Free Take a Chance on Me by Debbie Flint Page B

deal of fake-tutting. ‘Well, seems I’ll have to go find somebody else’s gangplank to walk down then, won’t I?’ She laughed.
    He smiled awkwardly.
One night,
he thought to himself,
it’s just for one night.
‘What would you do if you couldn’t find another “gangplank”?’
    â€˜Seriously? Honey, I walk my own,’ she said, sincerely. ‘I’d make my own, just like luck.’
    That was the correct answer,
he thought, and he found himself relaxing more than he’d done with a woman in a very, very long time.
    A second hour was spent in easy repartee, with more philosophical musing about life in general and a debate about the old-fashioned version of Scrabble versus the new. The old won, naturally.
    Mac could feel himself getting progressively turned on by her feather-light touches, glancing across his arm, his knee. He returned the compliment by putting his arm along the back of the bench-seat, touching the skin on the back of her one bare shoulder every so often and pulling her close every time she had a story to tell.
    They ate a little dinner, his treat, but she insisted they took it in turns to buy the drinks – a revelation for Mac. The last time he’d allowed a woman to pay was back in college when he was skint. He’d since made it a principle that if
he
extended the invite,
he
picked up the tab. Over the years the party numbers had grown inordinately, but his principle had remained the same. Champagne by the magnum had eventually become the norm. Sure, he got it back in spades when his rich patrons stumped up with stratospheric charity donations, but sometimes his bar bills ran into tens of thousands. Tonight he doubted it would hit a couple of
hundred
euros – even including a big tip. But somehow, in a way Mac was scared to admit, it meant a whole lot more.
    When it came to another round of drinks, Sadie asked to switch to juice instead, and Mac found himself surprisingly pleased.
    â€˜Good idea,’ he told her. ‘I’ve got an early start too so I need to stay sharp.’
    â€˜And I’ve got my business meeting. PowerPoint’s and pina coladas don’t mix too well, do they?’
    Mac laughed.
    The banter was distinctly more witty, more fun, and definitely more memorable without the ‘affluence of incohol’.
    What a revelation.
    After one particularly cheesy joke, at which Sadie laughed out loud, a genuine, hearty laugh, Mac felt his body completely relax. He realised his shoulders were loose, at ease, and in the last two hours he’d also laughed more in a woman’s company than he’d done in the last ten years. He felt rejuvenated. A little of the old Mac was creeping in – he started to feel a bit more like himself. And he was definitely wanting to feel a bit more of Sadie.
    As the night progressed, Sadie also found herself feeling more and more relaxed as she snuggled next to Mac. She was chuffed that after a long drought, she was proving to herself that she could still drink her fill of fun with a man. Or maybe
this
man.
    â€˜It’s really weird, you know,’ she said. ‘I’m surprised at how natural this feels. Like I’ve known you for years. Are you sure we haven’t met before somewhere?’
    â€˜Not unless you’ve been Internet stalking me already?’ he said.
    â€˜Ptchah! Sure! With a name like Mac? Too many pages about computers or burgers to find anything to do with odd deckhands!’
    â€˜So you tried then?’
    â€˜Don’t flatter yourself! No time, sonny boy. Looking this naturally beautiful takes many hours. It’s an art.’
    â€˜Well, I’d pin you on the wall in
my
gallery anytime.’
    â€˜Creep!’
    â€˜Ahh, welcome back, dear high school nickname, it’s been a long time. How I have missed thee.’ And he took off an imaginary feathered hat and twirled it round in the air as if bowing to