I do whatever needs to be done,’ he said, sending her a polite, innocuous smile that was ruined by the gravelly tone that slithered down her spine all the way to her toes. How the hell did he do that? Surely he didn’t mean to be this stupid-sexy, and yet, by that look in his eye, heknewhe was putting a double meaning in his words.
‘I think I’ll have the T-bone, but hold the potatoes. Just a side of steamed veggies, thanks,’ Craig said, completely oblivious to the tension that zapped between Nick and Jenny.
