‘Nice place,’ Luke said behind her, pushing his wallet back into his pocket. The cab drove away.
‘How much for my half?’ She went for her purse, but he took her hand movement as something else and pushed his hand into hers. Linking his fingers over hers, he put his hand down, pulling hers down with it, her body moving closer till her arm brushed his.
‘Tonight is on me, no arguments.’ He smiled, lifting his hand to drop a kiss on the back of hers. The scratch of his bristle on her skin made her whole body fizz into life. ‘Let’s go get a drink.’
They got a table pretty quickly. Mina behind the reservation desk smiled and waved them through. Rebecca smiled back, laughing when Mina made a ‘who’s the guy?’ face at her. It felt good to be seen out for a change – have a little banter with people she’d once spent a lot of time around. Mina had been on the circuit too, they’d bonded pretty quickly. She was one of the few people who didn’t bring Rebecca out in a cold sweat to socialise with. Not that she’d done much of that lately. As Mina seated them, Rebecca grabbed her hand. Mina drew her closer and wrapped her arms around her.
‘Sorry it’s been a while,’ she murmured, not looking at Luke. She could see in her peripheral that he was looking at the menu. ‘I’ve … no excuse.’
Mina squeezed her hand, pulling away and pecking her on the cheek like she always did.
‘Er yeah, you do. Nothing to be sorry for. You’re here now, with …?’
She turned her head to Luke, who put down the menu he was holding.
‘Luke Sommersby.’ He leaned forward, his dark blue shirt cuff brushing the table as he stood to offer her his hand.
She took it, beaming at him. ‘Pleased to meet you Luke, Mina Huang.’
His hand flopped a little, Mina having to lift hers to avoid them clanging to the table. His face paled.
‘Good God. You’re not, are you?’ He looked at her as though she were a microbe under a microscope. ‘You are! Pleased to meet you!’ He grabbed her hand tighter now, shaking it vigorously. ‘My dad loves you, you know.’ He turned to look at Rebecca like an excited meerkat. ‘Oh …’ He seemed to remember where they were, and Rebecca waited for it. Mina gave her a sneaky side look and she couldn’t help but smirk. ‘Sorry. Do forgive me. I do forget my manners sometimes.’
He’d gone all Jane Austen now, brushing up on his etiquette. Rebecca wondered what he would look like in a wet white shirt. Having just jumped into the lake on his grounds to cool his hotness off. Well, more like fell off a horse straight into it. It was Luke, after all. He looked handsome tonight though too. He’d got himself some boots and a decent coat. His black trousers showed off his muscular legs, and the shirt was open at the collar. She could see a peek of chest.
‘Don’t be silly! I love your dad too, just for that!’ Mina put a hand around each of them and hugged them both to her. Rebecca looked across at Luke, and he was looking back at her. The place was lively, people having fun, but he only seemed to notice her. ‘Lovely to see you guys!’ Mina released them both in front of a table, and whirled off, muttering about letting them have time to look at the menus. They were both still standing melded to each other. Luke recovered first, wrapping one arm around her back and guiding her to her chair. He pulled it back for her, and she realised that she was still wearing her coat. Luke had put his on the back of his chair. Swallowing hard, she unbuttoned it.
She felt his hands take her coat from her, and she took her seat. His fingers brushed her shoulder as he pushed her coat onto the back of the chair she was clinging to. He was at his seat then, and once more she had to wrench herself out of the bubble and into real life.
‘You look gorgeous,’ he said, and the bubble was back.
They ordered burgers, huge doorstops of coloured buns encasing beef and cheese. The place was well known for it, and the locals were loyal to the place. It wasn’t that the tourists didn’t love it, half the time it was a struggle trying to get a seat. It was just relaxed, the kind of place families loved in the daytime and the perfect spot for friends to talk and hang out in the evening … and eat. They did a lot of both. Sides of fried pickles and tiny chicken sliders, French fries loaded with salt and vinegar. Luke ordered a pitcher of lager, and he raised his glass to her.
‘To an accident-free evening.’
‘Ha!’ She clinked her glass against his, laughing. ‘It’s not over yet.’
‘True,’ he said ruefully. ‘So far so good though. Not bad for a first date either. This food is amazing.’
Rebecca choked on her pickle. ‘Date?’
He passed her a napkin, and she took it to cover her mouth.
‘Yeah, well. To practise for Saturday.’ Oh, great. I’m a pity plus one. Nice. ‘So, yes actually, a date.’ He waggled his eyebrows at her, and she almost keeled over as butterflies fluttered away in her stomach, followed by a side of nausea as she brushed away what those butterflies might mean.
‘I am glad I have someone to carry all that stuff with me,’ she deflected. ‘A date is a small price to pay for some muscle.’ He flexed his arms at her, accidentally sticking the French fry he was holding straight into the ear of a diner at the other table. ‘Oh! Sorry mate!’ He patted the bloke on the shoulder, and the diner waved him off, seeing the funny side. Next to him, his girlfriend was in hysterics, trying not
