There was something in his tone and eyes that held the suggestion of a question.
‘Come on, out with it,’ I prompted.
Alex opened his mouth to speak just as the waiter glided back to our table, producing our menus with a Gallic flourish before telling us about the specials, every one of which sounded delicious. I was suddenly glad I hadn’t gone for something incredibly fitted when picking my outfit for the evening. He left us to make our choices.
‘Out with what?’
‘I might not have your training, Officer, but I can tell you’re dying to ask something.’
Alex smiled and shook his head. ‘Hard to get anything past you, eh?’
‘Oh.’ I waved my hand. ‘You’d be surprised, but go on.’
‘That sounds like a story.’
‘It is. But not one I’m telling right now. Stop prevaricating.’
His smile turned into a laugh. ‘OK, OK. I guess… I just…’
I waited, not prompting him. He’d get there eventually.
He started again. ‘When Charlie started talking about you, I thought there might be more to it than just friendship, you know. He certainly seems to enjoy spending time with you, but, like I said on Saturday, he never mentioned that you were beautiful. I guess I sort of assumed…’
I shrugged. ‘Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and all that.’
Alex pulled a face. ‘That came out way more blunt than it was supposed to. Sorry.’
It was my turn to laugh. ‘Don’t worry about it. I’m just wondering where this is going.’
He took a breath. ‘I knew I wanted to ask you out the moment Marcus introduced us, but… I guess, I suppose I just wanted to make sure that I wasn’t setting myself up for failure here…’
I waited for more, but there wasn’t any.
‘Are you asking me if I have a crush on Charlie?’
He pulled a slightly awkward face.
‘You certainly have an interesting style of dating, I have to say.’
‘Believe me, this wasn’t how I planned on opening. I don’t know what happens to me around you. I lose all my charm and sophistication.’ The easy smile returned.
‘Oh, I think there’s still a little charm left there.’
He laughed and tentatively moved his hand on the table so that his fingertips brushed mine. I dropped my eyes to them, and then moved my hand, placing it on top of Alex’s.
‘Charlie is lovely and I’ve been metaphorically buried six feet under several times by women in the vicinity when we’ve been out places, and I can totally understand why. But we’re friends. That’s all. So this—’ I waved my hands around, encompassing the conversation ‘—is all irrelevant. And frankly, as much as I love Charlie – as a friend – I’d really rather hear about you right now.’
Alex turned his hand so that it caught mine; his smile was soft and the expression was reflected in his eyes. ‘Glad we got that out of the way.’
‘I didn’t realise it was even in the way.’
‘It isn’t now.’
* * *
I was enjoying myself even more than I’d expected. Alex was funny, smiled readily and laughed often. But having also enjoyed three courses and two glasses of wine, I was pretty much ready to pop by the time the waiter brought the bill. I lifted my clutch bag from my lap.
‘I’m paying,’ Alex said, without looking at me, concentrating instead on wiggling a credit card out of his wallet. ‘Why do they make these slots just the tiniest bit smaller than the actual cards?’ He shook his head as it finally came out before placing it in the little holder on the menu and put the whole thing to the side.
