Read Online Something Borrowed by Louisa George - Free Book Online Page A

foreheads grazed. Her cheeks heated. Her heart pounded. ‘Oh shit. Sorry. I’m not good at this.’
    ‘Me neither. Over here. Come sit down.’ He walked her to a table that had a guitar propped against it. Oh God, please don’t let him sing . ‘Coffee?’
    ‘Yes, please. Just black, and filter if they have it.’
    ‘Got it. I’ll be back.’ Which would have been fine if he hadn’t said it with an Arnold Schwarzenegger accent. But, well, clearly he liked a joke. That was a good thing. Wasn't it? A man with a sense of humour was very sexy. Usually. Sometimes? So far, so good. Height notwithstanding. But they could deal with that. She could stick to flats for the wedding— couldn’t she?
    She was all about compromise these days. She'd learnt her lesson the hard way. There are two people in a wedding, Chloe. Who'd said that? Ah yes, Vaughn Bloody Brooks; a fine time for him to jettison himself into her thought processes. Suddenly, she felt herself trembling just a little, her heart doing a strange thumpety-thump. First date nerves. Obviously.
    Then Carlhuna was back, still smiling. ‘Your coffee will be here in a minute. She said she’ll bring it over. It was four pounds fifty. You don’t half pick the expensive places.’ He stuck his hand out, and it took her a second to realise he was asking for the money for her drink.
    Fair enough. Days of equality, and all that. She rooted around in her purse for change. ‘I’ve only got four pounds thirty.’
    ‘You can owe me the rest, or pay me back in kind.’ He winked, pocketing the coins.
    God. Really? So soon? She didn’t even know his surname. Was that the way things were done these days? Hello, here’s a coffee. Fancy a shag? ‘Oh. Okay. I’ll give you an IOU? Twenty pence?’ She made a play of looking for a piece of paper, finally settling on a napkin and writing IOU 20p, signed, Chloe.
    Carl shook his hand and screwed the napkin up. ‘It was another joke. A very bad one. Look, I’ve never done this…’
    ‘Me neither.’ Her sense of humour seemed to have fled along with her courage.
    ‘Okay, so we’re both rubbish; that’s one thing in common, right? There must be other things? Let’s start.’ He straightened up in the chair and leaned across the table as if it were a job interview. Actually, it felt like one. ‘Tell me about yourself, Chloe? Why are you single?’
    ‘Er… I’ve just got out of a ten-year relationship. Well, three months ago. And I’m trying… this… out. You?’ Another thing on her hit list for Jason: making her do awkward small talk with a miserly musician midget.
    Carl picked up his guitar, glancing at her. ‘Sorry. It helps me relax. This whole dating thing makes me nervous.’ Then he started strumming. It wasn’t horrible, or intrusive, or bad. It was just strange. Please don’t sing.
    It was a tune she’d heard around the place. No. No, actually, for the love of God, it was the tune she’d chosen for her and Jason’s first dance. How bloody ironic. TheBigCarlhuna hummed a bit then, ‘ My heart’s so full …’ He grinned. ‘No, I’m not going to sing to you, don’t worry. I’m just trying to decide where to start. We were married for a couple of years, together for eight all up. Didn’t work out. I was doing the circuit trying to make a living, you know; gigs, bars, clubs and she wanted me home. We grew apart. No. No, we didn’t. She fell in love with someone else. Bloody cow.’ His eyes glistened, and his voice wobbled. ‘You’re my first, since… Since she left.’
    Please don’t cry. God, she couldn’t spend all her time with him wishing the poor man to please don’t… cry, sing… kiss me . He clearly wasn’t over his ex.
    Chloe didn’t want a man trying it on with her just to get over an adulterous wife. She didn’t want to be the rebound woman. That brought a whole load of problems she didn’t want to deal with. She had enough already trying to drum up business to pay her sister and