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‘Woman!’ the bird squawked. ‘Will you marry me?’
She looked between the bird and her expectant boyfriend, then at the monkey, who thrust an opened ring box towards her.
‘Eleanor?’
The penny finally dropped and she squealed, clapping her hands together. ‘Yes! I will!’ Eleanor’s now-fiancé got to his feet and reached to take the ring from the monkey. It pulled the box back. The man hesitated, then tried again. The monkey hissed. The staff member holding the monkey’s hand took a treat out of his pocket and bartered it for the box.
‘Woman! Will you marry me?’ shrieked the bird again.
The animals were quickly led away and Seb clapped enthusiastically, encouraging everyone else to join in.
Shelley dabbed the corners of her eyes. ‘That was beautiful.’
‘And that’s just the beginning! We’ve got many more to come, including one with Nellie,’ said Seb.
‘The elephant? That’s so adorable!’
‘Ladies,’ said Seb. ‘You must excuse me, I have a meeting outside with my special friends.’ He gave them a short bow and walked off.
Laurie’s heart was hammering. ‘Shelley, Den, I don’t feel safe.’
Shelley huffed. ‘It’s fine. He knows what he’s doing. Seriously, you need to lighten up, Laur. Stop being so bloody boring. Take a risk for once in your life.’
Laurie dug her nails into her thighs. She glanced over to the bar. The man put his phone in his pocket and signalled to the barman. Shit. He was leaving.
‘I do take risks,’ she countered. ‘I take risks every time I set foot in the warehouse.’
Denise laughed. ‘The only risk would be asking one of them out, and chancing chlamydia.’
The man at the bar had his wallet in his hand.
‘See him?’ Shelley and Denise swivelled to follow where Laurie was pointing. ‘I’m going to ask him out.’
Shelley snorted. ‘Twenty quid says you won’t.’
The cocktail of fear, anger and excitement bubbling inside her exploded. She stood. ‘Watch me.’
Before she could second-guess herself, she pushed her chair away and strode to the bar as the man hopped off his stool. She stood in front of him, so his back was to Shelley and Denise and they couldn’t lip-read what she was saying.
‘Hi, sorry to bother you. My name is Laurie. Could you possibly talk to me for ten minutes and pretend to enjoy the experience? Please?’
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Ben stared at the woman in front of him. His mind had been so full of work, it couldn’t compute the abrupt shift from ‘waste of an evening’ to ‘just died and gone to heaven’. Her hair hung in tight black curls around the softness of her face. Her eyes were almond-shaped, a shimmer of gold eyeshadow accentuating her glowing brown skin. And, fuck me. She was wearing glasses. His kryptonite. He blinked. How had he not noticed her before? Sure, for years there hadn’t been any room in his life for love, or even sex, but he wasn’t blind.
Her eyes crinkled with worry and she bit into her plump lower lip before speaking in a rush. ‘I’m sorry, I’ll leave you—’
‘No!’ He reached and caught her hand, interlacing his fingers with hers. ‘I’m Ben.’ She sucked in a breath and he saw her pupils dilate. Heat rushed to his cock. He tightened his grip.
She swallowed. ‘Hi, Ben.’ Her voice was a whisper.
‘Why do you need to speak to me, and why do I need to pretend to like the experience?’
She looked down. ‘I’m here with my work colleagues, and they… Don’t look!’
He’d turned to see two older women sitting a few tables away, staring at him with stunned expressions. He winked at them, and their jaws dropped in perfect sync. He felt a tug on his hand and turned back to Laurie.
