Page 23 of Love You Like That (Excess All Areas 4)

She slapped his hands away. “No. You may not. But, fine. Give me the shirt.”

Alex grinned as he passed it to her.

“Turn around.”

“No. And they’re still shouting for us. We need to go now.”

“Fine.” Zoe turned, whipped her T-shirt off and slid her arms through Alex’s shirt sleeves. It smelled like him, and surely the flutter she’d just felt was nothing more than comfort.

She buttoned the shirt up and tucked it in the front of her jeans. “Better?” she asked, turning around.

“Only you could make a Hugo Boss shirt look so shapeless. Come here.”

He started with the hem, untucking it from her jeans, and knotting the two halves so they cinched just beneath her belly button. Then he folded the sleeves so they sat on her forearms. And finally, he opened three of the buttons she’d fastened at the top. “Lace,” he said. “I approve.”

“Didn’t realise I needed your approval for my undies.”

Alex fixed her collar. “You don’t need anybody’s approval for anything. Now. Would it kill you to put some lipstick on?”

She’d thought of putting some on. Red, perhaps. Or a deep burgundy which suited her best of all. But because he’d asked…

“Yes, it would. Let’s go.”

When they got to the bar, it caused a stir.

Again.

She’d tried to pretend it hadn’t bothered her in Glasgow when she’d seen Alex flirting with the slender male in a jacket that fit him to perfection.

But it had. Because Alex saw her. And she was edging towards a crush on a guy she knew saw her as nothing but a friend and bet because nothing said “I reciprocate your crush” like throwing you into the path of another guy.

She’d slept uneasily of late. Dreams about her and Alex doing things that almost made her embarrassed to look Alex in the eye right now.

To her, he was simply Alex. To the rest of the world, as the nudges and camera flashes reminded her when they arrived at the pub, he was a rock star. They were celebrities.

Jase put his arm around Cerys and tugged her closer. Willow looped her hand around Luke’s bicep and rested her head against it. He kissed the top of her head.

Matt and Ben talked with a man behind the bar who gestured to a corner that had been cordoned off. When the others headed in that direction, Zoe went to follow but Alex stopped her. “Let’s sit at the bar.”

“That feels like the dumbest idea ever.”

“We’re trying a different strategy. I’ll strike up a conversation with someone and introduce you. Yeah?”

“Okay. But no weirdos or you’re on your own.”

Finally, they were seated on backless stools at the bar with drinks in their hand, a pint for him, a crisp Sauvignon for her. Alex turned to the person next to him as she looked around. A group of lads sat together watching the footie. Aston Villa was playing, the claret and blue of their uniform impossible to miss. An old man pumped coins into an electronic fruit machine. Two lads were attempting to flirt with a table of ladies who seemed more interested in finishing their prosecco and having a laugh than chatting it up with men.

Alex tapped her arm to get her attention and then stepped off his stool. “Zoe, this is Amit. Amit’s a welder at a car parts factory down the road. Amit, this is Zoe, she checks for continuity errors in steamy books and hates lipstick.”

Zoe winced at his description, but Alex simply winked at her. “I need to go to the loo, back in a minute.”

Amit moved onto Alex’s stool. He leaned towards her. “Nice to meet you.” His words were pathologically concise and slow. Alex had obviously told him she was deaf.

Zoe took a deep breath. It wasn’t Amit’s fault Alex had been serious about trying to find her a date. And worse was the reason she was still going along with this farce. Because she got to spend time with Alex. Which suddenly felt even more pathetic.

“Nice to meet you. Alex said you worked locally?”

“Oh, wow. You speak really clearly.”

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