Plus One is a Lucky Number. Teresa Morgan F.
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This is a stupid idea.”
“She’s great. You’ll love her. You two might even hit it off.” James sounded hopeful. Adam scowled.
“We’ve talked about this before. You know it’s not for me, settling down. Not everybody wants what you and Kate have.”
“How do you know if you don’t try it? Dating a woman who’s not afraid to chip a nail might do you good.”
“Date?” Adam sighed and run a hand through his hair. The barmaid put the last pint on the bar and Adam paid her.
James continued frantically, realising his misplaced word. “I’m not asking you to sleep with her. In fact you’d better not - I’ll bloody kill you! Sophie’s a nice young lady, who needs treating properly.” James looked at him knowingly but Adam’s returned expression was horrified. “But truthfully, I think something’s up.”
“Oh, great.”
“She needs someone there for moral support, for some reason. Like I said, she helps friends out, that’s why I can’t believe she’s seriously thinking of not going.” James nudged him. “Haven’t I got you out of a few scrapes? If you’re helping Soph out, you’re helping me out,” James added, looking pleadingly at him. “You’re the only one I know I can trust.”
Trust. There it was again. If James wasn’t such a good friend …
The barmaid handed Adam his change and he sighed. “All right, all right, I’ll do it.”
James slapped his back and grinned. “You won’t regret it.”
“Famous last words those.”
“Sophie is lovely.”
“You keep saying that, but she’s not really my –”
“The problem is you can’t see beyond a woman’s looks. You wait until you get to know her. Trust me.”
Adam rubbed his forehead, and they headed back to the pub garden. “Why do I get the feeling I’m going to regret this?”
***
Well done, James. The one thing she would have liked to have kept buried deep in her handbag, was now the topic of the most embarrassing conversation at the pub.
Coward.
This could be the answer to her fears; only Adam Reid … Really?
While she worried about what James was telling Adam at the bar, she said hello to colleagues, not really listening to them and what they were up to at the weekend.
What would she be doing this weekend? Thinking about packing, or plucking up the courage to call Cassie?
Why hadn’t James stuck with asking Kate? Or one of her accountant friends? Oh, no, he’d asked Adam Reid from Sales and Marketing – a department she wasn’t even familiar with, as her job rarely led her there. All she knew was everyone dressed in smart, slick suits and looked immaculate. They talked about sales figures, advertising campaigns and the big picture, while she and James knuckled down to the hard work behind the scenes.
She glanced around the pub. Some of them were here.
Sophie swallowed, conscious her throat was like sandpaper, and sipping her wine didn’t help.
James and Adam walked towards her and sat down in silence.
What had James told him?
All nice things, surely? He’s a friend. Though, how well did James know her, really? So they worked together five days a week, and went to the pub on a Friday evening, but Sophie didn’t speak much about home, and what awaited her there. They talked shop most of the time, discussing their latest design project, or she let James fill her in on his weekends with Kate and friends.
“As I was saying,” James looked at Adam, as if passing a silent message between them, “Adam will go with you to the wedding.”
“You don’t have to.”
Adam smiled, in an ‘I don’t mind’ kind of way. “So where’s the wedding?” She became very aware of his blue eyes piercing through her at knee melting capacity. Good job she was sitting down.
“Cornwall, where I grew up. I’m supposed to drive down Thursday morning,” she said nervously. “It would mean taking a couple of days off.”
“See, mate, it’ll be fun –”
“Shh, James,” Sophie hissed.
“Okay, fine,” Adam said, ignoring James. He frowned, combing a hand through his hair. Sophie could see he was still thinking about it. Had James bullied him into this?
“So, you will come with me?” She kept staring at the table, looking at James, anything but meeting Adam’s eyes. Admittedly, this could be a good solution, although he still sounded hesitant.
“Yeah, I could do with a weekend away.”
“You’ll both have a scream!” James said, eagerly. “All you got to do is pretend to be her boyfriend.”
They both stared at James and spoke in unison, “Boyfriend?”
Adam walked up the stairs towards Sophie’s flat with some anxiety. He’d never been nervous picking up a woman for a date in his life. It’s not a date. God, James’ pep talk all week had him jittery. He took a deep breath, adjusting his jacket collar, about to ring the doorbell, when the door opened unexpectedly and he jumped, staring at Sophie.
She looked different to the bland engineer he’d seen on Friday. For some reason, he’d expected to see her in the same style of plain – and unflattering – trouser suit. Instead, Sophie was wearing a fitted summer dress, cut just above the knee, revealing an appealing figure. Her chestnut hair hung loose, shaping her face and there was colour in her cheeks. Hell, he’d been wondering what he had got himself into, but maybe this weekend wouldn’t be too bad after all.
“Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you,” he said, clearing his throat, and straightening his tie. “I thought I’d come help you with your bags.”
“Oh, uh, thanks,” Sophie said, putting down the case outside the door, and grabbing a small holdall and her handbag.
“We agreed – eight a.m.?”
“Yes. For some reason I thought … ” She shrugged.
What? He wouldn’t show?
“Doesn’t matter. You’re on time.”
She wouldn’t look him in the eyes and seemed nervous as hell – especially the way she fumbled to get the key into the lock.
“Here, let me.” He gently took the keys out of her hand and locked her front door.
“Thank you,” she said as he gave her bundle of keys back.
“Not a problem.” Adam picked up the case, then frowned, feeling the weight of it. “We’re going for the weekend, right? Not the week?”
“I know, I know.” Sophie winced as she spoke. “I couldn’t think what to take, and decided to pack for every eventuality.”
“You are normal then,” he said, smiling, as he walked down the stairs to his car with Sophie following.
“What?”
“I wasn’t sure the woman I met Friday was the sort to pack everything but the kitchen sink.” She had appeared to be a minimalist, not the type to lug a tonne of make-up about with her.
Her expression sobered.
Great,