Page 35

“Good grief, no,” Kent said with a laugh. “She’s like a little sister to me. Actually, she was great friends with my little sister growing up.”

“You don’t talk much about your family,” Gemma said, trying to ignore the peculiar sense of relief she felt at his answer.

“Well, to be fair, there’s not been much of a chance for us to have that kind of conversation,” he replied.

“I suppose not.”

A pause expanded between them. So there was nothing going on with him and Magdalen. Why did that make her feel so much better? It was probably just because she didn’t want to feel like a third wheel all night. Even though she and Kent were the ones sharing a table. Yes, that was probably why her body felt so much lighter now. There couldn’t possibly be another reason, could there? As the silence swelled, Kent lifted his glass and tipped it towards Gemma.

“To a fun night and future business prospects.”

An unexpected torrent of butterflies rippled through her.

“To a fun night, and maybe future business prospects,” Gemma said, and clinked her glass against his before taking another, longer sip of her drink.

“This is definitely better than the Bordeaux,” she said.

A smile curled Kent’s lips.

“You know, you still didn’t tell me what was so terrible about that date. I can’t imagine what the poor guy could’ve done that made you bolt like that.”

Gemma scoffed. “Trust me, there was no poor guy involved in that incident. It was poor me. Thank goodness you turned up.”

“That’s me, just a regular knight in shining armour,” he said. “But seriously, you’re going to have to tell me what the guy did. The last thing I want to do is make the same mistakes he did, and have you bolting off on me.”

Gemma knew that the heat that flushed her cheeks couldn’t have come from the glass of champagne. After all, she had only had a couple of sips. Still, she put it back down and looked Kent straight in the eye.

“Well, first, I won’t bolt out of here, because the lovely Magdalen has arranged a room for me, remember? And second, this is not a date.”

“Of course it isn’t,” Kent said. “I’m just drinking champagne and anticipating a wonderful dinner with a woman I find incredibly attractive. That’s not a date.”

“No,” Gemma said firmly, trying to quash the butterflies which were insisting on sticking around. “In fact, I think if that person is an employee of yours, then saying something like that is probably closer to harassment than a date.”

Kent’s face suddenly paled.

“Oh my God, I’m so sorry. Crap. Gemma I?—”

“I’m joking with you,” Gemma said, having not realised he would take her seriously. If she was honest with herself, this was a darn sight nicer than any of the dates she had been on in a very long time. But that was just because of the location, rather than the company, wasn’t it? Still, Kent continued to look horrified, and, wanting to put her mind to rest, she reached out her hand and placed it on his arm. A static shock met her fingertips and rippled up through her body. Her pulse rocketed and when her eyes instinctively locked on his, she knew he had felt the same.

Grabbing her glass, she swallowed several mouthfuls, hoping it would stop the heat that was rolling through her body.

“How about we just see if this setup could work at the café?” she said, hoping he couldn’t hear the way her heart was pounding. “That’s what we’ve come for, right?”

CHAPTER 51

It was after the soup course that Gemma excused herself to go to the bathroom, taking her handbag with her. Once there, she placed her hands on the marble sink, looked at her reflection, and shook her head in disbelief.

“What are you doing?” she said to herself.

Kent was the owner of the Waterfront Café. If he wanted to put something like this on as a monthly event, she couldn’t stop him. So why did he want to bring her there for the evening, and why, every time she met his eyes did she feel that fluttering just beneath her rib cage, a fluttering she sensed that he felt it too? They had been there for less than an hour, but her cheeks already ached from the smiling, and she had lost count of the number of times she’d laughed. It was sending her head into a spiral. She didn’t laugh with Kent. Not normally. But she couldn’t remember the last time she felt so relaxed around a man. Maybe it was just because it had been such a long time since she’d been on a decent date with one. Not that this was a date. She had told him as much, and he’d agreed. It was for work and work only. As that thought settled, so did a sense of disappointment. Did she want this to be a date with Kent? Surelynot. How could she like him in that way after everything they had been through? She couldn’t, could she?

No sooner was she asking herself the question than she had picked up her phone, desperate to talk to someone. Her first instinct was to call Sophie. After all, Sophie knew them both and was aware of everything that had gone on between them. But Sophie couldn’t keep secrets. If Gemma had read the situation wrong, and Kent wasn’t feeling the same way she was, and Sophie knew how she felt, work would quickly become very awkward. And so instead, she hit dial on Nina’s name.

“Hey, I thought you were out with Kent tonight,” Nina said when she answered.

Gemma didn’t bother with pleasantries. She had already spent too long in the bathroom as it was.

“Hypothetical question. If I find myself attracted to my boss, what should I do?”