Page 66 of A Lot to Unpack
‘Okay, this place is unreal,’ I say. ‘If there was a feedback form for dates, I think you would be getting full marks.’
‘Oh, yeah?’ he replies.
‘Don’t you usually?’ I joke. ‘So, is this your usual date protocol? Tree, meatballs, mild concussion risk?’
‘Honestly? I haven’t been on a date since my divorce,’ he admits. ‘So I haven’t been on a date with anyone other than my ex-wife since before I was married.’
‘Really?’ I blurt.
‘Yeah. Despite what Paige might be telling everyone, I’ve been spending a lot of time on my own, trying to get my head around things,’ he explains. ‘It’s not easy. I haven’t even been able to eat dinner with business associates, without her assuming the worst – even when she knows where I’m going and who I’m meeting. It’s rough for her too, I’m trying to be sympathetic. We’re actually splitting the business, in a way, with her taking the UK and me taking the US. I’m hoping things will be easier then.’
‘That sounds exhausting,’ I say.
‘It is,’ he admits. ‘But here, with you… it’s the first time I haven’t felt like I need to explain myself. Or feel guilty formoving on. I guess because I know Paige is back in London, I can relax.’
‘I get it,’ I tell him. ‘I thought I was ready to move on way too quickly, too. But then I realised I have this… thing.’
He raises an eyebrow.
‘A thing?’ he repeats back to me.
‘I call it my “ick alarm”,’ I confess. ‘It’s not a real alarm, it’s in my head, but basically, it goes off every time I go on a date. After my ex, after I realised I was settling for so many of these icks, because I thought I loved him, I decided never to settle again, but it’s made me too critical, if I’m being honest. With everyone I date – on the first date – it’s only a matter of time before the alarm goes off and that’s when I know I’m out. I can’t get past it.’
‘Interesting,’ he replies. ‘Has it gone off tonight?’
I stare at him for a second, as the realisation sinks in.
‘No,’ I admit. ‘But sometimes it doesn’t sound until someone tries to kiss me…’
‘Do you want me to test that theory?’ he asks, flashing me that cheeky grin of his.
God, yes.
‘Okay,’ I say, very calmly for someone who is internally screaming.
He leans in slowly, the way they do in movies, where time slows down, music plays, and you just know it’s going to be perfect…
…until some dude comes flying towards us on the ice and crashes into us.
‘Ouch,’ I blurt as Jordan and I clatter together, our foreheads bumping. We somehow manage to stay upright, but my dignity is definitely hanging by a thread.
‘Yo, I’m so sorry!’ the man calls out as he skates off, like his feet have a mind of their own.
We both laugh, partly from relief and partly because, of course, the universe would choose now to intervene, wouldn’t it?
‘Well, that was subtle,’ Jordan says. ‘But, hey, if an alarm was going to go off, now would be the time, right?’
‘And yet… I can’t hear a thing,’ I reply.
We skate to the side, well out of harm’s way. The lights from the tree glitter down over us, casting pretty reflections on the ice.
‘How’s your head?’ he asks me, tucking my hair behind my ear.
‘All over the place,’ I say, and then wince. ‘You mean from the bump, don’t you? My actual head. It’s fine.’
He smiles.
‘Do you want to give it another go?’ he asks.
