Page 15 of Made Up for Love
“If your sister hadn’t already lent you some money, I’d buy it for you. Call it an early Christmas present.”
“You don’t need to buy me a present; you’ve done enough for me already.” Heat flushed her cheeks. He’d certainly done a lot for her; most of it he didn’t know about though.
The smile he gave her made her tingle.
“Yes, I think you should get it.” He stood up, stretching his lean body. “I need to pick up a few things. Why don’t I meet you at the cash desk in about ten minutes?”
“Sure. I should get a couple of bits too.” Lydia went back to the changing room and lifted the dress over her head, taking care not to get it caught up or crease it. Once dressed in her own clothes, she gave the rejected outfits back to the sales assistant.
“Your boyfriend loved that last Biba one,” she confided, as she took the hangers from Lydia. “Said you looked gorgeous in it. Hope you’re going to wear it on Christmas Day for him.”
“Oh, he’s not my boyfriend.” Lydia threw the words out without fully taking in what the sales assistant had said.Gorgeous?
“Shame, he’s pretty hot too. You’d make a lovely couple.” The assistant busied herself straightening up the rack. “You have a good Christmas.”
“Thanks, you too.”
As Lydia wandered around the store, aimlessly picking out a pair of jeans, a couple of jumpers and basic T-shirts, to tide her over for however long she was going to be stuck in Scotland for, she thought about what the assistant had said. She knew Joel lived in or at least near London, which meant there could be an opportunity for them to meet up again. If he wanted to, of course. For all she knew, he couldn’t wait to be back at home and away from the flaky woman he’d met when he’d been snowed in.
She caught sight of him waiting at the till for her, a bag in his hands. He waved and smiled as she walked in his direction.
“Hey, you can get a lot of stuff in a short space of time.” Joel quirked an eyebrow as he examined the pile of clothes Lydia dumped on the counter.
The pile was indeed quite substantial, but as Lydia scanned the items, she remembered something important. “Knickers!”
“No need to be rude. I was only joking.” He laughed.
“No, I mean I forgot knickers. I don’t have any clean ones left and I don’t want the ones I have smelling of ginger-and-lime shower gel.”
“Mmm, I like ginger and lime.” His blue eyes sparkled at her.
“Don’t think you’re going anywhere near my knickers.” The thought of Joel in that region, stroking, caressing, kissing, caused her face to flame. “I’ll be back in a minute.” She rushed off to the lingerie department before he could notice her embarrassment.
Under normal circumstances, she would spend time there picking out the prettiest, laciest, silkiest garments with matching items. Knowing she would be taking them back to the till where Joel would see, she picked a three-pack of sensible, black panties that would cover everything. If they ever did go on a proper date, Lydia knew she would totally go and buy up everything in Boux Avenue.
“I didn’t have you down as a Bridget Jones type,” he said, when she got back and placed them on top of her other purchases. “I figured you were the more flowery, lacy kind of girl.”
“Well, we only met each other a couple of days ago. I wasn’t expecting you to know about my knickers quite this quickly.”
10
“Luke, I’m in trouble.”
Joel was lying on his back, on the bed in his hotel room, staring at the ceiling. He hadn’t moved from that position since he and Lydia had got back from their shopping trip.
After the knickers incident, they had browsed around the rest of the shopping centre, pointing out presents they wanted to buy for family and friends, before stopping for another drink and a snack. There were barely any people around and all everyone wanted to talk about was the weather and how their journeys to work had been horrific, but they still managed to get there. Conversation between the two of them had flowed easily and Joel was really beginning to like the woman he felt he’d rescued just a couple of days before.
“Why? What have you done?”
Calling Luke to tell him how he felt was the only thing to help him iron out his feelings. Part of him pondered whether he was caught up in the moment, living out what could essentially be the plot of a movie or a novel and that everything would come crashing down around him. Another part of him missed that it was the season getting to him, partly influenced by what had happened the previous year.
Either way, he needed to speak to someone before he went crazy.
“I’ve met someone.”
He could hear Luke’s brain ticking over despite the distance between them.
“How? I thought you were up there on business.”
