‘Forget the kiss,’ she practically hissed.
‘I don’t think that’s going to be possible.’
‘It has to be.’
He pulled her close and looked deep into her eyes. ‘You know, we should do this. You should do this.’
‘In the name of all that’s holy, why?’
‘My sister was bullied and it was only when she stood up to them that she got over it. You need to deal with it so you can move on.’
‘I have, thank you very much, Mr Amateur Psychologist, and I am.’
He arched a sceptical eyebrow. ‘Really?’
‘OK, so I’m a work in progress.’
‘I can help.’
‘They’d see through us in a second.’
‘No, they wouldn’t. I’m in advertising.’
For a second she just stared at him in uncomprehending disbelief. ‘What on earth does that have to do with anything?’
‘It involves manipulating perception and getting people to believe what they’re told regardless of whether it’s the truth or not, and I’m an expert.’
‘Your cynicism runs deep.’
‘Luckily so does my creativity.’
‘Believe me, it’s not a patch on mine,’ said Zoe darkly. ‘You do not want to hear the stuff I’ve made up.’
‘Don’t I? I’m rather keen to find out the exceptional talents you’ve given me.’
She clutched at his shirt and stared at him wildly. ‘Why are you being so persistent about this?’
‘I don’t think I want to let you go just yet.’ Of everything that had been running through his brain that was the one thing of which he was certain. He wanted some more of those kisses. He wanted more of her.
‘So let’s talk on the pavement outside. Let’s go to a different bar, a restaurant, anywhere away from here.’
‘I also don’t like bullies.’
‘Neither do I, but they’re mine to deal with, and—’
‘Zoe!’
‘Oh, God,’ she muttered, her voice shaking as the strident female tone came from right behind them. ‘I told you it would be too late.’ She dropped her head onto his chest. ‘This is going to be a disaster,’ she said, her words muffled against his shirt. ‘A total unmitigated disaster.’
* * *
Despite Zoe’s misgivings, her frustration that her escape plan had been thwarted and her deeply felt conviction that Dan had ruined everything, things weren’t turning out to be as bad as she’d anticipated.
With her contemporaries flocking around them she really had feared the worst, but by that stage she’d had no choice but to extricate herself from Dan’s arms to face Samantha and her little bunch of cohorts and imminent disaster.
Lacking his confidence, she’d made the introductions with apprehension and nerves twisting her stomach into knots, absolutely certain that the women, Samantha especially, would immediately see straight through her, Dan and their pseudo romance. She’d been waiting on tenterhooks for the fragile house of cards she’d built to collapse, and preparing herself to run and hide and never show her face in public again.
But in fact things couldn’t be going better, and she was beginning to think she actually ought to be thanking him for making her follow through with this.