Page 9
‘Your work colleagues?’
‘Shelley and Denise.’
‘And they...?’
‘Said I’m boring and never take risks, and bet me twenty quid I wouldn’t ask you ou— talk to you.’
Ben’s smile threatened to split his face in half.
‘You want me to play along?’
‘Only for a few minutes, if that’s okay? I don’t want to ruin your night.’
He stroked the back of her hand with his thumb. ‘You’ve made my night.’
They stared at each other, both grinning like idiots. For the first time in as long as he could remember, work, and every other part of his life, vanished from his brain. He had achieved the kind of bliss state normally only obtained by meditating for decades in a cave.
‘Why did you pick me?’ he asked.
She blinked. ‘Um, you were the only one available.’
The laugh burst out before he could stop it.
She looked horrified. ‘I mean, it’s Valentine’s Day, so everyone’s with someone, and… Oh god, do you have a girlfriend? Boyfriend?’
‘I’m currently single.’
‘Were you meant to be here on a date?’
‘Business meeting. He stood me up.’
‘I’m sorry.’
‘I’m not.’
There was silence as the bubble they were in expanded. Ben felt like he already knew her on a soul level. The rest was just details.
‘Tell me something about you that you’d never say out loud,’ he asked. This was a game he’d picked up from his new loud American friend, Tabi when he was stranded in Chicago a couple of days ago. He saw her hesitate. ‘No one else can hear. You can walk away at the end of tonight and never see me again.’
She took a big breath. ‘Men don’t want to be with me because I make them feel small.’
He tugged her closer. They were almost touching. ‘How tall are you? You seem the perfect height to me.’
She licked her lips. ‘I’m six foot.’
‘Same here. So no sore neck from kissing you.’
He could see her breathing quicken. Her free hand rubbed the back of her neck, as if trying to calm herself.
‘It’s not only my height,’ she stuttered. ‘It’s my brain. Most men don’t like clever women.’
He raised his eyebrows. With every word she morphed more and more into the epitome of all his fantasies. So far, he’d kept his gaze trained exclusively on her face, but he longed to let it roam over her body.
‘I find intelligent women a massive turn-on.’
She blinked again. ‘You do?’
He nodded. ‘And if they’re wearing glasses, I’m a goner.’
