‘I went shopping for some clothes for you.’ He handed her the bags.
‘You bought me clothes?’ Immy said in surprise.
‘Well, I figured you might be here for a few days, and as much as I love seeing you walk around in my shirt, I thought you might prefer your own clothes. Most of them are from Popsy, just down the road, as I know you wear a lot of their stuff, but I got some other bits too.’
She loved the clothes at Popsy, all brightly coloured dresses with large flowers or different animals. She had an otter dress, one with bats on, one with cows. She had a raspberry dress, one with tea cups, one with unicorns and dragons. She could never walk past the shop without popping in to see their new styles and she almost always bought something. Her favourite dress had little sweets all over it, which she wore a lot when working in her shop.
She also loved that Xander paid attention to what she wore and knew her taste in clothes.
She peered inside the bag. There was a dress with seahorses, one with starfish, one with narwhals and one with a beautiful murmuration of starlings across a pink sunset sky.
‘These are beautiful, but I can’t accept them. This must have cost a couple of hundred pounds.’
‘You don’t need to worry about that.’
‘I do worry about it. I’m not with you for money or expensive gifts. I do need clothes and I’m very grateful you’ve bought these for me but I’ll pay you back.’
She bit her lip. She didn’t have a lot of money in her savings and most if not all of that would have to be ploughed back into the shop and new stock.
‘It’s my job as father of your baby to make sure you have everything you need, including clothes.’
She scowled and he leaned over and gently rubbed the scowl away with his thumb. ‘It’s a gift, and one I’m happy to give you. So just say thank you.’
She smiled. ‘Thank you.’
‘My pleasure. Now open the other bags.’
She picked up one bag from Liberty, a shop that had recently opened on Cherry Lane, the main high street through Lovegrove Bay. She hadn’t had a chance to pop in there yet. She looked inside and pulled out a forget-me-not-blue satin dress that looked like it might be some kind of ball gown. It had a deep V slash at the front, which gathered the dress together in a beaded and sequinned flower. It was beautiful.
‘This is lovely, but it’s a bit formal for lounging around the house.’
‘I thought we could go on a date tonight, if you’re willing. No expectations of anything more than dinner. But everything about our relationship has been physical so far and I’d really like the opportunity to do itproperly, to date you, get to know each other, outside of the bedroom. Maybe we can see if we stand a chance of being together long-term.’
She stared at him, her heart already thundering in her chest that he wanted that, because she wanted that too. But she didn’t know if he wanted that because of her or the baby.
‘Because I’m pregnant?’
He frowned. ‘Because I adore you, because we have something special I’ve never had with anyone before. Isn’t this worth a try to see if we can have something serious?’
She sighed. ‘I don’t think my heart will survive if you push me away again.’
‘That’s not going to happen.’
She wanted to believe him, she wanted to trust in him but she couldn’t do that yet. But she couldn’t keep him at arm’s length either. She could date him, see what they were like in a proper relationship and try to keep her heart locked away as much as possible. At least until she knew she could trust him with it.
‘Or not,’ Xander said, sensing her hesitation. ‘I totally understand if you just want to be friends. I hurt you so badly and behaved like a complete ass and I understand if you never trust me again. Just say the word and I’ll take the dress back and never mention this again. I certainly wouldn’t want to pressure you into doing something you don’t want to do.’
‘I’d like to go on a date with you.’ Immy spoke from the heart before her head could get involved.
His face lit up and she knew she was making the right decision. ‘You would?’
She nodded. ‘I know I said I just wanted to be friends, but I don’t really want that. I am scared of getting hurt again and I’m trying desperately to protect my heart but I believe everyone deserves a second chance.Wedeserve a second chance.’
‘And I take that very seriously. We can go as slow as you want. Just because we’re tentatively dating, doesn’t mean we need to jump straight back into bed with each other. No sex, until you’re ready. You can take as long as you need to find out if you can trust me.’
‘OK.’
‘I’m going to take you somewhere a bit classy for our first date. Thought you could wear this. I got you some sandals too – flats. I know you hate heels.’
