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Holly shot her a look, her jaw set.
‘Sorry, sorry. I promise, that was an attempt at humour.’ Her cheeks glowed again. It was kind of cute, how often she got embarrassed.Nope. Rein it in, Holly.It was the alcohol talking, for sure.
‘You need to work on your punchlines.’ Holly swept a hand through her fringe, giving her brain time to realign. ‘I’m not doing anything at the moment. Only got here a few days ago. I’m going to focus on helping Mum and Dad for a while.’
‘And what about in London? What did you do there?’
‘Bar work, mostly. But nothing fancy like you. I can pull pints – that’s about it.’
‘What makes you think I can do fancy stuff?’
‘You own a cocktail shop; you must be able to do something.’
‘I try my best. That’s about it.’
Jen needed more confidence in herself. Mum and Dad said hers were some of the best drinks they’d ever tried, and they weren’t cocktail types. If she could impress them, she must be good. ‘I don’t think Annie would ask you to host a class if you weren’t up to par.’
‘Ach, I think she just needs to tick things off her list.’
‘I didn’t have you down as the modest type.’
‘What did you have me down as?’
The waiter appeared with their starter: dough balls and garlic butter.
‘I don’t think we need to put too fine a point on that if we want to win.’
Jen stopped, mid-bite of a dough ball. ‘What do you mean?’
‘We want this money, yeah? We need a game plan.’
‘You’re going to have to elaborate.’
Holly cocked her head. Was she really not getting this? ‘The public vote, yeah?’ Holly lowered her voice, leaning in. ‘We need to make sure we look like the best couple. Ham it up.’
‘I get you. We need to make everyone believe we’re a couple. And the best one, at that.’
‘Bingo.’
‘You okay with that?’
‘Okay with what?’
‘Acting like a couple?’
‘Does it matter? We’re just two strangers. Nothing to lose; five grand to gain.’
‘Is it five grand each, or to share?’
‘You know, nobody’s confirmed that. We should ask Annie.’
Jen raised a dough ball, aiming for another cheers. ‘To five grand. Or a two and a half; whatever.’
Holly clinked her dough ball to Jen’s. ‘To our five grand, girlfriend.’
