Nick nodded encouragingly. ‘Okay, I like it. Which one?’
‘I don’t know, surprise me.’ Was that really her voice? Had it actually taken on a sultry tone? She wasn’t even aware she knew how todoa sultry tone. It had to be the hair. Oh no! Laurel had gone too far in her transformation and it was spreading!
‘And for the other two ladies?’
‘They’ll have cocktails too,’ Jenny said. Why not? They never lashed out on pretty drinks and now that the pub was offering a more sophisticated menu, they should support it.
‘Oi! People are dying of thirst down here,’ a loud voice called from the other end of the bar, but Jenny didn’t know the owner. It did, however, interrupt whatever moment she’dbeen having with Nick and brought her back to her senses faster than a bucket of cold water over her head ever would.
‘Righto. Hold your horses, Frank,’ Nick called back. ‘Sorry.’
‘It’s okay, I shouldn’t have been holding you up when you’re so busy,’ she said, scrambling for her purse to take out her card.
‘Never too busy for you,’ he said, looking up as he began selecting bottles from the shelf behind him, making her smile falter a little.
Okay, so maybe hewasflirting with her. He didn’t seem to talk like that to anyone else, that she could tell.
‘I’ll bring them over to the table,’ he said after she had paid for the drinks.
She managed a nod before heading back to the others, trying to get her flustered nerves under control before she sat down again.
‘Well?’ Beth prompted when Jenny fiddled with her coaster. ‘What happened? Where are the drinks?’
‘Nothing happened. Calm down, I ordered the drinks and they’ll be brought over.’
‘You were gone a long time just to order drinks.’
‘Did you ask him how old he is?’ Brittany asked, looking up from where she was helping Sophie colour in, or rather scribble, across the paper before them.
‘No,’ Jenny said, giving a surprised laugh. ‘There’s literally no way you can bring that question up in general conversation that doesn’t sound weird.’
‘Sure there is. “Hey, you’re cute. How old are you?”’ Brittany said and shrugged without glancing up from her artwork.
Jenny snorted rudely and leaned back in her chair.
‘Thirty-eight, in case you were wondering,’ a deep voice said from behind her, causing her to shoot upright, knocking her knee under the table. She bit back an expletive as she rubbed her injury.
‘Sorry, couldn’t help but overhear.’ Nick didn’t look sorry at all as he held a round tray with brightly coloured drinks on it.
‘We were just …’ Jenny tried to think of a logical reason three women would be sitting around gossiping about his age.
‘Hi, I’m Beth, and this is Brittany, and you already know Jenny,’ Beth said, then lowered her voice a little. ‘Maybe you can settle an argument we’re having. Jenny here thinks younger men won’t date older women. You’re a younger guy—what do you say?’
‘I reckon it’s less about the numbers and more about the things you have in common,’ he said easily.
‘See!’ Beth crowed. ‘Told you.’
Jenny shook her head tiredly.
‘You don’t agree?’ he asked her.
‘I think an age gap can cause … issues.’
‘Depends on the people, I guess. I’ve known twenty-year-old kids in the army who’ve seen and done more things in their life than the mates they grew up with back home,’ he said. ‘It’s all about experience.’
Jenny grudgingly conceded he might have a point, but it didn’t change the fact that at some point, an age gap was going to be an issue in a relationship.
‘Your drinks,’ he continued smoothly. ‘I made a selection, I hope you like them.’
