Nate rolled his eyes.
‘Okay,’ Robin said, and meandered off back to his table, his boys following.
The chatter started up again and Nate led Laurel over to their little perch on the low wall.
‘Are you sure you’re okay?’ he asked, a little reluctant to let her go.
‘I’m sure,’ she said, with a resigned close-lipped smile.
She wasn’t.
‘Anwar,’ Nate called, fishing his credit card out of his wallet. ‘Get us a couple of brandies, doubles, and one for Robin. Oh, and get one for yourself as well.’
‘Brandy?’ Laurel’s mouth turned down in a grimace as Anwar obediently trotted off.
Nate smiled briefly. ‘Yeah, it’ll settle your nerves.’
Laurel looked down at her hands. He had the sudden urge to follow George Hibbert, grab him like he had Laurel and force him to grovel. She reached out and put a small hand on his larger one, folding her fingers around his.
‘Thank you. You didn’t have to, but thank you,’ she said, looking up at him with those big whiskey eyes.
‘I did have to,’ he said, heart thumping in his chest. Her throat bobbed in a swallow. ‘People don’t get to treat you like that, Laurel. You shouldn’t have to put up with it.’
The brandies arrived, and Laurel coughed after throwing hers back in one long gulp.
‘Urgh, how do people do that?’
‘Well, they don’t normally do it with brandy, that’s for starters.’ Nate laughed, sipping his drink.
Laurel laughed as well.
‘Anyway, tell me about your mum, she must be amazing to have raised you by herself,’ Laurel said, touching his arm lightly.
‘She is.’ So, he told her about his mum.
Nate told her about the time she’d cried when he passed his judo white belt grading aged six, how she had saved for months so he could have a bouncy castle party in the local town hall and how no one, ever, could make a tuna and cheese toastie like hers.
He let his knee rest against her thigh, her hand lightly touching his arm. This was heading somewhere, he knew it, and he wanted it.
‘Oh, I love this song!’ Laurel’s face lit up when some god awful, soft indie rock came on.
‘Come on then, let’s dance,’ Nate said, taking her hand and pulling her up to join the students waving their arms around and sashaying drunkenly to the music.
He twirled her under his arm and she laughed up at the darkening sky, and then he pulled her close, wrapping his arm around her back. She was slightly soft around the edges and he wondered what it would be like to kiss her, but then pushed it quickly out of his mind. They had to spend every day together, and a one night stand would not be good for their working relationship. Besides, it’s not like he was in love with her.
‘How did you get all these muscles?’ Laurel said, squeezing his shoulder and sliding her hand down his bicep.
‘How did your skin get to be so soft?’ he murmured, letting his hand slip under her top. She pressed herself tighter against him.
The sound of the minibus rumbled closer and the students cheered drunkenly, getting ready to leave.
Laurel bit her lip and looked up at him, heat and desire in her eyes. ‘Do you want to come b—’
The trill voice of one of the female students interrupted her. ‘Dr Daley, Anwar’s throwing up behind the wall!’
Laurel shook her head with a smile and stepped back from him. Was she going to ask him back to hers? Would he have gone? Damn right he would have gone.
‘I don’t have to deal with that, do I?’ he asked, hopefully.
