Page 35 of Couple Goals

‘I’ll bring that all right over,’ she says, and bustles off.

Adriana and Jacob are left alone. There’s a beat of silence between them, only the sounds of others talking and the speakers playing light jazz.

‘Oh God,’ Adriana mutters, hiding behind her hair.

‘Well, she seems nice,’ says Jacob, and there’s a lightness to his voice again, just like when they first met.

Adriana looks up at him, and they both start laughing. For a golden moment, Adriana feels her plan havingworked. Here they are, ice thawed, and back to the ease between them.

They take each other in, finally relaxed.

Jacob has hung his jacket on the hook under the table, next to Adriana’s denim jacket. Adriana can’t stop noticing how broad his chest is, how toned he looks under his simple white t-shirt.

‘I like your shirt,’ Adriana blurts out without thinking.

Jacob raises an eyebrow, laughter still in his eyes.

‘I like your dress,’ he says.

It’s just a simple compliment, and probably just a polite reply to her own, but it makes Adriana blush. His voice is low and husky, and as he says it, his eyes cast down her body, just for a moment. Of course, she had spent a long time deciding what to wear – she doesn’t have anything that says ‘business’ in her wardrobe,and wearing a buttoned shirt felt like sacrilege on a Sunday, so she’d tried to go for ‘smart casual’ in a pinstripe cotton dress, her legs bare underneath even though the weather wasn’tquitewarm enough for it, and her favourite chunky platform sandals. She hoped Jacob wouldn’t be someone who would notice that the bright red paint of her pedicure was now a little chipped and uneven.

Fortunately, Adriana’s lack of witty riposte is hidden by Emily’s return, carrying a wooden tray with their coffees and sweet treats.

‘On the house, of course.’

‘Oh, Emily, no, I insist–’

‘No,Iinsist. Just remember me as your caterer for your wedding cake, hmm?’ Emily winks, and hurries away, humming to herself.

Adriana watches as Jacob cuts his croissant neatly in half, separates them, and scrutinises the pastry layers. He nods like an appreciative connoisseur, and bites into one.

‘Mmm.’

The moan is too much for Adriana. It reminds her too much of their night together. She should not find a man simply eating a delicious pastrythisattractive.

‘Emily must be a witch,’ he says.

He sips his cortado, and Adriana sips her drink. It’s like a liquified bounty bar. Ambrosia.

‘Look, Adriana,’ says Jacob, a twinkle in his eye. ‘I think we may have misunderstood each other the other day. I want to make it clear that I’m not expecting you to give me any kind of information about your teammates–’

‘Oh, but I can!’ says Adriana excitedly. She pulls out a notebook from her tote bag.

She is very proud of this, and hopes it will impress Jacob too. She spent hours last night, when she was anticipating this meeting, listing out the best qualities of her teammates. And of course, Adriana has a lot to say on that subject.

She cracks the spine on the notebook.

‘Who would you like me to start with?’

‘You made a… list?’ He pauses.

‘Uh huh!’

‘Of all your teammates’ best and worst qualities?’

‘Well… kind of.’

She hadn’t written any of their worst qualities. In her mind, this was completely justified because she herself found it very easy to ignore these parts of them and it’s a great chance to sing their praises and get Jacob onside.

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