Page 97 of One Night in Edinburgh

‘Congrats, man.’ Mateusz reaches across the table and shakes his hand. ‘I have a friend in IT if you want to make some connections. He will be happy to have a beer with you.’

‘That would be great. Thanks, Mateusz.’

Anna beams proudly at her man as though he’s just offered Connor his dream job, and while this news sinks in, I look around the table and feel an emotional tug inside me. I’m so pleased that my two friends have found love, and that Connor has found a new direction, but all of a sudden, I don’t feel like celebrating.

‘What’s up, hon?’ Anna spots this immediately.

‘Oh… it’s… nothing.’ I force a smile to cover up my hurt.

‘It’ssonot nothing.’

‘I’ve not upset you, have I, Stephy?’ Connor’s eyebrows knit together in concern. ‘That was why I didn’t want—’

‘You’ve not upset me at all.’ I cut him off and involuntarily glance at Lukas and Mateusz.

‘Would you like us to give you a moment?’ Lukas asks.

‘We can go to the bar,’ says Mateusz.

‘No, no. Sorry.’ I shake my head. ‘You’re fine. I’m not having you leave the table for me.’

‘It is no problem,’ says Lukas.

‘Steph?’ Anna prompts me. ‘These are good guys. You’re safe with them, you know that.’

‘Of course. I’m being silly, ignore me.’ I try to play down the moment. ‘It just that… having you all here like this… ten or so months ago, I would never have imagined that I’d be the single one.’

‘You mean because Connor was in a “delicate place” and I was a man-eater?’ says Anna.

I blanch at her comment, my wide eyes landing on Mateusz to gauge his reaction.

‘Oh, don’t worry about him.’ She laughs. ‘He knows exactly what I was like. The we’ve-just-met alfresco sex in the hotel gardens was a bit of a giveaway. Who would have thought it would be a shy boy who finally tamed me, eh?’ She and Mateusz share a nuzzling kiss.

‘See. This is exactly what I mean,’ I practically wail. ‘It was all so unlikely. I was the one who thought I’d found my dream guy – then everything turned upside down.’

‘Your guy is out there.’ Connor puts his arm around me.

‘Really?’ I look at him searchingly. ‘Because in the last four months, I’ve been on about fifteen dates and not a single one of them had any potential.’

‘Did they have no potential, or have you set an impossibly high benchmark for them?’ Anna raises a sceptical eyebrow.

‘Don’t start this again.’

‘Anna…’ Connor warns her not to do this on my birthday.

‘All I’m saying is that it’s a classic mistake people make after a painful breakup,’ she says. ‘They look for the person they’ve lost in every single potential match after that. These poor blokes you’ve been meeting can never live up to your expectations, because they’re not Jamie.’

I open and close my mouth wordlessly, unsure how to respond to this.

‘Steph, you are wonderful.’ Lukas reaches out and takes my hand. ‘Wonderful people find other wonderful people. I have no doubt that you will soon find what you are looking for.’

‘Thank you.’ I give him a grateful smile. ‘I hope you’re right. Connor, have I mentioned that I think this one’s a keeper?’ I nod my head toward Lukas.

‘Only at least once a week.’ Connor grins and shares a gooey, emotionally charged look with Lukas.

‘Right, well…’ I lift my glass. ‘We mustn’t let this Champagne get warm and flat because I’m on the verge of a birthday meltdown.’

My companions seem relieved that my wobble has passed and pleased to be able to finally lift their glasses.

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