‘It’s all right, Alex,’ I said, looking up, meeting his eyes. ‘Really. I know I might seem a bit old-fashioned with my no-first-date-sex thing, but… that’s just me. In fact, I know there’s no “might” about it, what with Tinder and everything else, but that’s just not my thing.’ I pulled at some stray hairs the breeze had blown across my face, struggling to catch them in my fingers. Alex stilled my hand with his, gently lifting the stray hairs away and smoothing them back.
‘It’s not mine either. I promise. It used to be. I will admit that, but not now.’
I smiled.
‘Come on, let’s get you home.’
He pulled open the door, lifted me gently into the seat and walked round to the other side. Settling in, and turning the key, he leant over. ‘By the way, it’s Sergeant McSpeedy, not PC. I worked hard for that promotion.’
I flicked him on the arm with my clutch. ‘Just drive.’
He laughed and backed out of the space, watching for the odd inebriated, veering pedestrian, and headed off east towards the marina.
22
‘So?’ Amy said as I answered the phone.
‘Good morning to you too.’
‘Oh, yes, yes, all that stuff. Come on, I’m on my tea break. I need all the details double quick!’
‘What details?’
‘Libby!’
I laughed and took a tip from Amy, making my way to the kitchen, and pulled two mugs out of the cupboard before flicking the kettle on to boil for tea for Tilly and me.
‘It was… nice.’
‘Nice?’
‘Yes. Nice. Fun. We had a good time.’
‘Oh, dear.’ Amy’s tone had more than a hint of sympathy to it.
‘No, really! It was good.’
‘What did you do?’
I filled Amy in on where we’d gone and what we’d eaten, et cetera, whilst deftly making drinks with one hand. Mobiles, whilst useful, were way too thin to tuck under your chin as you could with regular old phones. Although Tilly and I were close, I wasn’t quite ready to be sharing the ins and outs, so to speak, of my sporadic dating scene on speaker phone.
‘So, did anything happen.’
‘There were a couple of kisses.’
‘And?’
‘And what?’
‘Were they good kisses?’
‘Yes.’ I laughed. ‘They were good kisses.’
‘But not goooooooooood kisses.’ Amy drew the word out, and made it sound all breathy and hot.
‘Ames, they were very nice.’
‘Oh, dear.’
