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‘Oh, just so you both know,’ she said. ‘They were a bit short of rooms.’
‘What does that mean?’ asked Rob.
‘All they had left was the room next to ours,’ said Kate with a pained expression. ‘So I’m afraid you’re both in there.’
Rob glanced at Hannah – her face was unreadable, and he wondered if this whole situation was about to test her reserves of patience and goodwill. Was there some kind of cosmic intervention to stop him and Hannah getting naked in the same time zone? So far the celibacy gods had sent him a scruffy dog and two sets of parents on the other side of paper-thin walls. What next? A flood? A plague of locusts? A yeast infection? Lesser men might have thrown in the towel by now, but Rob had come too far to give up on Hannah now.
‘So,’ said Guy, his voice intoned with several tonnes of significance. ‘Is that the girl who knocked you sideways?’
‘She’s a woman,’ said Rob. ‘She’s thirty-two.’ He lowered his head and picked up his pace through reception, hoping he wouldn’t bump into Mark or any of the other coaches.
‘Of course,’ said Guy, rolling his eyes as he hurried to keep up with his son. ‘She’s certainly a beauty.’
‘She’s smart and a brilliant tennis player too,’ said Rob, feeling slightly affronted on Hannah’s behalf. His dad was old school, where women were decorative first and anything else was a bonus. At some point he was going to have to tell him the truth about his relationship with Hannah, or lack thereof, but the idea of explaining how he’d failed to sweep her off her feet felt kind of mortifying.
‘Hmm, sure,’ said Guy vaguely. ‘And worth quitting your job for, I take it?’
Rob stopped and turned to face his dad, pressing the button to open the boot of their dusty car. ‘I didn’t quit. I was fired.’
Guy’s abundant eyebrows shot up. ‘And how did you manage that?’
Rob sighed heavily and sat on the edge of the boot, raking his hands through his hair. ‘Because my boss Mark found Hannah in my room. We weren’t doing anything, but he decided it was against his bullshit rules about not shagging the guests.’
‘Right.’ Guy gave Rob a penetrating look. ‘So you got fired for fraternising with a guest, even though you weren’t technically fraternising at the time?’
‘Pretty much,’ said Rob. ‘And actually, we’re still not fraternising.’ He wasn’t entirely sure what fraternising meant, but decided to go with it.
‘Really?’ said his dad incredulously. ‘You’ve spent two weeks in the company of a woman who looks like that, and kept your hands to yourself?’
‘Yep,’ said Rob, wondering if he qualified for some kind of medal. ‘It’s not great timing for either of us right now.’
Guy raised his eyebrows. ‘Mmm, timing. What a passion-killer.’
‘Leave it, Dad,’ said Rob, suddenly exhausted. ‘It’s complicated.’
‘Fine, I’ll keep my questions simple,’ said Guy, hefting Rob’s rucksack out of the car and dumping it on the tarmac. ‘Do you like her?’
‘Yes,’ muttered Rob.
‘And does she like you? To the best of your knowledge?’
Rob dropped his eyes. ‘Yeah.’
‘Good start. Are you both single?’
‘Yes, but . . .’
‘Excellent. So what’s your problem?’
Rob thought about it for a second. ‘Hannah’s not my usual type.’
‘What do you mean? She’s a knockout.’
‘No, I don’t mean how she looks. She’s . . . different. Like, she’s got this whole weird upbringing, and she’s just split up with her husband. Only ever been with one guy, very wary of getting hurt.’
‘Ah,’ said Guy. ‘I see.’
‘And I don’t know if I’m ready to commit. I’ve never tried it, no idea if I’ve got what it takes.’
