Page 34 of Read Between The Lines

While I was still shrinking into the shadows, a few people had started subtly shuffling towards the tables, eyeing up their preferred first dates. The room had quietened now, and the anticipation in the air was almost palpable, everyone pumped up by Dom’s exuberant style. My stomach turned over once again. Could I be about to meet Scammer Brian? Leo reckoned it was highly unlikely, but there was a chance the man was arrogant enough to hunt his victims in person as well as from behind the safety of his computer screen. I scanned the faces of the men in front of me, trying to commit them to memory in case I needed to identify one of them from a line-up. Actually, did the police still do line-ups? I’d have to ask Leo.

I risked a brief glance across at him. He looked totally at ease, leaning back on his chair, long legs stretched out as he surveyed the women queuing up to speak to him. I supposed I should be grateful he wasn’t putting his feet up, as he did in the library. Suddenly he looked directly at me and winked. I jumped as if someone had tapped me on the shoulder.

The urgent ringing of the bell was less of a surprise than the wink. After a moment of hesitation, the girls surged forward to get a space at one of the tables, at least two of them good-naturedly jostling each other to get to Leo’s place first, laughter in their expressions. I hung back, telling myself it would be sensible to play the role of observer a little longer so I could be more strategic about who I targeted. I angled myself so I couldn’t see Leo and the red head in the bodycon dress who’d come out as the victor. But, despite the general hubbub, I was sure I could hear his rumbling laughter as the introductions were made. I hoped he didn’t allow himself to get distracted from the real purpose of being here.

‘Oh no, you don’t. There’s no hiding around here,’ said Dom, sliding up to me and putting his arm around my shoulders. ‘We don’t allow any wallflowers at SO Ox.’

‘But all the tables are occupied,’ I said. ‘It’s fine, I’ll join the other girls at the bar and wait until the next round.’

I took a step to the side, subtly extricating myself from his somewhat overly friendly embrace.

He completely ignored me and raised his voice to address the room again.

‘Ladies and gentlemen, forgive me, but there’s a twist. Here at SO Ox, it’s not about those who get there first, but those who graciously step back and allow others to go in front of them. I find it’s always good to shake things up a bit.’

He took my hand and marched me over to Leo’s table. If ever there was a time for the earth to swallow me up, this was it.

‘Excuse me, but we’re going to swap the ladies over for this first round. Don’t worry, there’s an extra-large cocktail as compensation.’

The red head pouted prettily, then sent a devastating smile at Leo.

‘No hard feelings. Good things come to those who wait, after all,’ she said. ‘I’ll see you later, Leo.’

‘Looking forward to it,’ he replied.

She sashayed back to the bar while I stared at the floor. I didn’t need the extra humiliation of seeing the disappointment which I assumed would be on Leo’s face as he watched her departing form.

Dom held the chair back with exaggerated politeness and gestured for me to sit down, which I did with great reluctance. This was totally defeating the object of the evening. Then he bounced away to repeat the move with the other women who hadn’t got seats at the tables in the initial dash. Before I knew it, the bell had rung again, and my first five-minute date had started.

‘What a waste of time, I’m sorry, Le?—’

‘Hi, I’m Leo,’ he interrupted me before I could finish my apology. He reached out and shook my hand, subtly squeezing it in warning. ‘I like travel and eating good food, but my favourite thing is good company. How about you?’

I sat up straighter, suddenly more alert to our surroundings. I’d been hoping to compare notes on what, if anything, we’d managed to find out so far, but the tables were spaced barely two feet apart. This definitely wasn’t the place for a private conversation about our mission, and we couldn’t exactly sit in silence while I psyched myself up for the next date. The only option left to us was to spend the next five minutes pretending that we really were on a speed date, which was the last thing I wanted to do. Could this evening get any more awkward?

I placed my hands flat on the table, pressing against it to centre myself. All I had to do was act natural and not make a fool of myself, while at the same time being aware of my surroundings in case there was any suspicious behaviour going on elsewhere. Easier said than done. I took a deep breath and tried to channel Moira’s air of easy confidence. She’d never find herself stuck for words in this situation. She’d just go for it and not have a second’s concern about being awkward or embarrassing herself.

‘Hello, Leo, nice to meet you. I’m Katherine. I imagine I’m not the first to tell you that travel and good food are fairly universal pleasures. So how about you tell me what your definition of good company is? Or shall we make it fun, and I’ll guess?’ I tried to inject a flirtatious air into my tone but, having never been very good at that kind of thing, I went too hard with the accompanying attempt at flicking a loose lock of hair back and ended up whipping myself in the eye.

I blinked hard then glared at Leo, my injured eye already watering, daring him to laugh at me. But instead, he gamely picked up my cue of fake flirtation and responded by slowly and deliberately lowering his gaze to my lips, then back up to my eyes, his smile growing wider.

‘I’m always up for fun,’ he said. ‘But I’d rather talk about you. How about I guess what you find pleasurable first?’

He deliberately lowered his voice on the word ‘pleasurable’, parodying a practised seducer in a manner which I couldn’t help reacting to. I cleared my throat, hoping he hadn’t noticed my involuntary quiver. He was far too good at this game, and that riled me, not that I wanted him to realise that. I had to go on the offence myself.

I shrugged my shoulders, and giggled like he’d just said the funniest thing I’d ever heard. ‘Sure. You can guess. I’m an open book.’ I toyed with fluttering my eyelashes at him, a come-hither move which always seemed to feature in seduction scenes in Doris’s romance novels, but given my already watering eye, I’d probably give the impression I was developing some kind of infection, so I decided against it and repeated the overly girlish giggle while twirling the lock of hair around my finger.

‘Your laughter is like a wind chime trilling brightly in the breeze,’ said Leo in a voice which I could only describe as a purr. His expression was of pure devilment. He was totally getting a kick out of watching my terrible attempt to play the flirt.

‘Sorry, I think I just threw up a little,’ I responded without thinking. A couple of heads turned in our direction, eyebrows raised at my sudden change of tone. I forced out another trill of laughter and fixed Leo with my best devoted expression. ‘What I meant to say is that your voice sounds like a safe haven in a storm,’ I improvised rapidly to save the situation, again drawing on my knowledge of the library’s cheesiest erotica. I held my palm against my chest to emphasise the point, all wide eyes and breathy keenness. If Leo was determined to mess about and go down the clichéd seduction route, I was going to give as good as I got.

Leo managed to turn his responding snort of disgust into a deep rumble of amusement.

‘You’ll always be safe with me, babe,’ he said, his voice dropping by half an octave and taking on a slightly Hollywood twang.

I raised an eyebrow at him. ‘Babe?’ I mouthed.

He shrugged apologetically, lips twitching with humour.

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