Page 73 of Five Things I Love About You

‘My friend Kirstie is a personal trainer and completely bullies me into working harder than I can normally be bothered to.’ I grin. ‘I’m lucky really, people pay her a fortune to bully them, but it has meant I’ve slipped since I’ve been here without her.’ I tug the waistband of my skirt and grimace. ‘And I can definitely feel it.’

‘You look pretty good to me.’ Jay’s giving me a look that makes me tingle and my belly flip over. What wasthat?

‘Oh, I… thank you.’ I look down at my plate.

‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable,’ he says, and I shake my head.

‘No, you didn’t. It’s fine.’ I grab my wine glass. ‘I’m just not very good at accepting compliments.’

‘Well, we’ll have to work on that then, won’t we?’ He’s still watching me and finally I look up and meet his gaze. His dark eyes are looking at me intently and I smile shyly. This is what I wanted. It’s happening!

The moment is broken by the arrival of Jorge, whose loud hand clap makes us both jump. I feel my face redden.

‘Have you got everything you ordered?’ he says, looking from me to Jay and back again.

‘Everything’s perfect thank you, Jorge,’ Jay says.

‘Excellent, excellent,’ Jorge says. But he still hovers at the side of the table and I wonder what he’s waiting for.

‘Well, let me know if you need anything else, won’t you?’ he says, eventually, and I breathe a sigh of relief as he disappears to assist another table.

‘Sorry about that,’ Jay says. ‘I think he likes to keep an eye on me and report back anything of interest to the family.’

Ofcourse.Jorge is married to Amy’s sister. Of course he’d want to know who I am. The thought makes me feel uncomfortable but Jay doesn’t seem bothered in the slightest. ‘Don’t worry though. He’ll just be telling everyone that I was here with a beautiful woman having dinner. I’m sure he’ll mention this as well.’ He points at his face where the bruising looks darker in the subdued lighting.

I smile and take a sip of my wine. ‘Let’s hope we give them something to talk about then,’ I say, licking my lips.

‘I hope so.’ His voice is low, and it sparks something deep in my belly.

For the rest of the meal we talk, getting to know each other.

When I tell him how much I enjoy my job as an English teacher he wrinkles his nose. ‘Don’t hate me but I couldn’t stand English at school.’

‘You must have had a bad teacher,’ I say. ‘English is a wonderful subject.’

He shakes his head. ‘Maybe. I just don’t really read books. I just don’t… get them.’

‘What, never?’

He shrugs. ‘I mean, Ihaveread books. You know, the odd thriller on the sun lounger on holidays. But honestly? I can’t seem to focus for that long.’

But it’s the best way to take your mind away from reality, to let your imagination soar,I want to say but bite my tongue. Lecturing people who don’t read books on the joy of books is never the way to win friends. Instead I shake my head, try not to think about the copy ofA Clockwork Orangethat Matt was so thrilled with(stop thinking about Matt!),and smile.

‘I bet I can find you a book you’ll enjoy. More than the Lee Child, anyway.’

He raises his eyebrows. ‘Really?’

‘Really.’

‘Go on then. I’d love that.’

‘Challenge accepted.’

I tell him about the kids, and about how lonely I’d felt since they’d both left home. I tell him about Sophie and Kirstie, and how Kirstie thought I was mad to come up here alone and our mutual love of a rock concert. In turn he tells me about his children, Seb and Lucy, about the day he found out Amy was having an affair, about his job as a solicitor. I ask about his hobbies and he shrugs. ‘Skydiving is my main one. I love football too – playing and watching. Apart from that I just like to go out drinking with my friends or play video games. I know it sounds a bit tragic but it’s been that way since the divorce. Full-on bachelor mode.’

‘What about music?’ I press.

‘What about it?’

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