Plus One is a Lucky Number. Teresa Morgan F.
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got my clubs in the boot,” Adam said, first thing entering his head, his mind wandering to the hotel. Golf was something he did to relax and entertain important clients.
“What?” Sophie frowned.
“I checked out the hotel facilities. They’ve got a golf course.”
She looked at him, almost mortified. She didn’t think he’d be trying to escape her every given minute, did she? That’s not why he’d brought them. He thought it might be a place they could escape to.
“I know nothing about golf.”
“Then I’ll have to teach you.” He grinned. Now there’s a heart-warming thought and a subtle way to get close to this woman.
“To be honest, I’m pretty useless at any sport. You’d need longer than a weekend.”
“My contract is only for this weekend.” He raised his eyebrows, giving her a mischievous smile. “If you need me for longer, we’ll have to renegotiate.”
“Oh, um, I didn’t mean –”
“I’m kidding!” Adam chuckled. “I was going to suggest the tennis courts – they have those, too, but it looks like you’ll be using the pool.”
“Yes. I can swim.” She chewed her lip.
Okay – so she didn’t look keen on going swimming either. Probably the idea of them going together. She didn’t come across confident in her own skin – but why? He’d give her privacy, if that’s what she wanted.
Changing the subject, Adam filled Sophie in about Ted’s retirement party and the conversation moved on, allowing them to get to know one another better.
He stumbled over an old girlfriend’s name, internally kicking himself as he quickly washed over it. One thing he’d been trying very hard to avoid; past girlfriends – he had a few. He could see it had set off alarm bells inside her head, her eyes widening.
“You don’t have a girlfriend, do you?” Sophie asked him, hesitantly.
Adam shook his head. “No, don’t worry.”
“For a minute there I thought I’d put you in some awkward predicament.”
“Well, actually James got me into this predicament, because it was his idea.” Then, more seriously, he said, “But if I had a girlfriend, I wouldn’t be here. I’m not that kind of guy, either.”
“Of course not. Sorry.”
Her cheeks flushed pink – the English rose look suited her. What would she look like … ? Adam swallowed, burying his inappropriate thoughts. Where did that come from anyway? He didn’t need to be thinking along those lines. He’d promised James. Besides, she wasn’t even his type.
“I hope you don’t feel bullied into this,” she said, frowning.
“I wasn’t bullied. I can’t be made to do things I don’t want to do. We should have some fun, right?”
He hoped she could have fun. Something had stopped her from wanting to attend this wedding. Now Adam was with her, maybe she could enjoy herself. If that’s what she needed – company? Or would Adam add to her stress? They were strangers after all.
Sophie turned in her seat and Adam kept his eyes on the road. Occasionally he glanced and smiled at her. It was working; she was relaxing.
“I hope you don’t mind me being nosy, but … ” Sophie stopped.
His eyes narrowed. “What?”
“I don’t mean this to sound as bad as it does, but you’re an account manager … and this car … ?”
Adam relaxed. “Not exactly standard issue company car?”
“No.”
“Long story. Might tell you one day. Might not.” He winked and tapped his nose. “It’s a secret.”
“What? You’d have to kill me after?” she said, giggling, then sobered.
Adam noticed her anxious expression, and chuckled. “Sophie, you’re safe. I promise. I wouldn’t hurt you – James would murder me for a start.” He wanted to put her at ease.
He decided to stick with work topics. “Hey, the other week, I was in Bracknell stripping down one of our old QB13’s.”
“Oh, now you are showing your age,” she said, unable to hide a smile. “They’re an old model, way before my time.”
“I was on the shop floor making them.” He narrowed his eyes. “And I’m not that old. I’m thirty-three.”
“Oh, definitely old,” she said, sarcasm lacing her words.
“Experienced.” In many things. Adam liked the fact she was flirting.
Sophie coughed and sobered, her cheeks flushed. “So why were you st-stripping it down?”
He pretended he hadn’t heard her stutter over the word stripping. “Well, it was either that, or they’d have to wait three days for our engineer,” he said. Had Adam taken it too far flirting back, or did he look like he was bragging? Shit, he felt like he was treading on eggshells. He wanted her to loosen up, get to know him, even like him. It felt important.
Of course it was important; they needed to at least get on this weekend to be remotely believable.
“Why?” she asked.
“He was on holiday.” Adam grinned. “And our other engineers were busy with other projects.”
“When things go wrong, they go wrong at once.”
“Exactly. We couldn’t get anyone else there sooner.”
She giggled. “I can’t believe you got your hands dirty.”
“Me neither. But I didn’t want to break our service agreement.”
“Ah, yes, very costly,” she agreed.
“Yes. And I wanted them to purchase the new QB20s. Wasn’t going to be likely if they had to halt their manufacturing line for three days.” Adam chuckled, and Sophie laughed with him. Yeah, and he’d won the contract.
And maybe he was worrying about nothing. They’d become comfortable with one another inside the car, all tension had ebbed away. But what would happen once they set foot on the grounds of the hotel, meeting Sophie’s friends and family? Adam’s stomach churned. Then he’d really have to turn up the charm. A whole different experience awaited them. Would he be believable enough for her? Or would they see through him?
No, he’d be fine. She was pretty, after all – not much pretending required there. But he would be pretending. Sophie didn’t seem like his usual girlfriends. And they worked under the same roof. He needed to tread carefully. Do enough to keep her friends at bay, but not too much to send mixed messages to Sophie.
“So who’s getting married?” Adam couldn’t believe he hadn’t asked this question.
“Oh, a second cousin of mine.”
“Family?” Adam’s eyes widened, he nearly swerved the car. “Are your parents going?”
“No.” She shook her head, and chuckled. “They’ll be on holiday.” Relief waved over Adam and he relaxed.
Adam pulled into the services around eleven o’clock, suggesting an early lunch. They’d been on the road three hours, and his stomach growled, reminding him he’d skipped breakfast.
They stood in silence, waiting to be seated in the small roadside restaurant on the A303. They were shown to a table and their orders taken.
“So what does your father do?” Adam asked.
“Pardon?” Sophie looked at him, frowning.
“What