Page 25 of The Plot Twist

‘You thought I just handed them out?’ His eyes twinkled with amusement. ‘Nope. Multi-talented. Just not adept at handling allergic reactions.’

‘Wow, well, I’m impressed. Must make you a valuable employee.’

Will looked back at her again, his expression of amusement still fixed in place. ‘Do you want to go for a drink?’ he said suddenly.

‘I thought you were working?’

‘This won’t take me long. I just need to take these inside and set them up on a table. Five minutes, max, then I’m all yours.’

Allie’s mind went to all sorts of wild scenarios where Will really was all hers. None of them were appropriate for family-friendly viewing. And was this particular scenario a date? Was he asking her out? She looked at his back as he plated the food up, wondering if she could deduce what he was thinking from the way his muscles tensed under the pale blue shirt he was wearing.

‘Don’t they need you to hand food out tonight?’ She pointed at the trays of food that Will was now loading onto a trolley.

He looked over at her, his mouth twitching at a joke she wasn’t sure she quite got. ‘No,theydon’t need me to hand them out tonight. It’s a table buffet. I just need to put the platters out on a table at the back and then come and pick them up in a few hours’ time.’ He looked at his watch. ‘So if you still need rescuing, I’m free to do so.’

Allie still wasn’t quite sure what to make of this cute waiter, with his hidden talents for cookery, and whether he actually was flirting with her. ‘OK,’ she said slowly. ‘As long as you won’t get into trouble.’

Will looked amused again. ‘Stay there,’ he said, ‘I’ll be five minutes.’

Allie kicked her legs up and down as she sat on the work surface wondering if Will would actually reappear, or if he’d simply walk out the front and leave her in here, and how long she should wait before accepting that it was all an elaborate hoax and there was no way a guy as cute as Will was into her. She had just pulled out her phone and was writing a message to Jess when he reappeared. Allie looked up and quickly stuffed her phone into her bag before Will could see exactly how she had been describing him.

‘So,’ he said, ‘I have time to kill. Want to join me?’

Allie looked up at him and broke into laughter. ‘Wow, you know how to make a girl feel special!’

Will grinned back. ‘You’ll be doing me a favour.’

‘And how could I refuse an invitation like that?’

Will put his hand out to take hers. ‘Come on.’

* * *

‘So let me get this straight, your first book went to number one?’ Allie nodded. ‘Your second book did too?’ Allie nodded again. ‘And your third book has been optioned for a film?’

‘But not actually made into one yet!’ she protested. While she was enjoying lapping up the adulation from a cute guy, she was also trying hard to keep things in perspective. Which was hard when his leg was pressed up against hers under the table and she could feel the heat of his body which, contrary to the laws of physics, was making her shiver.

Will waved his hand, dismissing her statement. ‘And yet you have nothing better to do than sit in a pub in Dulwich with me?’

‘Don’t flatter yourself, I was at a book launch remember? I’m doingyoua favour.’

‘How could I forget.’ Will held a hand to his chest and pulled a stricken face.

Allie laughed.

‘Seriously though,’ Will said, edging even closer to her, ‘I think it’s pretty amazing.’ He held her gaze and Allie felt herself flushing under it.

‘Thanks,’ she replied, flustered. ‘But what about you? How long have you worked in…’ She paused, wondering how to describe his occupation. Was it OK to say catering? Would he be offended if she called him a waiter? ‘Erm, events,’ she settled on.

Will picked up his drink, his body language suddenly screaming discomfort. ‘I’ve been with this company for a few years now.’

‘Oh wow.’ Allie couldn’t hide her surprise, part of her had presumed Will would have been doing this as a stopgap, or perhaps as a filler between, she didn’t know, acting jobs or something. She kicked herself at her inner snobbery. It wasn’t as if her career had been one of graduate fast-track schemes and actually, mostly it was just luck that she hadn’t had to pick up part-time jobs over the years.

‘So, you like the company then?’ She quickly tried to cover her pause, but Will had obviously noticed, though if he was offended, he didn’t seem to show it.

‘Yeah,’ he gave her an inscrutable look, ‘I feel rather attached to them.’ He stretched out on his chair, his leg pressing against Allie’s again, her stomach now in free fall. ‘I believe in what they stand for – organic where possible, healthy event food which doesn’t scrimp on flavour.’ He laughed. ‘I’ve really drunk the Kool-Aid, haven’t I?’ Allie tried to focus on what he was saying instead of just staring at his teeth, which were beautifully straight, and white, and yet, amazingly didn’t look fake. ‘But it’s good to get customer feedback on the menu. By the way,’ he caught Allie’s eye, ‘we won’t be serving those vol au vents again.’

Allie blushed. ‘You told them what I said?’ She felt completely mortified and Will laughed at her stricken expression.

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