The Wedding Date: The laugh out loud romantic comedy of the year!. Zara Stoneley

      The man has a point. ‘O-kay.’ I can take this, I am strong.

      ‘Well, like I said, at first I told her to get lost.’

      ‘Oh.’

      ‘My sister can be bossy, and I don’t like being told what to do.’ His eyes glint.

      Bugger. He’s going to hate ‘the rules’, if he ever gives me chance to come up with some.

      ‘But though I hate to admit it, she is right, it is the perfect distraction.’

      ‘The perfect distraction from what?’ I can’t help myself, I mean, any normal person would want to know, wouldn’t they?

      ‘Life.’ There’s a wry quirk to his mouth, and he moves on before I can push it. ‘And then of course, I saw you.’

      ‘Saw me?’ This was sounding better.

      ‘Stalking me.’

      ‘Ahh.’ Worse.

      ‘In the restaurant, and Amy seemed to know you, so I grilled her. I’m intrigued.’

      Intrigued isn’t quite ‘knocked off my feet by your presence’, but it’s a start I suppose.

      ‘And you sealed the deal out there with Tank.’ His eyes are all lit up and shiny. Which could be his brilliant acting skills, a sip of too hot coffee, or just the fluorescent lights. ‘I couldn’t sleep with a girl who doesn’t love animals, dogs in particular. That’s why I thought this would be a great place to meet.’

      ‘Sleep?’ I’ve gone all croaky. I don’t love Tank, but we can skip that for now.

      ‘Sleep. I presume you don’t intend staying awake for a whole week so you can keep an eye on me?’

      ‘Well no, but…’

      ‘And we will be sharing a room?’

      ‘Well, yes, but … just sleep, as in sleep?’

      ‘As in sleep. Unless you’re offering?’ I don’t know whether he’s just teasing, or he’s the one that is sex-starved.

      ‘I most certainly am not!’ I definitely need rules. ‘Sleep, bed, asleep, fine.’

      ‘Fine.’ He grins. ‘You were great with Tank, I love a girl with guts.’

      ‘I don’t need loving.’ It’s killed me to say it, when he’s looking all cute and nice, but it’s a fact. He’s not a date. I will keep reminding myself of that, before things get complicated. That’s rule number one.

      ‘Everybody needs loving, Sammy.’

      ‘I need rules, and don’t call me Sammy or I’ll call you snakey Jakey in public.’ He’s grinning. That might not quite work over the wedding breakfast though. Unless it’s said in a lip-licking way, which is frankly not how I should be thinking.

      ‘I have er, rules…’ Best to get it over with now, if we’re going to be totally honest.

      ‘Rules?’

      ‘No, er, loving.’ He raises an eyebrow. ‘Or sex.’

      ‘Is this with you, or in general?’

      ‘Ever!’

      His eyebrow goes higher.

      ‘Not ever, ever. Just while we’re at the wedding. You can’t go off and shag the other guests. If Liam hadn’t gone off waving his willy in the wind, then … don’t you dare laugh!’ I glare, and he holds a hand up in surrender.

      ‘No laughing going on here. Promise.’ He’s gone all serious again. ‘But I don’t think it’s waving it in the wind that was the problem.’

      He has a point. But if the one-eyed trouser snake had stayed in the cheating bugger’s trousers, then I wouldn’t have to be here, doing this. Splitting up is one thing, splitting up because your boyfriend has put his other girlfriend up the duff is another. ‘No sex in general.’ I know I’m muttering, and stabbing marshmallows like I’d like to stab a certain person’s dangly bits. ‘You’re supposed to be my boyfriend. My adoring boyfriend.’

      ‘Smitten?’

      ‘Totally. Yes, that’s rule number two. How could you not be?’ I’m going to have to write these down before I forget them.

      ‘How could I not be?’ I can hear the smile in his voice, and when I look up from my hunt-the-marshmallow search, he’s grinning.

      ‘Exactly. Stop laughing at me.’

      ‘That’s honestly a rule? The smitten bit? You just added that one.’ He is grinning in a way that suggests he might not be very good at sticking to rules. ‘How about we forget rules? We just need to get to know each other a bit.’

      I knew he wasn’t the type to stick to rules. ‘The no sex rule is non-negotiable.’ But if I don’t see this through, then I’ve had it. This is make or break. I’m running out of time.

      ‘Shame, but who says I want sex anyway?’

      I decide to ignore that bit. It was him that mentioned the loving bit, I just embellished. I mean that’s how it goes, isn’t? Love, sex, marriage? ‘So, you will do it?’

      ‘Look, Sam.’ His smile looks a bit sad. ‘I’m not being flip here, but I really get how you feel. I know what it’s like to be betrayed, I know how shitty it is.’ He’s looking past my right ear, and there’s a hint of that harshness back in his voice but this time it’s tinged with something else. Hurt. His gaze drifts back to my face, and he looks straight into my soul. ‘What you’re doing is incredibly brave.’ The smile lifts, and his tone softens. ‘Far braver than tackling Tank. And I love that you’re such a good friend to this Jess.’

      I smile back. I can’t help it. I want to hug him.

      ‘I want to help, I want us to go up to Scotland and show this Liam just what a stupid twat he is.’ He leans forward, earnestly, like we are co-conspirators. ‘I want us to have a wild time.’ He’s gone all twinkly again. ‘We are going to have so much fun. I am definitely up for it.’

      ‘A whole week, in Scotland, with me and my batty friends and family?’ I need to be sure. ‘Horse-riding and fishing and stuff like that.’ He’s looking amused. ‘On a big estate, miles from anywhere.’ He’s still not said no. ‘With no sex.’

      ‘You’re really selling this.’ He’s chuckling. ‘I can’t wait.’

      ‘And everybody does have to believe you’re my real boyfriend.’

      ‘Of course.’

      ‘It’s top secret, the only people who know are Sarah and your sister, of course.’

      ‘Good.’

      ‘And my hairdresser, and everybody who was in the salon.’

      ‘But it is top secret?’

      ‘Nobody at the wedding must suspect. We’ll have to get to know each other, practise.’

      ‘Practise?’ Jake raises his eyebrow. He really has to stop that, it makes me wriggle. And when I wriggle I realise my knickers have dried into something more like cardboard than cotton. Which is not a good sensation.

      I ignore his naughtiness. ‘You need to be…’ I pause. I had originally had in mind just a boyfriend, any kind of boyfriend. Okay, I hadn’t really thought about it in detail. But now I am thinking about it I realise that Jake isn’t like just any kind of boyfriend. Jake is posh, Jake is good-looking, Jake has endless possibilities that I need to have a think about. Jake is an actor. ‘You need to be the type of boyfriend who would drive a Ferrari, and adore me, and watch chick flicks on a Friday night, and…’ I really do need to think about this.

      ‘Whatever your heart desires.’