This waitress was getting on my nerves.
‘I’ll pay,’ I said.
‘You won’t,’ said Sam, handing over a gold card, and keying in his pin number when required, then giving her a fiver for a tip.
The waitress gave him the receipt and an even bigger smile. ‘I hope I’ll see you again soon,’ she said, ignoring me completely.
Sam got to his feet. ‘Ready?’
‘Yes.’
I stood up so fast I almost toppled over. Sam reached out and took my arm, and then he grabbed my jacket and wrapped it around my shoulders.
‘I’d offer you a lift on my bike,’ he said, a hint of amusement in his voice now. ‘But you might fall off. I’ll get you a cab instead. And for the record, you haven’t ruined anything, Lucy. I’m just being a jerk, as usual.’
Thirteen
Why did Erin have to be on shift, today of all days?
I sent her a text the moment I closed the front door of Far Cottage.
‘Please call me if you get a chance. Really need some advice. Have just had lunch with Sam!!!!!! Love you. Xx’
I shrugged off my jacket, checked my scarf and gloves were still in the pocket, and hung the jacket on the rack, then I kicked off my boots and dashed to the loo. After all that wine, I needed to pee.
Having washed my hands, and studied my reflection in the mirror to see if my cheeks were as red as they felt, which thankfully, they weren’t, I made my way to the kitchen, filled the kettle, and made a cup of tea.
I had just sat on the sofa to drink it when my phone pinged with a text. It was from Erin.
‘Why use one exclamation mark when six say so much more? Just lunch? Or is that a euphemism? Will call you asap. Taking a break in ten minutes. Wait by the phone!!!!!! Love you. Xx’
I laughed despite feeling like a nervous wreck, and then I counted the minutes until I could talk to my best friend.
It had only been about four until her name appeared on my screen.
‘That was a quick ten minutes!’
‘Time flies in The Met,’ she said. ‘Tell me everything.’
I told her how I’d bumped into Sam at the bar, how he’d looked, what he’d said, what Jenna had said, and everything else I could remember. I told her Sam had said he’d call and I’d driven myself half mad wondering when he might, even though he’d only just left, and then how he had called and how happy I was. I told her about the mix up with the stranger and the table, and then how Sam had made me feel when he’d arrived, about our conversation, the waitress and her constant interruptions, the wedding dress photos, Sam’s business, what he’d said about not having relationships, how he’d asked if I wanted to spend the week with him, and then how he had brought me back to Far Cottage, in a cab.
‘I’ve had a lot of wine, so I can’t recall it all word for word, but I’ve told you as much as I can. So what do you think?’
‘I think one of us will be having rampant sex this week, and unfortunately it won’t be me.’
‘Oh god, I hope so,’ I said. ‘I thought I’d blown it for a minute, but when he dropped me off, he asked the driver to wait, and he walked me to the door and waited until I’d opened it and stepped inside.’
‘Didn’t you ask him in?’ Erin sounded surprised.
‘Of course I did. But he said he had to go.’
‘What else did he say? How were things left?’
‘He didn’t say much in the cab. He just pointed out places we’d gone together ten years ago. But when he walked me across the bridge, he linked my arm through his and said that he needed to go and check that the photoshoot had gone as planned. And thenhe said that he had to meet his dad this evening, for a drink, and that he couldn’t get out of that because his dad had told him he needed to ask him something important. I said that was fine, and that I might have a nap this afternoon.’
Erin’s snort of laughter made me stop talking. ‘You told a sexy hunk of a guy that you needed a nap in the afternoon?’
‘No! I didn’t say Ineededa nap. I said I mighttakea nap. There’s a big difference.’
