The restaurant staff knew who Adam was. "Ah...Groe, you did bling pretty girl tonight. Come, come." The middle-aged Chinese man put his hand out and directed us to a table in the corner of the room. He beamed at me, saying, "He tell me he bling pretty girl tonight. Bout bloody time, I say. Kye think him gay."

I stared at Adam's laughing face. He shook his head and said, "Kye...shush!"

Kye laughed and touched the side of his nose with his finger. "I know, Kye talk too much."

"Yeah...you do," Adam agreed.

I smiled and cocked my head in question.

"I'm a regular. I eat here alone, sometimes with a mate." He jerked his head towards Kye and added, "He reckons I must be gay because he hasn't seen me with a woman."

Kye's face beamed. A cross between admiration and curiosity. He pointed his finger, "First one...you. Me have to pay him now, make bet with him."

For some reason, I was offended and questioned if I was the intended guest. Adam must have picked up on it because he cut Kye off by asking for a beer and turned to me. "What would you like to drink?"

Feeling daunted, I frowned and shrugged. "Water, thanks."

"You don't like wine?"

"Yeah, I do." I sighed, disappointed that I was the butt of a joke. "I'll have water."

A puzzled expression crossed Adam's face.

"What sort of wine do you drink?" Adam insisted.

I scolded myself for being an oversensitive idiot. "White."

Adam ordered me a glass of Sauvignon Blanc. This blew me away because I would have ordered the same drink.

When Kye walked away, Adam rested his forearms on the table and studied my face. "You're offended because Kye said we'd made a bet."

The knot wouldn't leave my throat. I was amazed he wanted to talk about it. Most men I've known brushed over such things and pretended it hadn't happened. I fiddled with the tablecloth and concentrated on his face as I said, "Yeah, a little."

Adam's face lit up.

I sucked in a sharp breath and had to hold it in fear of making a sound.

"So, you don't like being the reason for a bet."

"That depends on what the bet is about."

He laughed, took hold of a strand of my hair and ran his fingers down it. "I told him I was going to bring a girl tonight. Kye bet I wouldn't, nothing sinister."

I frowned. "Was I your intended guest?"

Adam cocked his head and grinned. "Yes. You were."

"What if I hadn't been home or said no and told you to piss off?"

He roared with laughter, leaned back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest. "Then I would have lost the bet and would be sitting alone."

My heart did a double flip. He had wanted to ask me out. I might have impressed him in the bed department. "Then I've done you a favour by coming with you," I said. He nodded in agreement, so I added, "You owe me half of what he bet you."

Adam laughed some more and put his forearms back on the table. "Dinner is on, Kye. That was the bet. You better eat heaps to teach the bastard for doubting me and thinking I'm gay."

I laughed with him as Kye put the drinks in front of us.

"There. Pretty girl got nice smile. Kye like."

I blushed and lifted my glass to hide my embarrassment.

Grinning, Adam jerked his head towards Kye. "Pretty girl's name is Jasmine and stop trying to chat her up you old bugger."

Kye clipped Adam on the back of the head. "What? You scared of competition, Groe." He laughed as he put the menus in front of us and walked away.

"What did you say your last name was?" I asked because Kye was calling him something different. Maybe I'd misheard.

He smiled and said, "It's Croe, but Kye can't say that. Calls me Groe." He shrugged. "It doesn't bother me." Adam took a mouthful of his beer straight from the stubby and studied me. "So...you want to tell me why you were upset that day?"

I blushed at what had happened when he had taken me home. I hung my head. "It was an incident at work. I don't want to bore you."

He put a finger under my chin and tilted my face. "You won't bore me. I want to know."

Before I could speak, Kye came to the table and asked if we wanted to order. I sighed in relief, hoping the interruption would change the subject. Adam ordered the banquet for us, and once Kye left said, "So, tell me."

I took a sip of wine and peered over the rim at him. He cocked his head and drew the glass away from my mouth. "I want you to tell me."

I didn't want to, but he wouldn't give up. "A customer groped me. I slapped him and tipped his drink on his head, and my supervisor got into me. He wouldn't let me explain. Then I accidently knocked over the chef's dessert and got into more trouble." I paused and added, "It was a bad day."

Adam clamped his lips together and peered at me. I recalled how my day had ended and wondered if he had the same image in his head. I took another sip of my drink to hide my embarrassment.

His eyes filled with amusement. I was sure we were on the same page. He said, "I hope your day's end wasn't too shoddy."

I choked on my drink and slapped my hand over my mouth so the liquid didn't spurt everywhere.

Adam laughed and handed me a serviette. He took a mouthful of his beer and watched me clean myself, and continued to speak to save me the embarrassment of having to answer. "Where do you work?"

"Kæ'feı "Rɒbərt". The instant I said the name, Adam's expression changed.

"You're a dancer there?"

"You know it?" I asked.

"Yeah, I know it." Adam leaned back in his seat and folded his arms. "Are you one of the dancers?"

No." I shook my head. "I work in the day. Nine to six. The dancers start at eight."

He smiled, tilted forward and rested his forearms on the table. "That's good hours. Plenty of time to go for a run in the morning."

I found his body language strange, but I didn't have time to think further as Kye came to the table with some dishes.

Adam shifted the items on the table to make room and said, "You don't have to wear one of those costumes, do you?"

I bit my lip and considered lying, but before I answered, he raised his eyebrows, grinned and said, "You do. I'd like to see that."

My face burned. I lifted a spring roll and then looked back at him. He stared at me, his eyes glistening with amusement, a trait I'd picked up on.

"What do you do?" I asked.

Adam put food on his plate as he said, "Nothing much. White collar worker, boring government office job." He grinned at me. "Not as exciting as your job. I would've liked to see the look on the guy's face when you poured his drink on his head."

I had the distinct impression he didn't want to talk about his job and veered away from the subject. Not to be set down, I asked, "What department?"

He made out he didn't know what I meant.

I added, "Which government department do you work for?"

"Transport." Adam grinned again and sighed. "You aren't going to expect me to tell you how boring my job is, are you?"

I laughed and shook my head. I sensed that he hadn't told me the truth. The image of him exchanging packages on the train flashed in my mind. Was he a villain? Could our lives match? Did I want them to?

Be careful Jasmine. Follow your instincts. 

Photo copyright - Getty Images

Word count - 1305