‘Sounds good,’ he said. ‘I’ll take our glasses and the bottle, while you go and get that jumper. As I said, I can’t have more than one drink but unless you’re driving tomorrow, there’s nothing stopping you from enjoying the rest of this.’
‘I’m not going anywhere tomorrow. Bob and his nephew will be here too, and Roger and his team start on the roof. I’m praying for good weather until the end of next week. Roger said the roof should be done by Tuesday evening, but I’m not counting my chickens.’
‘You’ve got chickens?’ he joked, picking up the bottle and the wine glasses.
‘I do have some chicken in the fridge, if that counts. Would you like some crisps or something? Or a chicken sandwich?’
He grinned. ‘No thanks. Go and get that jumper.’
‘Jumper? Oh yes. The jumper. I’ll love you and leave you for a … Oh! I don’t mean anything by that. It’s just an expression.’
He tilted his head a fraction to one side. ‘I know,’ he said after a moment or two, his deep voice softer and more serious than it had been.
She briefly shut her eyes and then reopened them. ‘While we’re on that subject, I wasn’t trying to … that is, I wasn’t asking if you … I mean … I didn’t proposition you last night.’
There. She had said it. She stuck out her chin and fought down the shriek of embarrassment that threatened to escape.
His eyes opened wide and so did his mouth. But only for a second. ‘I … It didn’t occur to me for a moment that you did.’
‘Really? Then why did you dash off like that?’
He licked his lips nervously, placed the bottle and the glasses back on to the worktop beside him, and ran a hand through his hair. Then he swallowed hard and looked down at his feet.
‘It was that obvious, was it?’ His laugh was also nervous. ‘Of course it was.’ He raised his eyes to her face. ‘Well … Gramps had spent an hour telling me how wonderful you were and what a great personality you had. When people say someone has a great personality that usually means they’re…’ his voice trailed off.
‘I know what it means. And I’m well aware that I’m not exactly pretty.’
‘Pretty?’ He shook his head. ‘That’s an understatement. You’re … stunning.’ He coughed.
‘Stunning?’ She blinked at him in disbelief.
‘Completely. When you opened the front door last night I … I couldn’t believe my eyes. Then when we talked it felt so natural. So normal. So … nice. When we sat on the sofa I…’ He shook his head yet again and his gaze drifted back towards his feet. ‘I … felt things I haven’t felt for a long time. And that was a problem for me.’
Now it was Lara who swallowed nervously and licked her lips.
‘Are you saying that you … that you’re attracted to me?’
Even though she had thought he might be, she hadn’t been sure. And just now, when he had said she was stunning, that didn’t necessarily mean he fancied her. She thought several models, celebrities, and otherwise ‘ordinary’ people she spotted from day to day, were stunning, but that didn’t mean she wanted to have a relationship or anything with them.
She had wondered if it were all simply wishful thinking on her part, but to hear Jasper confirm he was, would be a bit of a shock. In a good way. But nevertheless, a shock.
He raised his head and met her eyes. ‘Yes. Very. Even more so after today. I feel as if I’ve known you all my life. That we’ve been friends for ever. I’ve never experienced that with anyone else. But the thing is, Lara. Well, as I said, it’s … complicated. And it’s a problem.’
‘Why … why is that a problem? I’m not married. Neither are you, are you?’
‘Not married. No.’
‘Then I don’t understand. I’m single. So are you.’
He let out a long sigh. ‘I’m not. Not yet. Not entirely.’
‘You’re…? Oh! I see.’
She didn’t really see at all. Why hadn’t he mentioned he had a girlfriend? And why had he just told her he was really drawn to her?
Lara’s walls instantly went up. This was that stationery cupboard at Pliny Software’s office party all over again. She wasn’t doing a repeat performance of that.
‘I’m sorry, Lara.’
