Page 71 of The Gin Lover's Guide to Dating

‘Agreed.’ He puts on a disapproving face, while chewing on his bread roll. ‘Shameful stuff.’

I wait to see if Josh will say anything further, but once it’s clear he’s not going to engage with my political dialogue, I steer the conversation onto a lighter subject.

We chat away easily over dinner, mostly talking about the hotel and sharing flirty banter, seizing any opportunity for physical contact. The chemistry between us is so intense that we barely pay any attention to our extortionately priced food. Every time Josh’s hand or leg touches mine, it’s like a bolt of electricity; I’m so hypnotised by him that I’m completely powerless to his charm offensive.

At the end of our meal, once Josh has settled the bill, he excuses himself to visit the gents, and I finally snap out of my trance. I realise I’ve drunk too much again, and I need to be careful. The way this evening is going, Dylan’s prediction will be absolutely right. And it’s just too soon for that.

‘Ready to go?’ Josh asks as he returns.

‘Yes, sure.’ I get up from my seat.

As we leave the restaurant hand-in-hand, thanking the staff as we go, I’m aware of quite a few women in the room watching enviously. It doesn’t surprise me at all; I’d probably do the same. There are hot men, and then there’s Josh. I’m not sure how I feel about this. It’s nice to have something (or in this case someone) everyone else wants, but that means there’s plenty of competition waiting to steal him away.

We step outside into the cool, misty night and instinctively turn to each other. The silhouette of Arthur’s Seat, just visible in the background, provides the perfect backdrop to our intimate moment.

‘Thanks for dinner,’ I say. ‘I really enjoyed your company.’

‘Ditto.’ He gives me the same sexy raised-eyebrow look I delivered when I first arrived.

As we stand there gazing at each other, our breath coming out in little bursting clouds as we exhale, I’m oblivious to the chill in the air. I feel my heart quicken as he takes my hand, pulling me towards him and then slips his arms around my waist. I close my eyes, allowing my other senses to take over, and just let myself melt into an amazing embrace.

‘You’re incredible,’ he whispers in my ear as he continues to kiss me, a faint fruity whiff of the Malbec from the restaurant on his breath. ‘Come back to mine? I’ll be good, I promise. I won’t try anything – have too much respect for you for that, and I’m not that kind of guy anyway. I just want some time with you all to myself.’

I know this is the point at which I should politely decline and say goodnight, to make absolutely sure I don’t deviate from my longstanding three-date rule. Especially as Josh is a colleague and more senior than me. But I don’t want to. I want to be alone with Josh as much as he does with me.

‘You come to mine,’ I murmur in response, pulling him in closer. ‘Then I can kick you out if you break your promise.’

‘Deal.’ Josh breaks away from me just long enough to hail a taxi.

Chapter 20

‘Morning, beautiful.’

I open my eyes blearily to see a dishevelled, but still insanely gorgeous Josh standing above me holding a tray. My head is pounding from my repeat offence of consuming far too much booze the night before.

‘Oh… err… morning.’ I suddenly feel shy, despite us having explored so much of each other the night before. ‘You’ve… made breakfast?’

‘I have.’ He proudly places the tray on the bedside table. ‘Scrambled eggs on toast, tea and orange juice. You like scrambled eggs, right?’

I rub my eyes and sit up quickly, trying to force myself to come round quicker. As I do, my head feels like there’s an enormous bell clanging within it. I wince from the pulsing pain.

‘Oww…’ I clutch my head protectively. ‘Yes, I do. Thank you. You’ve obviously been up for a while.’

‘Only about an hour.’ He shrugs. ‘Thought you might need something for your hangover.’

‘I most certainly do.’ I give him a sheepish look.

He passes me the tray and sits down on the side of the bed. I take a gulp of orange juice, a welcome refreshing treat for my parched mouth, and then start to eat my eggs. As I do, I become self-conscious and immediately stop.

‘Aren’t you having any?’ I ask.

‘Yeah, I am.’ He grins at me, then reaches over and tucks my hair behind my ear to stop it falling in my food. ‘I just like looking at you.’

‘Well, stop it,’ I command. ‘You’re making me uncomfortable. Go and get your food.’

Josh squeezes my nose affectionately, then gets up and pads along the hallway to get his own breakfast.

Once we’ve eaten, and I’ve gotten past my morning-after-the-night-before shyness, we snuggle up in bed again, me nestled into Josh, while he strokes my arm affectionately.

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