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“Plushies?”

“Oh my God, I need a phrase book.” She shakes her head. “Maybe we should converse by Google Translate. Plushies are those stuffed things over there.”

She points over at a huge display with teddies and stuffed animals, and I nod. “Ah, yeah, I guess she’d like those.”

In the end we go for a giant princess LEGO set, because Daisy loves to build things, plus a Jellycat branded dragon that Georgia tells me is all the rage and completely impossible to find.

When they’re wrapped, I take the gifts out to Eduardo who puts them in the boot of the car.

“Come on,” I say to her. “I owe you lunch. What kind of food would you like to eat? I’ll ask the concierge to call ahead and get us a table.”

“We’re about five minutes away from Fishies,” she says as I open the car door for her. “That’s on my list of places to visit.”

“Fishies? As in fish and chips?” I frown. I was thinking Rules or The Ivy. Not battered cod served in novelty paper.

“Do you know you have a tell when you hate something?” she asks as I hold the car door open for her to climb inside.

“I do?” I frown. “What is it?”

She shrugs. “You look like you hate it.”

I start to laugh. “It’s called Fishies. What’s to like?”

“Have you ever been?”

“No,” I admit.

She looks at me pointedly. “So how do you know it’s not good?”

I lean forward to talk to Eduardo. “Can you take us to Fishies please?” Because I know when I’m beat.

He doesn’t show any reaction. “Of course, Mr. Hunt.”

When we get to the restaurant there’s an hour wait for a table. In the end we grab some takeaway and carry it back to the car.

“We should eat it outside,” she says when I go to open the door for her. “It’s going to stink the car out.”

“It’s fine,” Eduardo says. “The car isn’t needed again until this evening. I can air it out before that.”

Shrugging, Georgia starts picking at the chips with the wooden fork they gave us, then takes a bite of the fish from the Styrofoam packaging emblazoned with a blue fish. “Oh god, that’s really good,” she says. “Try one.”

So I do. And she’s right. It really is good. Eduardo pulls away, easing the car into the lunchtime traffic as we eat. Christ, I’m really attracted to this woman.

The way I haven’t been attracted to anybody in a long, long time.

What’s more, I like her. She makes me laugh. It’s a double whammy and completely intoxicating.

“Come with me to Daisy’s party,” I say to her. Because suddenly I really, really want her there.

She blinks. “When is it?”

“It’s on Saturday,” I tell her. “And really, you should absolutely come. You’re the one who chose her present after all. She’s going to want to meet the woman who knows her Jellycats from her JelloCats.” I give her a soft smile, because I really want her to say yes.

She starts to laugh. “Are you allowed to take a plus one?”

“It’s a kid’s birthday party. So yes. Plus Beckett – her dad – would love to meet you.”

“He knows about me?” Her lips part. She exhales softly.