Slowly, I began eating my breakfast, conscious of his gaze upon me the whole time.
‘Do you have to watch me while I’m eating?’ I complained at last, my nerves jangling.
‘But you look so adorable!’ Rory laughed. ‘Sorry. I’ll look at the wall, shall I?’
‘Yes please.’
He sighed and dutifully turned to face the bookcase that stood against the wall at his side of the bed.
I watched him tilt his head slightly, as if reading some of the titles, and smiled. He never could resist a good book.
‘See anything you fancy?’ I asked.
‘I’m looking the wrong way for that,’ he replied.
I couldn’t help laughing, despite the cheesiness of his line. ‘All right, charmer. You can look round again.’
‘Oh, the relief!’ He winked at me. ‘How’s your breakfast?’
‘Absolutely yummy,’ I admitted. ‘I’d still like to know what I’ve done to deserve it, though.’
‘It’s our anniversary week,’ he reminded me. ‘I want it to be special.’
‘It’s not our anniversary until Saturday,’ I pointed out. ‘You don’t have to do anything at all until then, and a card will suffice anyway.’
His face clouded. ‘Ever the romantic.’
I felt ashamed, seeing the twinkle vanish from his eyes. ‘Sorry. I didn’t mean to put a dampener on things. You’re right, of course. Ten years is a long time. Lots to celebrate.’
He nodded, but I could see I’d spoiled the mood.
‘I thought we could make some plans,’ I said hastily.
‘Plans?’
‘How to spend this week.’ If I could fill our days with treats and special outings, he wouldn’t have time to drop any house viewings on me. I’d figured that out a couple of nights ago, as I lay in bed staring up into the darkness and worrying about the future. ‘I was thinking we could go on a tour of all the places we went to those first few weeks after we got together. Do you remember that picnic we had on Primrose Hill? I could barely eat for the wind blowing my hair in my face.’
‘It was the first time I told you I loved you.’ Rory nodded wistfully. ‘But you couldn’t hear me because of the wind, and I ended up shouting it at you, which wasn’t the romantic vibe I’d hoped for at all.’
‘It was very sweet though.’ I smiled at the memory. ‘It might be a bit chilly for a picnic today, but we could wrap up warm I suppose and maybe get pancakes at that lovely cafe instead of taking food with us.’
‘Maybe.’
‘Tomorrow,’ I continued, ‘I thought we could go into town for a look around the shops, and then in the evening we could go to that bar with the amazing views of St Paul’s Cathedral. Remember?’
Rory nodded. ‘I know where you mean.’
‘And then on Wednesday we could go for a walk by the canal in Little Venice? We haven’t done that for ages! We used to love getting away from it all there. Maybe we could?—’
I broke off as Rory shook his head.
‘You don’t want to go to Little Venice?’
He took a sip of his tea. ‘I wasn’t going to tell you this until tomorrow, but maybe it’s better if I tell you now so you have more time to prepare.’
My heart sank. So much for distracting him and filling up his days so he couldn’t spring any nasty surprises on me!
‘What is it?’ I asked. ‘What have you done?’
