Page 68 of Playing for Keeps
“It’ll be the first time you’ve had sex for a while, won’t it?”
“I don’t know if there’ll be sex.” He was hoping so, but certainly didn’t want to presume.
“You’re cooking for her. I’m sure she’ll be expecting sex.”
“I decided to order takeaway instead.”
“Either way, if she’s coming to your place for dinner, it seems likely you’ll end up in bed together.”
“I’m not nervous, anyway.” Maybe he should be, but he felt so at ease around Allie that all he felt was excitement at seeing her. “And if I am, it’s not about the possibility of sleeping with her.” His gaze travelled over the design in front of him, searching out any flaws. “I thought I’d show her the design I came up with for the golf course … but do you think it’s weird?”
“No. Women love it when you take an interest in their interests.”
He nodded slowly. “I’m worried it’ll seem a bit intense.”
“No,” Leo said again. “And I think it’s great that you’ve been working on that. Damian and I were chatting about it – it’s good for you to get out of your comfort zone and try something different.” His friends had been telling him for years that he was wasting his potential with loft conversions, but it had always felt comfortable and secure. Since he’d become a father, security had been his priority.
“I’ve been enjoying working on it,” he told Leo. “I’m not sure I can actually do anything with it, but it’s a fun project.”
“If nothing else, it might help you get laid.” Leo chuckled while Hugh shook his head. The doorbell had him moving to look out of the window.
“Allie’s here,” he said. “I have to go.”
Opening the door to her, she looked so pleased to see him, that he didn’t hesitate over kissing her as soon as she stepped inside.
When she pulled back, it was with a satisfied smile. “Did you have a hectic day?” she asked.
“No. It was pretty chilled out.”
A wrinkle appeared across her forehead. “I assumed when you messaged about the change of dinner plans, you must have had a busy day.”
“Time got away from me, but not in a stressful way. You don’t mind takeaway, do you?”
“Not at all.” She glanced along the hallway, but since she’d asked about his day, all he could think about was the golf course designs.
“I want to show you something,” he said, backing away from her. “It’s upstairs.” He made it to the fifth step before noticing that she wasn’t following.
“That is incredibly forward,” she said, her features emitting an odd mixture of suspicion and amusement. “Aren’t you even going to offer me a drink first?”
It took Hugh longer than it should have to figure out what she meant. “Oh!” His gaze darted up the stairs, then back down to her. “I didn’t mean… I wasn’t…” Mortified, he backtracked quickly to stand beside her. “I just wanted to show you something, but let’s get a drink.”
Allie bit down on her lip. “I was only messing, but you kissing me and inviting me straight upstairs gives off a certain signal. I presume that wasn’t actually what you were intending.”
“No.” He shook his head and made for the kitchen, feeling like an absolute idiot. “I’m really bad at dating, aren’t I?”
She caught up to him and took his arm, turning him to face her. “What did you want to show me?”
“Just something I was working on this afternoon. I was kind of nervous about showing you, so I thought I’d show you straightaway.” He swallowed hard. “I should really have made it clear why I wanted to go upstairs.” Stepping away from her he took two bottles of beer from the fridge and popped the tops off them.
“Why would you be nervous about showing me your work?” Allie asked when he handed her one.
He scratched at his neck. “Because I drew up your design for the golf course. To scale. A proper blueprint.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah. I took a photo of your sketch. I kept thinking about it and I did a bit of research into golf course architecture.”
“Wow.”