‘Yes, she is both lovely and single. She also happens to be one of my best waiters and I’d like to keep it that way.’

‘Why are you assuming it’d end badly?’

‘I’m not – I’m just not considering it at all. I’m not going to date anyone who works for me. It’s just asking for trouble.’

‘Anyway, you don’t have to worry about it,’ Abbie said with a wave of her hand. ‘We’re all on the case. But I’ll pass on that anyone who works at the restaurant is out.’

‘Now I’m a case? And what do you mean you’re all on it?’

‘The whole family. Mum asked us to put our heads together and come up with a nice woman for you to go out with,’ Abbie told him with a grin.

‘God.’ Aidan groaned. He’d thought he’d be done with this sort of thing by now – chatting up randomers in bars, getting set up on blind dates by his family. But he wasn’t, so he should probably try to do something about it. The idea of it filled him with weariness. He was thirty-four years old and right back at square one, trawling the pubs for a girlfriend like a bloody teenager. But that was his reality, so he may as well face up to it.

That woman who’d come looking for a job this morning – Lou – was the first woman who’d sparked real interest in him for a long time. There’d been something about her – something feisty and unexpected that had lit a spark inside him that had lain dormant for a while. He’d kept her chatting longer than he should have just because he’d enjoyed talking to her and he’d been curious to know more about her. But he probably wouldn’t see her again, and even if he did, what were the chances she’d be interested? He came with baggage and he knew that most women looking for a relationship wouldn’t consider Bo a pointin his favour. More fool them. Then again, maybe Lou would, being in the same boat…