A Forever Family: Their Christmas Delivery. Kate Hardy

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СКАЧАТЬ friend. You feel a bit guilty and as if you’ve let your friend down.’

      ‘That sounds like experience talking,’ Amy said.

      Josh wrinkled his nose. ‘I did have a couple of well-meaning friends try to set me up, earlier this year, but I told them I just wasn’t ready.’

      She nodded. ‘I know what you mean. It was a while before I could face dating after I split up with Michael; then, after that, I just didn’t meet anyone I could click with.’

      Though she had a feeling that she could click with Josh, given the chance. It surprised her how much she liked him and how easy he was to talk to.

      ‘One of my friends tried speed-dating a few months back,’ Josh said. ‘He tried to talk me into going with him, but it sounded a bit too much like a meat market for me. He did say afterwards that all the women he’d met had had a massive list of questions they’d prepared earlier, and it felt like the worst kind of job interview.’

      ‘I guess asking questions is a quick way of getting to know someone,’ she said.

      He smiled at her. ‘Maybe we should look at one of those lists. It’ll save us having to think up our own questions.’

      ‘Good idea,’ she said, carefully separating the tenderstem broccoli and adding it to her pile of stir-fry veg before starting on the butternut squash.

      Josh took his phone from his pocket and flicked into the Internet. ‘Here we go. What you do at work? Well, we already know that about each other. Where are you from?’ He frowned. ‘That’s pretty irrelevant.’ He flicked further down the list. ‘OK. Let’s try this one. What’s the one thing about yourself that you’d like me to know?’

      ‘I don’t have a clue,’ she said.

      ‘Me, neither. Let’s skip to the next one.’ He grimaced. ‘That’s all about your last relationship. It’s too intrusive. Same as whether you’re looking to get married.’ He shook his head. ‘I can’t believe you’d actually ask a complete stranger if they’re looking to get married when you’re thinking about maybe dating them for the first time. I mean—you might be completely incompatible. Why would you talk about marriage that early on?’

      ‘Maybe that’s the point of speed-dating. To speed everything up,’ Amy said. ‘If you want to settle down but the person you’re thinking about dating doesn’t, you’re both kind of wasting each other’s time.’

      ‘That question still feels wrong.’ He scrolled down the page. ‘This is a bit more like it. What do you do for fun?’

      ‘Music,’ she said promptly. ‘Not clubbing—I like live music, whether it’s a tiny venue where there’s only enough room for a couple of dozen people listening to someone playing an acoustic guitar, or a big stadium with a massive stack of amps and a light show.’

      ‘What kind of music?’ he asked.

      ‘All sorts—everything from pop to rock. I’m not so keen on rap,’ she said, ‘but I love the buzz you get from going to a concert and singing along with the rest of the audience. What about you?’

      ‘I tend to listen to rock music when I’m running,’ he said. ‘Something with a strong beat that keeps me going.’

      ‘So you’re a runner?’

      ‘Strictly outdoor. I like the fresh air, and the views,’ he said, ‘rather than being cooped up in a gym on a treadmill where you just see the same patch of wall for half an hour or so.’

      ‘Park or river?’ she asked.

      ‘If it’s wet, river,’ he said, ‘purely because you’re less likely to slide on the mud and rick your ankle. If it’s dry, definitely the park because it’s lovely to see all that green, especially in spring when all the leaves are new and everything looks fresh. And if I worked regular hours I’d definitely have a dog to run with me.’ He shrugged. ‘I don’t have a dog because my hours aren’t regular and it wouldn’t be fair to leave the dog alone for so long.’

      ‘You look like a Labrador person,’ she said.

      He nodded. ‘Or a spaniel. Or a Dalmatian—where I lived before, our neighbour had this amazing Dalmatian who used to smile at me. And it really was a friendly greeting rather than baring his teeth, because his tail was wagging so hard the whole time.’

      Amy could see the wistfulness on his face. The breakup of his marriage had cost him more than just his relationship.

      ‘How about you?’ he asked.

      ‘No to the running. I like spinning classes,’ she said, ‘because I don’t have to worry about riding a bike in traffic and I don’t have to drag myself outside when it’s wet.’

      ‘That’s reasonable—though, actually, running in the rain is great. Dog or cat?’

      ‘Dog,’ she said. ‘But, like you, I don’t want to leave a dog cooped up alone in my flat all day. So I make the most of it when I go to see my parents—they’ve got Border terriers.’

      He continued scrolling through the list of questions. ‘Some of these definitely sound more like the sort of thing you’d ask in a job interview. Why would you ask someone if they have a five-year plan?’

      ‘Because you want to know if they’re ambitious and would put their career before your relationship; or find out if they’re the kind of person who drifts along and gets stuck in a bit of a rut,’ she suggested.

      ‘Which in turn probably means your relationship will end up in a rut, too.’ He rolled his eyes. ‘There have to be easier ways of getting to know what a person’s like.’

      ‘In the space of three minutes, or however long it is you have on a speed date? I don’t think you have a choice but to ask intrusive questions,’ she said.

      ‘I give up on the list. What sort of thing would you ask?’

      ‘About their interests,’ she said. ‘Dating someone who wanted to spend their whole weekend playing sport or watching sport would be pretty wearing.’

      ‘Yes, because when would you get time to do other things together?’ he agreed.

      ‘In the evenings, maybe—something like the cinema?’ she suggested.

      ‘I haven’t been to the cinema in way too long,’ he said. ‘I tend to end up waiting for things to come out on DVD, and even then I haven’t caught up with all the latest releases, and I’ve got a pile of stuff I’ve been meaning to see and haven’t had time for.’

      ‘So why don’t you go to the cinema?’ she asked. ‘Because you like the kind of things that nobody else does, so you’d have to go on your own?’

      ‘Art-house movies in a foreign language?’ he asked. ‘No, it’s more that my duty roster tends to get in the way and everyone’s already seen the film before I get a chance. I like the big sci-fi blockbusters.’

      ‘Ah. Now I have a question for you. Team Cap or Team Iron Man?’ she asked.

      ‘Team Cap,’ he said СКАЧАТЬ