I laughed. ‘Isn’t that lucky.’

‘What time should I expect you?’

‘How’s six o’clock?’

‘Perfect. See you then.’ And with that, he turned and sauntered down the aisle towards the checkout, leaving me standing there trying to work out what the hell I was going to cook.

Seven hours later I sat in Jedda’s office helping her collate the Reporter and was still no closer to making a decision.

‘What about chicken curry? Or maybe stir-fry?’

‘For someone who alleges this is only dinner between friends, practically a business meeting, you seem to be worrying an awful lot about tomorrow night.’

Her teasing tone almost made me regret asking her opinion. ‘I want to cook something nice, but I don’t want to go too over-the-top in case I give Dan the wrong idea.’

‘And what idea would that be? That you’d like to bonk his brains out?’

‘Jedda! Don’t be ridiculous.’ But my temperature soared. I’d be lying if I said the idea hadn’t crossed my mind. Dan was hot, but this was all so new to me and we were both neck-deep in drama. ‘I’ll admit I enjoy his company, but I’m not planning on rushing into another relationship.’

‘Who said anything about a relationship?’ Jedda said. ‘But you don’t have to become a nun. Dan’s not stupid, I’m sure he’d understand you wouldn’t want to rush into anything serious so soon after your marriage ended. Stop stressing so much and just have fun.’

Fun? This was all too weird. I couldn’t believe this was my life we were discussing. It was almost as if I’d stepped into a parallel reality. Maybe in the real world I was still happily married to Adrian. Maybe I was in a coma and this was all a dream.

‘Okay. You’re right.’ I nodded, inhaling what I hoped would be a calming breath. ‘And anyway, I could be worrying over nothing. Who says he wants to sleep with me? We’ve spent a fair bit of time together since the cyclone and, so far, he’s been the perfect gentleman.’

Jedda snorted at this. ‘Oh, he wants to sleep with you all right. I’ve seen the way he looks at you when he comes to buy his coffee.’

Something inside me glowed at her words, yet at the same time, I squirmed. ‘Do you think it’s too late to go to Jurien and get a bikini wax?’

Once again, Jedda howled with laughter.

When she finally calmed down, she said, ‘Personally, I’m against grooming for anyone but myself, but I don’t think you need to worry anyway. If you let Dan inside your knickers, the last thing he’ll care about is if you’re a little overgrown. Trust me. Now, what about risotto?’

Chapter 48

48