AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Rosie demurred before nodding her head ever so slightly.
‘Well, let’s just say I’ve been doing some soul searching,’ he said before taking a sip of his beer.
‘Right,’ Rosie said nervously. ‘Look Ben, if it’s about the other night I thought I had made it clear, I’m not interested in dating you. Or sleeping with you!’ she quickly followed up with, in case her first statement had lacked clarity.
Ben waved his hand at her to make her stop. ‘I know, OK? You did make it clear. You’re not interested in me and that’s fine.’
He took another sip of his beer. ‘We had a fun night and I appreciate you letting me crash at yours, even if your sofa is really uncomfortable. I’m glad I didn’t have to wake my sister and her husband. She can be really awful if you disturb her sleep.’
‘Are they still staying?’ Rosie asked.
‘Just till the weekend,’ he replied, ‘and then I can have my flat back and not have to sleep on the sofa of girls who won’t even let me kiss them.’ He gave her a sheepish grin and Rosie blushed. ‘Anyway,’ he said, ‘I wasn’t seriously trying to kiss you, I value my life too much.’
‘What do you mean?’ Rosie asked.
‘Mitch,’ he said. ‘He would kill me if I tried anything on with you.’
Rosie laughed disbelievingly, ‘It doesn’t seem to have stopped you before.’
Ben looked at her. ‘I’m not stupid,’ he said, ‘I know exactly what he thinks of me. And anyway, he’d be mad at anyone who tried to kiss you. It’s pretty hard to watch someone you fancy with someone else. Just like you felt seeing him with Jenny.’
Rosie’s blush became more furious and she took a long drink of her wine. They watched each other across the table and eventually Ben leaned forward and said, ‘So, I overheard some interesting things the other morning between you and Mitch.’
Rosie groaned. ‘I don’t want to talk about it, OK?’ she begged. Ben ignored her.
‘Have you two really got some sort of plan to have a baby together?’ he asked.
‘Not anymore,’ said Rosie, picking up her glass again and wishing she’d actually asked for a larger one.
‘But you did, right? You two had agreed to be each other’s fallback if you didn’t meet anyone else?’
Rosie nodded slowly. ‘Yeah,’ she agreed. ‘It was Mitch’s idea and I sort of went along with it. But now he’s met Jenny, and anyway he’s not talking to me so I don’t think that plan will be top of his list of priorities at the moment.’
Ben didn’t say anything for a while.
‘It was a smart move,’ he said eventually.
‘I’m sorry?’ she asked.
‘Well, it’s a good way of putting the moves on someone you like without actually admitting to them that that’s what you’re doing,’ he said.
‘I told you,’ Rosie replied, ‘it was Mitch’s idea not mine.’
‘That’s what I meant,’ Ben said. ‘It was smart of Mitch.’ Rosie shook her head.
‘What do you mean?’ she said in confusion.
‘Well, it’s obvious you two are in love with each other, but neither of you can admit it,’ he said.
‘Not you, as well?’ Rosie said, looking up at the ceiling.
‘What?’ asked Ben, looking confused.
‘Nothing,’ replied Rosie. ‘You were saying?’
'To be honest, it’s what made me want to flirt with you. Because it made Mitch so mad and I enjoyed winding him up.’ Then seeing the look on Rosie’s face, he added, ‘And obviously, because you’re really attractive and I would have been delighted if you’d been interested in me.’
‘Obviously,’ she deadpanned. ‘Go on, then, explain your version of this seemingly popular theory.’
