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‘I wanted to tell you why it’s complicated.’
‘OK,’ she said, raising her eyebrows.
‘Firstly, I’d lose my job,’ said Rob. ‘So that’s a whole thing. But actually, I’m just taking a break from women, full stop. I haven’t been single for more than about five minutes since I was a teenager. It’s not very healthy.’
‘No,’ she said.
‘And also I don’t really do relationships. Not proper ones, anyway. My longest one is, like, two months. And you don’t really seem like the type for a one-night stand.’
‘No, I—’
‘So I just wanted you to know. I didn’t want you to think I was messing you around. Or just being a dick.’
‘Right, can I speak now?’ she asked, tilting her head with an amused grin.
‘Oh,’ said Rob. ‘Yeah, of course. Sorry.’
‘Thanks.’ Hannah took a deep breath. ‘I’m not going to pretend I don’t fancy you, because I do.’
‘Oh, thank God for that,’ muttered Rob, shaking his head and laughing, his head down.
‘But we’re in the same boat,’ she said. ‘Well, slightly different boats. I’ve just separated from my husband, literally a few weeks ago.’
‘Right,’ said Rob, feeling an inexplicable jealousy towards a man he’d never met who’d actually been married to this incredible woman, and somehow fucked it up.
‘This trip was about taking some time for myself, and a holiday fling is absolutely not on the list. So we’re all good.’
Rob smiled with relief, feeling like his insides were melting. ‘OK,’ he said, blowing his cheeks out. ‘I actually feel a lot better for this conversation.’
‘Me too,’ said Hannah, although she didn’t actually look it. ‘I mean, even if we were both in a better place,’ she continued, ‘it doesn’t seem like we’d be very well suited, does it?’
‘No,’ Rob said hesitantly. ‘I think we’d want different things. I don’t really do relationships, whereas—’
‘I don’t do holiday flings,’ Hannah finished. ‘Not exactly a match made in heaven.’
‘No,’ said Rob. ‘Not exactly.’
‘Well, that’s OK then,’ said Hannah. ‘Seems like we’re both agreed.’ She squeezed the water out of her wet hair, and Rob wondered what to say next. They’d laid their cards on the table, but that didn’t make it any easier to pull himself away. And whilst he was glad he’d told her how he felt, the idea that nothing was going to happen between them still made him feel a bit empty.
‘Talking of being in the same boat, I’ve had an idea for tomorrow night,’ he said, needing to move the conversation on to more positive territories. ‘I’ve mentioned it to the other guys and they’re up for it. But I’ve told them I need to run it past you first, what with everything that happened on Monday. If you say no, we’ll bin it off.’
‘OK.’ Hannah eyed him curiously. ‘What is it?’
‘A sunset boat trip,’ he said. ‘Olly knows a guy who owns a boat, he says his name is Manuel but I’m never sure if that’s Olly’s generic name for anyone Spanish.’
‘ “Olly knows a guy” makes me nervous,’ said Hannah. ‘Is the boat seaworthy?’
Rob laughed. ‘You think I didn’t check? It’s a converted fishing boat, this guy does tours all the time, but not normally on a Thursday. Olly puts loads of business his way, so he owes him a favour.’
‘Will there be lots of people?’ she asked, and he could see how nervous she still was about the idea of being around strange men.
He shook his head. ‘Nope. Just the six of us and the four of you. A private charter.’
‘Won’t you get into trouble if you go out with us again?’
‘We’ll be more careful this time, go in separate cabs and meet at the marina. Nobody needs to know.’
‘OK,’ said Hannah. ‘I’m game.’
