Page 68 of Another Lucky Number

‘I thought you had an interview, Emma, not a scheduled performance,’ says Rob.

‘I’m presenting to staff and guests as part of it,’ I reply and his eyes widen. ‘I know. I’m as terrified as you think I should be.’

‘You’re braver than me. How are you going to win them over? Fire eating while playing rake and scrape on a banjo?’

‘There’s an idea.’ I giggle. ‘Nothing quite as impressive as that, I’m afraid.’

‘No point in asking her about it,’ says James. ‘I tried earlierand got palmed off. Apparently, it’s on a need-to-know basis only.’

‘Ooh,burn.’ Tyler chuckles. ‘You’ll make it into the inner circle yet, James.’

‘I can hope.’

‘Aww, don’t take it to heart.’ I pat James’s shoulder affectionately. ‘It’s not personal.’

‘Do we get to come to your presentation at least?’ Rob asks. ‘Would be great to see you in action.’

‘Sorry, no. Sébastien – that’s the guy that owns the resort – is managing the attendees list and I expect it’ll be in a conference room of sorts.’

‘I’ll be filming it so you can watch it later, Rob,’ says Amber.

‘Eh… no you won’t.’ I pierce her with warning stare.

‘Not like you can stop me. Plus, it’s another great learning opportunity. Think how much you can gain from watching back your own presentation.’

‘That is true, and it did work before, as excruciating as it was… OK, fine. But it’s my call whether it goes into wider circulation. That’s not your decision.’

‘Deal.’ Amber reaches across and shakes my hand to lock in the agreement.

We fall silent as the steel drum band starts up again. They really are incredible. It’s an experience I know I’ll think about in the future when I’m back home in beautiful-but-not-remotely-tropical Scotland. And it’s made all the better by James clutching my hand tightly throughout, while we intermittently steal infatuation-filled glances at each other.

After about thirty minutes of performing, the band announce a short break.

‘Perfect timing,’ I say, getting up from my seat. ‘I need to make a trip to the ladies.’

‘I’ll come with you,’ says Cat.

We weave our way across the terrace and into the mainatrium by reception to the same ladies ‘powder room’ I changed in that morning ahead of my slot on reception.

‘How are things going with James?’ Cat asks, when we reach the safe haven of the toilets. ‘You guys looked so cute together in the pool earlier.’

‘So great.’ A dreamy smile blossoms on my face. ‘We can barely keep our eyes off each other. He’s so easy to talk to. And he’s so considerate too.’

‘Totally. I loved how he took his friends away so you could do the feedback session with us without feeling under the microscope.’

‘Right?He really is a good one. I… um… told him about my win earlier.’

‘You did?’ She seems surprised. ‘Gosh, you must feel comfortable with him.’

‘I do, and I just know I can trust him.’

‘Normally I’d say to be careful, but in this case I agree with you. It’s partly his parents being Lottie’s neighbours, but there’s something else: he’s so genuine and he never played any games with you. Made it clear he liked you and that was it.’

‘That’s it exactly. Crazy, isn’t it? Especially as only a week or so ago, I thought he was an idiot.’

‘Love moves in mysterious ways.’ She gives me a knowing nudge and I laugh out loud.

‘Steady. We’re miles away from that. You’ll reach that point with Mike well before we do.’

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