God, no.’ He had the good grace to look embarrassed. ‘I’m not saying we have to jump straight into bed. We can have a drink downstairs in the bar first; it’s much quieter than the place we were just in. But it makes sense to be closer to the hotel, right? Are you okay? Did I say something wrong?’
‘I just, I don’t … I don’t feel comfortable with the assumption that we’re going to have sex on our first date.’ She stepped away from him in the hope that physical distance would make her point. This can be salvaged. If he just apologises, we can laugh about it and maybe get some food. It’ll be a running joke: ‘Remember that time you tried to get me into bed ten minutes after meeting me?’
‘Well come on. I mean, I came all this way …’
‘What, and that means I owe you a shag?’ Bea could hear her voice getting louder, but she wasn’t aware of raising it. ‘Because you paid for a train ticket?’
‘There’s no point in getting mardy now,’ he hissed. ‘Karen told me what you’re like.’
‘Oh yes? And what exactly did Karen say?’ There was a lump forming in her chest, and her cheeks were burning. She couldn’t imagine Karen telling this man anything terrible about her, but suddenly she was afraid to hear what he was about to say. It was as though the person she had been speaking to for the last week had disappeared completely, replaced by a complete stranger. He leaned in closer than was comfortable, and for the first time her embarrassment gave way to panic.
‘She said you were up for a good time. I know what she meant.’
Bea drew in a sharp breath. Had she really said that? Was that what Karen thought about her? Well isn’t that what you wanted her to think? Because you’d rather she thought you a slag than frigid and terrified. And that was the only reason he was here, not because they’d had a connection, or clicked, but because her best friend had told him she was an easy lay.
Hot tears stung at the corner of her eyes. They’d always joked about her single life, and yes, she did exaggerate her sexual appetite to her friends, but she’d never realised she’d caused Karen to have such a low opinion of her. In reality, there had been so few men in her life since university she could name them on one hand. Part of her was hurt, shocked, disappointed. The other part was furious.
‘Karen had no right to say that, and you can tell her so from me, next time you have one of your cosy little chats in the canteen.’
David looked confused, then confusion gave way to a sneer. ‘She told you we worked together? Ha, I think you’re the one who needs to have a chat with your “best mate”. We met online. On a dating website.’
She’d only had two glasses of wine in the bar, but now Bea’s head was starting to pound, right behind her eyes. A dating website? ‘Karen has a boyfriend. She doesn’t use dating websites.’
‘I know, that’s what she told me when I contacted her. She said it was an old profile and that she wasn’t looking for anyone. But she had a friend who was and she gave me your number. Told me all about you, how you’ve been single for years. Told me to text you and make sure I told you Karen gave me your number.’
How dare she! Encouraging her to go on a date with someone she’d never even met; telling an absolute stranger she was desperate and a sure thing. And this guy was vile. Seriously, who took a train journey to meet someone just for sex? And didn’t even offer to buy them a bloody meal first!
There wasn’t much else she could say to David, but a whole lot more she wanted to say to Karen. Karen, whose perfect relationship was with a man who wasn’t even completely hers, calling her easy! The whole thing would be laughable if it weren’t so horrific.
‘I’m really sorry that there has been a misunderstanding, but I think it’s time I went home. Karen should never have said those things; she should never have set this up in the first place.’
David’s face darkened, his eyes narrowed and he stepped closer again, so close that Bea could smell stale smoke on his breath from his last cigarette.