Page 10 of Made Up for Love
“Where’s home?”
“London. You?”
“Same.” Joel lifted his menu to hide the small smile that crept across his lips.
The waiter brought their wine and they gave him their orders before he disappeared again. Joel took a quick glance around the restaurant. It was packed, which wasn’t surprising considering it had started to snow again.
“What would you be doing at home? Lots of Christmassy stuff?” he asked, as he poured them both a large glass.
Lydia sighed as she took a big gulp. “It’s my parents’ thirtieth wedding anniversary on Christmas Eve and they’re having a big party, which my sister and I are organising. She’s mad at me because I’m here and apparently not being any help. I mean, I looked for pearl-themed cake stands last night on the web.”
Joel listened intently. His own parents weren’t together and hadn’t been for some years, so hearing about a couple that had been united for that long gave him hope. He hadn’t realised he was quite such a romantic at heart.
“And I still don’t have a dress for the party either. I was meant to be shopping with Megan tomorrow, but that’s not going to happen now.” Lydia took another large slug of wine.
“Maybe you could check out the shops here in the morning? Being as you won’t be able to go home just yet. I’m pretty sure I saw a department store on my travels today.” Joel hadn’t; he’d simply read the leaflets that were in the room. Another little lie wouldn’t hurt.
Lydia wrinkled her nose. “I doubt they’d have anything I’d like. And it’s probably better and safer for me to stay indoors right now anyway.”
The smell of lasagne invaded his nostrils as the waiter brought their meals. Both of them had ordered the same and Joel watched as Lydia tucked heartily into the dish.
“What brings you to Scotland?” she asked between mouthfuls.
“Work. I did a client pitch this afternoon.”
“What do you do?”
This was where Joel struggled. His job wasn’t the most glamorous and people sometimes didn’t understand exactly what he did. There were some people who were immediately impressed when he said he was a management consultant. Others, not so much. He wondered which side Lydia would fall on.
“I work for Bourne & Masters; they’re a management consultancy and I work in HR Services.”
He was surprised when Lydia nodded.
“Oh, my friend used to work for them, I think. It was something like that anyway.” She shovelled a forkful of pasta into her mouth. “She was an administrator in one of the central teams.”
While they finished their meals, they chatted about work, Lydia sharing more tales from her day with Sadie Starr and Joel telling her a little about the presentation. It was easy—no awkward pauses, just flowing conversation. Joel couldn’t remember the last time he’d had that with a woman. He reached for the bottle to pour them more drinks and was surprised to find it empty.
“Do you want another one?” He waved it at her.
His question was met with a huge yawn. “Thanks, but if I drink anymore, I’ll fall asleep in my dinner.” She gestured to the empty plate. “What there is left of it. That was yummy.”
“Maybe you’re right.” Joel couldn’t help but feel disappointed. He wanted to spend more time with Lydia, getting to know her.
When the waiter came over to ask if they wanted dessert, they both declined, then spent a few minutes having an argument about who was going to pay the bill. Lydia insisted she should, then Joel pointed out that if she put the meal on her room, it would simply go on his credit card anyway, so he might as well pay.
“Okay, you win.” Lydia laughed, her eyes sparkling. “You’re right anyway.” She stretched in her seat, giving Joel the opportunity to admire her figure. “Will you walk me back to my room?” As she stood up, she wobbled slightly, and Joel reached out an arm to steady her.
“Of course.”
Neither of them spoke as they walked up the stairs to their rooms. Joel guided Lydia along the corridor, his hand resting lightly in the small of her back.
“Thank you for a lovely evening.” Lydia stopped outside her door. “It makes up for what has been a truly horrible day otherwise.”
“Glad to be of assistance.”
Joel paused, unsure of what to do next. There was a huge part of him that wanted to lean forward and kiss her. He didn’t know how Lydia would respond and drew back. At the same time, she moved toward him, and it suddenly became awkward. He thought he could see her eyes fall as he backed off. “I, er, goodnight, Lydia,” he said.
“Night, Joel.” She turned her back to him, unlocked the door and shut it quietly behind her.
