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“This is on thebusiness-onlymeeting, right?” Nina said, sarcasm dripping from her voice.

Gemma let out a long groan in response. “This is wrong, right? It’s just because I haven’t dated anybody in so long, right? That’s all it is.”

“If you say so,” Nina said. “I mean, from what Sophie says, he is incredibly into you, but what would I know?”

“Sophie said that?” Gemma’s stomach did a double somersault before landing substantially lower than it had been. “What did she say?”

“Just that he talks about you a lot and she thinks he has a crush on you.”

Gemma groaned again. “Sophie thinks everybody has a crush on everybody else,” she said. “Ignore me. It’s just the champagne. I need to get back to the meal.”

“You’re drinking champagne?” Nina said, “I thought you were driving?”

Gemma didn’t want to get into the gorgeous Magdalen and her rooms at the yacht club. Not when Nina would undoubtedly have more questions she didn’t want to answer. Besides, she needed to get back to the table before Kent sent out a search party.

“I’ll explain when I get home tomorrow. Speak soon and wish me luck.”

“Good luck, though I’m not sure why you need it.”

A moment later, Gemma hung up the phone. Whatever was going on with her and Kent, it was almost certainly in her head. A reflex reaction to having been given some attention for the first time in years. But it was work-based attention, and she needed to remember that. Drawing a deep breath in, she looked at her reflection and pushed her shoulders back. She was going to go back up to the restaurant and be as professional as possible. That was what she was there to do. What they were both there to do.

CHAPTER 52

“You did not say that to him,” Gemma said as she collapsed into giggles.

Kent had been talking about his work abroad, specifically some mishaps that had happened whilst he was learning French.

“Honestly, I thought I was doing so well, ‘beaucoup’ and ‘beau cul.’ They’re so similar. I thought I was saying ‘thank you very much,’ not complimenting his arse.”

“What did he do?” Gemma asked, still giggling as she went for another sip of her drink.

“Well, thankfully, he spoke English, so he corrected my error and suggested a language school that I could go to in the evenings.”

“Did you?”

“Of course, I just told my boss he had a nice arse,” Kent replied.

Once again, they descended into giggles. The bottle of champagne had gone down incredibly easily, and even though they had three small tasting glasses of white wine with the meal, Kent had purchased another for them to share after they finished dessert.

“I thought you were on an extreme budget,” Gemma said. “Let me split it with you.”

“It’s fine, honestly, the prices are reasonable here. And I’d pay triple for this company again. You know, I don’t remember the last time I laughed this much on a… night out.”

The pause between his last words was as obvious as it was endearing.

“You were going to say date, weren’t you?” Gemma said.

“No, maybe. It has kind of felt like that, hasn’t it? I mean, I’m pretty sure I’ve got you convinced that these kinds of nights would work well at the café.”

“I don’t know. I think I might be a bit sad to be on the other side of the counter, rather than sitting, enjoying the food.”

“Well, I’ll still be there with you; that’s got to make up for something.”

“You think?”

“Maybe…”

He paused, and it was only then that Gemma noticed that his hand was on hers. She wasn’t exactly sure how long it had been there, and her first instinct was to move it, but it felt so natural. Before she could work out whether it was okay to leave it there a little longer, another thought struck.