‘What?’
‘Nothing.’
‘It was a compliment.’
‘OK. But don’t say it too loud.’
‘Why not? Women love that sort of thing.’
‘It makes a bloke sound soppy.’ He glanced up at the lights, waiting for them to change.
‘No, it doesn’t.’
‘OK. Take two blokes, one’s all muscled up and hard core, but a bit of an arse. The other one isn’t so ripped but is, oh, so sweet. Which do you think the woman would go for?’
I took a deep breath. ‘That completely depends on the woman. It’s not a fair question.’
Charlie laughed, and the sound of it made me smile. ‘That’s a cop-out answer, Libs, and you know it. We both know that 99 per cent of the time they’ll go for the bad boy. Sweet is not usually that big a draw.’
‘All right. Yes, some women like a bad boy, but not forever. Not for the special stuff.’
‘I see,’ he said, the lights having finally gone green, ‘so they have their fun with the bad boy, and then when they’re done with that bit, and ready to settle down, they head for the sweet, but rather dull, guy.’
‘You’re not dull!’
‘I was speaking hypothetically, but thanks for that.’
‘Oh. Whoops. But you’re not, just to clarify anyway. And besides, none of this applies to you anyway.’
‘Here we go, it’s time for Libby’s Logic. I love this part of the day.’
I flicked him on the arm and his smile grew.
‘It doesn’t apply to you because you’re the best of both worlds. You’ve got the looks of the first and the personality of the second.’
‘Dull.’
‘No, not dull! Sweet!’ I said, flapping my arms around as if that would help get my point across. I turned in my seat as we pulled into the visitors’ parking area for my block of apartments. Charlie’s face looked serious. He lifted a hand to remove his sunglasses.
‘Charlie, seriously, you mustn’t think—’ I looked up as I launched into a pep talk. His eyes showed all the laughter his serious mouth had hidden. ‘Oh, you little…’ I flung open the door and began to get out. Charlie was out and around the car in seconds, holding out a hand in assistance.
‘Thank you,’ I said, taking it. Dealing with direct sunshine and manoeuvring out of the low-slung car was taking more effort than expected. Safely extricated, we made our way up to my flat and I let us in.
‘You don’t need to stay if you have something to do,’ I said. ‘Thanks for the lift and for doing that stuff yesterday, and I really am sorry about the mix-up with the files.’
‘Not a problem. You’re welcome. As for the other thing, don’t give it another thought.’
I gave him a look. ‘I won’t if you won’t.’
He shrugged. ‘I hate to make promises I can’t be guaranteed to keep.’
‘Perv,’ I said, lobbing a cushion at him.
‘Hey, I wasn’t the one posing forSports Illustratedon the beach.’
‘It wasn’t posing! It was falling! And I take what I said back – you’re not sweet at all!’
‘Glad to hear it. Now go and change or whatever you’re going to do. I’m starving.’
