Page 13 of Be More Octopus

'Professor .. Jack… Car … ver. There we go. Ooh, lots of juicy stuff.'

'What do you mean juicy?' Em was doing a lousy job of hiding her interest.

'Don't worry. I just mean that there's lots about him. Let's start with LinkedIn.'

'Won't he know you've looked? I thought they shared that with you on LinkedIn?'

'A. He doesn't know who I am yet, and B. If you view someone's LinkedIn profile from an incognito browser page, they can't see it's you because you're not logged in. How useful it is depends on what they share publicly …. ' Lucy's voice trailed off.

'You've done this before, haven't you?'

'Of course! I Google all the men I date. Don't you?'

Em didn't answer. She'd only had one serious boyfriend before Connor, and they'd known one another since sixth form, so there had been no need to research him. And Connor … she hadn't been that interested at the start, and then when she was in too deep, she'd thought he was an open book. How wrong she'd been!

'Assuming he started uni when he was 18, he's 36 years old.'

'A lot older than me,' Em said.

'Only seven years at most! That's not an outrageous difference when you're staring 30 in the face. And talking of faces, his is rather nice. He doesn't look 36.'

Lucy was right - Professor Carver looked about 32 at the most.

'Boyish good looks is how I'd describe it,' Lucy said. Em could hear her typing again.

'Oh,' Lucy's tone changed slightly. 'Professor of eighteenth and nineteenth-century British history - your favourite subject!' She pulled a face.

Em loathed history, though that was mostly thanks to the lecherous bastard who taught them in secondary school. He'd had a penchant for perching on the edge of Em's desk to get a closer view of her cleavage.

Lucy carried on. 'He's got a thing about ships judging by the books he's written. It looks like he's presented a few obscure documentaries on the History Channel. Let's go back to Google.' Lucy sounded like she was trying to change the subject to something more encouraging. 'More stuff about his academic work, how to contact him at uni… Ooh, well, you're not the only one that fancies him. The top related search is “Is Professor Jack Carver married”'

'Seriously?' Em felt a pang of jealousy. Get a grip!

'Yep, followed by “Professor Jack Carver wife”.'

'There you go then - all the good ones are taken as they say.' It was a relief. Pulse-racing effects aside, a married 30-something history professor with a fan club was not what she needed in her life right now.

'I haven't clicked on it yet. We don't know if he is married.'

Em sighed, exasperated at Lucy's nosiness but also interested in knowing more. She could hear Lucy typing again.

'It's taken me to a society website. “The wedding of Lady Isabella de Vries to Doctor Jack Carver”.'

'See - he's not on the market.' said Em with an “I told you so” air, though she was surprised at how strong the sinking feeling of disappointment in her stomach was.

'The article is five years old, Em. They might not be together anymore. Why's he on holiday on his own if they are?'

Later that night, Em lay in bed, trying to sleep, but the heavy rain drumming relentlessly on the Velux window above her bed was distracting. And then there were the questions that kept going around in her head.

Why is the professor on holiday on his own for six weeks if he is happily married?

Why does he turn me into a jabbering wreck just by looking at me?

Why does he make me have all the cliched romantic reactions when he's not my type at all?

Why am I worried about all this when I don't want another man in my life yet?

And what am I going to do if he puts in a complaint to Nancy about me attacking him with the cleaning equipment?