Alex turned to me and raised a quizzical brow. “How old are you?”
“I’m almost twenty-nine and I’ve wasted three years of my life pining for a man who didn’t even notice me.”
“I’m thirty-seven and I’ve spent seven years in a relationship that went nowhere. And I’d still like to have kids before I’m too old to walk my daughter down the aisle or play football with my son.”
I sighed. “Me too. But I’m beginning to think the right man might not be out there. I might have to take matters into my own hands, fertility-wise.”
“I’ve got an idea.” Alex smiled at me. It was a big, playful smile that lit his eyes up.
“What?” I sat up.
“This is the deal: if you and I are still not married in three years’ time we’ll marry each other and have kids!” he said triumphantly.
I burst out laughing and it echoed through the church.
“Don’t laugh, it makes perfect sense. We get on well, we seem to have a lot in common. You clearly have favorable genes and I’m sure the green ribbon thing will have run its course by then.” He held his hand up.
“Interesting idea,” I said, feeling a little sense of girlish amusement. “But you do know that in order to have babies you need to have sex first.” As I said it, I felt a tiny butterfly rear its head and flap about in the pit of my stomach.
“Sex?” Alex sounded thoughtful. “Yeah, we could do that. I mean . . . sure, why not?” I turned my whole body to face him. Now two butterflies were flapping.
“At least I know how to do it correctly, thanks to you,” he said, a naughty twinkle in his eye. “Slow and steady.”
A warm feeling flitted through me. “But not all the time,” I added, going with the sudden flirty nature of the conversation. I must admit, it was rather thrilling to be having a flirty conversation with someone that was actually reciprocating. I was always trying to flirt with Matt, clearly unsuccessfully. Not that Alex and I were being serious, of course. But it was still fun.
We locked eyes and looked at each other for a while. “When we do have sex I’ll make sure I’ll pull out my notes.”
“Don’t you get sent straight to hell for talking about sex in church?” I suddenly asked.
At that, we both turned slowly, as if we could sense someone watching us.
“I think you do!” Alex said. We both burst out laughing and ran from the church.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
The afternoon passed quickly. After coming back from the museum, we went our separate ways. I had a long, relaxing bath that took up most of the afternoon. I hadn’t felt this calm and relaxed in a long time, dusty museums were clearly the answer. After the bath I got dressed and ready for our dinner cruise. The yacht was leaving at six that evening and by the time I was dressed and ready to go, I was feeling very excited.
I couldn’t figure out if I was more excited to see Alex, or more excited for the cruise. We’d had a good time together that day, and I felt like I’d really gotten to know him. I dragged my make-up bag out from the bottom of my suitcase and splashed a few things on my face. I hadn’t worn make-up since arriving in Réunion, but I figured some red lips seemed appropriate for a yacht. Not to mention trying to cover up that huge hickey I had on my neck. I grabbed some concealer and dabbed it onto the big purple patch and smiled to myself. I don’t think I’d had a hickey since high school. I closed my eyes and tried desperately to remember the kiss, but it was still all fuzzy. I wished it wasn’t.
We met in the reception area of the hotel at five thirty, where a car was coming to pick us up. When I got there Alex was already waiting for me. He was sitting comfortably in a chair, legs crossed and reading not a magazine this time, but rather a newspaper. He looked very smart casual in a pair of knee-length shorts, comfortable-looking shoes and a golf shirt. He was clean-shaven, his hair neat and styled impeccably. He looked good. Polished, but not too much. Casual, but not sloppy. Smart, but not overly so.
He was the kind of guy that didn’t stick out of a crowd immediately. At first glance he might even blend in, but on closer inspection one realized there was nothing about him that blended. I liked that. There was something subtly disarming about him. Like something that was initially hidden from sight, but once you saw it, you couldn’t ever unsee it.
“Hey.” As if sensing my presence he suddenly looked up at me.
“Hey! Hi!” I jumped as if I’d been caught doing something naughty and then tried to smile innocently at him.
“You look good.” He stood up and pulled a chair out for me. He really was very gentlemanly.
“You too.” I gestured at his outfit. “Much better than before.”
“Didn’t you like my stone-washed jeans and leather jacket?” he asked with a playful smile.
“Um . . . do I have to answer that honestly?”
“That bad, hey?”
I shook my head. “The worst!”
