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“For talking to me. For being friendly. For acting surprised when my date ran off.”

“I was surprised! You probably had a lucky escape. If he’s that shallow that he can’t even be bothered to get to know you, he probably wasn’t worth dating anyway. He did you a favor.”

Justin sat back, regarding me with a strange expression on his face. “There you go again, making me feel better. You’re a nice guy, Dean. A really nice guy.”

I flushed at the compliment and automatically tried to brush it off. “Not really. Hopefully, you’ll have more luck with your next date. Just ask someone who’s not an idiot and I’m sure they’ll say yes.”

“Hopefully.”

I glanced around the restaurant. I still had two tables waiting to be cleared. “Well, I better go and…you know.” I backed away a step.

“Wait! Dean, one minute. So…your advice is to find someone nice. Someone friendly. Who’s not an idiot. You figure if they’re that nice, they won’t turn me down. Unless of course, there’s a good reason. Like they’re not actually single.” I nodded, my gaze locked on his. He picked up his serviette and began to fiddle with the corner. “Okay. I’ll give that a try. Would you…I mean…I don’t suppose—” He paused, before looking me straight in the eye. “Would you like to have dinner with me sometime, Dean? I mean, assuming you don’t have a boyfriend. Which you probably do.”

My heart leapt. I didn’t even have to think about the answer. “Sure, I’d love to.”

The look of relief coupled with the crooked smile I got in response was everything.

Chapter Nine

Georgia slunk into the kitchen and stared at me suspiciously. “Why are you whistling? Why are you up so early? Why are you happy? What have you done with the real Dean?”

I swung around to face her, a broad smile on my face. “Morning, my beautiful Georgia. Do you want some coffee? Anything else? Breakfast? Massage?”

Her eyes narrowed. “Seriously. What’s going on? You’re freaking me out.”

I shrugged. “What, I’m not allowed to be happy?”

She circled me warily. “You were at work till late. I heard you come in. Now you’re up at”—she paused to check her watch—“eight in the morning. You must have had like six hours’ sleep maximum, yet you’re full of the joys of spring. Are you on drugs? Am I going to have to stage an intervention?”

“Nope.” I leaned against the side of the kitchen table, keeping one eye on the sausages sizzling away in the pan. “But, I did meet someone last night. I’ve got a date.”

I’d expected Georgia to be happy. After all, she’d been on my back about dating for weeks. I didn’t expect her to suddenly scream, “What the hell,” and glare at me like I’d murdered her favorite pet. I blinked at her, trying to work out what I’d done.

When I didn’t respond, her glare intensified, coupled with a hand on the hip which always signaled trouble. “What about Jack?”

I ran the name through my brain a couple of times expecting enlightenment to dawn. It never happened. Finally, I had to ask, “Who’s Jack?”

I shook my head as she parroted the words back to me. “Who’s Jack?” The look on her face made it clear how stupid she felt the question was. “Jack is the man who’s desperate to go out with you. I’m at the stage of just lining it up. He’s a banker, so plenty of money. He’s got a great torso. So, you can’t just…sort out your own dates…what’ll I tell Jack?”

Using the tongs, I turned the sausages over, before turning back to her. “So, this Jack is one of your Grindr friends, right?”

“Not my Grindr friend, Dean. He’s yours. You talk to him every night. And he’s expecting to go out with you. He can’t wait.”

It was all I could do not to laugh. But, I knew that would wind her up even more. “You talk to him every night, Georgia. I’ve never spoken to him. I’m afraid you’re just going to have to disappoint him.”

There was a long, charged silence. I pretended a much greater interest in the sausages than I actually had while I waited it out. Finally, there was a loud huff of breath from behind me.

“This guy you’re supposedly going on a date with. Where did you meet him?”

“At the restaurant.”

Georgia suddenly appeared right beside me. “While you were working?”

I tamped down the urge to roll my eyes. “Yes, Georgia, while I was working. We do tend to chat to people while waiting tables, rather than treating them to uncomfortable silences. We got talking, and he was nice. He asked me if I wanted to get dinner and I said yes. I’m really looking forward to it.”

“When’re you seeing him?”

“Tonight.”