‘I like cooking,’ she said simply. ‘It relaxes me.’
‘You’re really good at it. Did you ever think about going into catering rather than accountancy?’
‘You asked me that before.’ She shook her head. ‘I’m happy with my job—or I will be, if I get offered the one I had the interview for the other day.’
‘I’ll keep my fingers crossed.’ He paused. ‘And if you don’t get it?’
‘Then I’ll keep applying until I get a permanent job. But in the meantime the temping tides me over,’ she said. ‘Anyway, I don’t really want to talk about work tonight. Though I guess work is a good topic for a first date when you’re trying to get to know someone.’
‘As we’re sorting out my rusty dating skills, what other topics of conversation would you suggest for a first date?’ he asked.
‘Things you like and don’t like. Say, what kind of films do you normally watch?’ She looked at him. ‘I’m guessing action movies?’
‘Actually, no. I like the old ones that rely on good direction and acting rather than special effects.’
‘Like Hitchcock’s films?’ she asked. ‘Vertigo and Rear Window are two of my favourites.’
‘Mine, too,’ he said. ‘So does this mean you’re a film snob at heart?’
She raised an eyebrow. ‘Would a film snob go to singalong musical showings?’
He groaned. ‘No. Please. Tell me you don’t.’
‘Oh, I do—that’s one thing where Bella and I definitely see things the same way,’ she said with a grin. ‘You can’t beat singing along to Grease, Mamma Mia or The Sound of Music with a cinema full of people.’
‘So I really did get off lightly, tonight.’
‘You don’t like musicals?’ she asked.
He grimaced. ‘Lyn used to make me watch these terrible rom-coms. I put up with them for her sake, but...’ He grimaced again. ‘I’m sorry if you think rom-coms are wonderful, too, but they’re really not my thing. Musicals aren’t quite my thing, either.’
‘I’ll remember not to drag you along to a rom-com or a musical,’ she said. ‘Though you’re missing out. Doris Day, Gene Kelly—that kind of film is the best thing ever for cheering you up when you’ve had a bad day.’
‘No. That would be going to a gig performed by one of Hugh’s pop punk bands,’ he corrected. ‘Standing right in the middle of the front row, yelling the songs along with them and letting the sound drive everything else out of your head.’
‘Pop punk? I’m sure you look great wearing guy-liner,’ she teased.
‘Oh, please. At thirty, I’m way too old for that.’ But he was laughing, and he held her hand all the way to the Tube station—and all the way back to Docklands.
They walked hand in hand along the river frontage in easy silence, watching the play of lights on the water. Grace thought wistfully, if only this was real. But that wasn’t the deal, and she needed some space to stand on her own two feet again. So for now she’d just enjoy the moment. Two weeks of being swept off her feet. Wanting more was just greedy.
‘I had a really good time tonight,’ Roland said.
‘Even though it’s not the glamorous kind of stuff someone like you is used to?’ she asked.
‘It was fun,’ he said. ‘You put a lot of thought into it and came up with something original and different that I really enjoyed. Anyway, it doesn’t have to be super-glamorous or cost a lot of money for it to be a good time—like now. There’s nothing better than walking by the river at night watching the lights on the water, and that doesn’t cost anything.’
‘True,’ she said. ‘I can see why you live here.’
‘Is this the sort of area where you’d live, if you had the chance?’ he asked.
‘Are we talking about my dream home? That would be a pretty little Victorian terraced house, filled with the kind of curtains and cushions you hate most,’ she said. ‘If I won the lottery, I’d want a place that overlooked somewhere like Hampstead Heath, or have one of those gorgeous houses in Notting Hill that have access to a pretty garden.’
He stopped and turned to face her. ‘Like the one in the film where the movie star kisses the ordinary guy?’
‘I guess,’ she said, and she couldn’t help staring at his mouth. Except he wasn’t an ordinary guy and she wasn’t a film star.