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‘Yes.’
‘She all right with that?’
I looked at him. ‘Why wouldn’t she be?’
‘I don’t know. I just didn’t want her thinking that I was, I don’t know, taking advantage of you, or something.’
A giggle burst up. ‘You’re frightened of her!’
‘I am not!’ Rob defended himself, ‘I’m just saying that I didn’t want her getting the wrong idea about us. About this.’
‘Afraid of another broken nose?’
Rob pulled a face. ‘Somehow I don’t think Mags would be that generous.’
He probably had a point. His nose might well be the last of his worries.
‘She won’t get the wrong idea, Rob. I promise. I put her straight on that.’
He looked at me. ‘So, she did suggest something?’
‘Why do I suddenly feel as if I’m in the witness box?’
He smiled at me.
‘You look like a shark about to attack,’ I laughed. ‘Is that what you do? Put people at ease with your easy manner and gorgeous smile before going straight for the jugular!’
Now it was his turn to laugh. ‘You’ve been watching too much Law and Order.’
I wobbled my head in a ‘maybe yes, maybe no’ sort of way.
‘And you didn’t answer my question.’
‘Oh my God!’ I laughed, resting my head on the back of the sofa, ‘You are not going to let this go, are you?’
‘I just don’t want Mags thinking I’m–’
‘Rob. She doesn’t. Ok? Don’t worry about it. She knows you’re just being a friend.’ I bumped against him in a gesture of reassurance. He smiled and nodded without looking at me.
‘Good.’ he said. ‘Yep, that’s good. Right. I’d better find you a toothbrush, hadn’t I?’ With that, he got up and headed off towards the bathroom.
Half an hour later I was sat ready for bed in Rob’s guest room. I stood up and looked at the image in the mirror. Rob had leant me a pyjama top that was still in its packet.
‘I only ever wear the bottoms.’ he’d explained, handing it over to me.
To say it was a little big was a mild understatement. Let’s just say, I probably didn’t actually need to stay in Rob’s flat – I could camp out just in this shirt. The top covered most of my thighs, the sleeves brushed my knees and there was about a mile of fabric each side of my body. Sweetly, he’d also included a pair of socks which again, although miles too big, were lovely and cosy.
Ever since I’d pulled an all-nighter at the studio a couple of years ago – a bride had come in for a final fitting having spent the previous three weeks on a clearly very effective crash diet – I now always made sure I was prepared for another. A flannel, toothbrush and travel sized toothpaste sat neatly in a cosmetic bag in my desk drawer. I preferred to keep the set of spare underwear closer to hand. The remote, yet still possible, chance that someone looking for something in my drawer may unwittingly plonk my undies out into full view gave me a twitch. Which is why they lived in a securely zipped pocket of my carry-everywhere tote. A fact I was extremely glad of at this precise moment. Rob might be sweet enough to lend me pyjamas and socks but I was pretty sure I’d be out of luck in the underwear department and there was no way on Earth I was going to go ‘commando’.
Rob said he’d left a new toothbrush out in the bathroom for me so I stuck my head out of the door and peered round. It had actually turned into a really lovely evening, just sitting and relaxing together. But I wasn’t quite ready to face up to him in my – or rather his – pyjamas just yet. I looked around. I could hear movement in his bedroom so I took the opportunity to scoot along to the bathroom and get my own ablutions taken care of before he was ready to. I went in, locked the door and picked up the toothbrush. As I peeled the packaging away, I thought back to what he’d said about buying in bulk, and wondered just how much of that was true. And then I wondered why it bothered me if it was.
I finished cleaning my teeth and, upturning one of the glasses on the counter, popped my toothbrush in it. I stared at the glass for a moment, it being there was yet more evidence at the hint that this place definitely had a woman’s touch to it. I mean, who has two glasses in their bathroom – unless you own a hotel. Or – the other thought barrelled back at me – you’re just used to having people stay over. A lot. We were back to the bulk buying of toothbrushes. And I was too tired to think about it all. Or think about why I was even thinking about it all. I unlocked the door and cracked it open a smidge, checking to see if I could make it back to the guest room undetected. All clear. I did a half walk, half run thing and made it to the door. Except the momentum from the ‘run’ part of the manoeuvre kept me going, and my cosy socks offered no purchase on the wood floor. And I kept right on going straight into the door. I grabbed at the handle in an attempt to stop the inevitable but it happened anyway and I landed hard on my backside in the hallway.
‘Izzy?’
Rob’s door flew open and he stood there in the matching bottoms to my enormous top. After a split second of just staring at me, he rushed over but I was already batting him away, embarrassed.
‘Are you all right?’
‘I’m fine.’ I said, trying to decide the best way to make an elegant recovery from the prone position I was now in. I decided there wasn’t one. I sat up and winced. Rob caught it. He bent down, hooked his arms underneath mine and stood me up.
‘Thanks.’
‘Are you all right?’ he asked again.
I did my best to erase the mortifying picture I had in my head of me sliding down the corridor that must have greeted Rob as he pulled open his door, and instead put on a big smile.
‘Absolutely.’ Not true. My backside was killing me. ‘Socks. Floor. Slippy.’ I explained. ‘But I’m fine. Really. Just a bit of a sore bum.’
A smirk fluttered across his mouth, albeit briefly.
‘And don’t think I didn’t see that.’
‘Sorry.’ he said, ‘I’d offer to rub it better for you, but that’d be such a cliché.’
‘It would.’
‘So I won’t.’
‘I’m so glad.’
He grinned at me, and I couldn’t help but return it. He took a couple of steps back towards his own room.
‘Sure you’re ok?’
‘I’m sure, Rob. Really.’
‘All right, but just let me know if anything hurts later, or tomorrow. As I said earlier, my mate’s only round the corner.’
‘If I’m not going to let you rub anything better, then what makes you think I’m going to let anyone else have a go?’
Rob looked happily puzzled. ‘My mate’s a doctor.’
‘Ohhhhh! Yes. Right. You did say that.’
Rob took a couple of steps back towards me again and leant over and opened the door. As it had apparently become clear I wasn’t to be trusted with these things myself.
‘Night, Izz.’
‘Night, Rob.’
He bent down and kissed me on the cheek.
‘Sleep well.’ he said before turning and heading towards the bathroom. I watched him go. It was kind of hard not to. He looked pretty gorgeous in a suit. In pyjama bottoms and a t-shirt he looked… I stopped myself. What on Earth was I doing? This was Rob. We were friends. And he’d even said earlier he wasn’t looking for anything from me, other than friendship. And I wasn’t looking for anything other than that right now either. If I was, I’d have jumped on the hot Italian from earlier. But I didn’t. Because I wasn’t ready for anything like that in my life right now. But I still couldn’t help watching Rob walk away. My eyes slid to his feet. No socks. Ha! I knew it. Sabotage.
Chapter Six (#ulink_b522381a-a91e-5972-867d-dc0177a55717)
I was sat on the floor of Rob’s living room the next morning, my papers spread all around me, when he wandered in, still dressed in his pyjama bottoms and t-shirt. His face had a sleepy look to it and his jaw showed a distinct hint of scruff.
‘Morning.’
‘Morning!’ I replied, my eyes going back to my work.
‘How’s your bum?’
‘Absolutely fine, thank you. Yours?’
He laughed and shoved a coffee pot sachet in his machine and pressed a button. Leaving it to run, he came over and crouched down to where I was sat with his lovely warm blanket around me. He pulled it back and peered around it, and the acres of pyjama top, to where I was sat on a large and, more importantly, soft cushion. He brought his gaze up to where I was purposefully avoiding meeting it.
‘Ok. So I bruised it a bit.’
He let the blanket fall back and stood up.
‘Did you get yourself coffee?’
‘No, I thought I’d wait for you.’ I glanced up.
He smiled at me and a few minutes later placed two cups of coffee and a pile of toast on the breakfast bar. I climbed up from my perch atop the cushion and padded over to one of the seats facing the window. Rob took the one next to me. I picked up one of the coffees. Wrapping my hands around it, I looked out at the snow.
‘Doesn’t look like it’s stopped all night.’
He shook his head. ‘Nope.’ he said, simply, snagging a piece of toast and leaning back in his chair to reach for a knife for the marmalade out of the drawer. I watched him for a moment and pictured the scene ending badly. Hopping up, I walked over the few steps to the cutlery drawer, pulled it out, took a knife and handed it to Rob.
‘Oh thanks.’ he said, oblivious to the scenario I’d run in my head.
I returned to my chair and hoisted myself back up onto it. It occurred to me that this was the perfect situation in which to find myself feeling self-conscious. I was sat in someone else’s kitchen, wearing someone else’s pyjamas and little else. But I didn’t. And it wasn’t just the fact that Rob’s top was about three times bigger than some of my dresses. It just felt comfortable with him. Talking. Not talking. Getting up to get cutlery for him so that we didn’t end up with matching bruised bums.
‘What are you working on?’ he asked, nodding his head to the side at the pile of stuff I’d left on the floor.
‘I have a bride who’s getting married in a castle, over in Ireland, and she wants a dress that reflects the history, but doesn’t look like a costume.’
Rob took another bite of toast and swallowed. ‘Can you do that?’
I nodded. ‘Of course.’
We sat for a few more moments.
‘Rob, I think I need to try and get over to Mags’ place today. It’s obvious I’m still not going to get home but I can’t stay here again–’
‘Why not?’ He wasn’t tetchy. He was just asking.
‘Well, because I’m sure you’ve got plenty of things to do and I just…’ have no idea what I’m trying to say.
‘Look out there, Izz. I don’t think anyone’s going to be doing much of anything today apart from staying in and keeping warm. Which is a plan that sounds pretty damn good to me. I know you’d probably prefer to be at Mags’ place right now, and if that’s what you really want, I’ll do my best to help you get there – but I can pretty much guarantee that those shoes you love so much will be completely ruined by the time you do.’
Oh yes. Right. Snow plus gorgeous new shoes which were certainly not made for navigating snowy pavements. Yep, he had a point. That was a bit of an issue.
‘This “Castle Bride”, is that something you have to get done this weekend?’
I nodded. ‘Well, yes, ideally. I said I’d send her something over, just some basic ideas to start with, by the end of tomorrow.’
‘Ok. Well, I’ve got some papers to look at too so if you’re happy that you have everything you need to get on with things here, then why don’t we just get our work done and reassess the situation later?’
‘Ok.’ I nodded.
‘Great! Oh, your dress should be dry. I put it in the machine last night.’
‘Oh, thanks!’ I hopped up from my seat and moved over to dishwasher where I began loading the breakfast plates in.
‘I’m just going to take a shower. Unless you want to go first?’ Rob hesitated at the doorway.
‘No, it’s fine,’ I said, now reaching in to the dryer to pull out my clothes, ‘I’ll just– oh no!’
‘What’s wrong?’ He frowned, padding back in slowly.
I pulled my dress out of the dryer and laid it over the back of the seat. Rob glanced at it.
‘Am I missing something because it looks – oh!’
I was holding up my beautiful designer cashmere cardigan. The colour of cornflowers in summer, I’d spent ages deciding whether to buy it, and had finally splashed out in celebration when my very first bride walked down the aisle. As soft and gorgeous as I’d imagined, and adding style and elegance to my outfit, it had been perfect. And it was still perfect. Assuming you were the size of a three-year-old.
I still hadn’t said anything and Rob still hadn’t moved any closer.
‘I’m guessing that label must say “Do Not Tumble”.’ he eventually volunteered.
A nod and a strangulated noise came from me as I laid my gorgeous, now tiny, cardi on the counter. There really was no rectifying this. It was gone.
‘I’m so sorry, Izzy. I’ll get you another one.’
I shook my head and finally looked at him. ‘It’s all right. Really. It’s just a jumper.’ Which was true. It was just a jumper. Just some wool all knitted up. That’s all. And I knew that Rob would want to replace it, whatever I said. It’s just that this one had such special memories attached to it – that first dress, all the way from design to completion. And the bride had been so insistent on having me there on the day because she was so happy with her dress and wanted to share that joy with me. And now I wouldn’t wear it again. I felt stupid at being upset over a bunch of wool, but there we are.
‘It’s not just a jumper though, is it?’ Rob asked.
I looked back up and shoved all the silliness aside. ‘Of course it is. Don’t worry about it! Thank you for drying the rest of my clothes, anyway,’ I hurried over in my head the fact that my underwear was also in there, and Rob would have had a good eyeful of that.
He held my gaze a moment then turned and headed back towards the bedrooms. ‘You can grab a shower first if you’d like. I’m going for a run.’
‘What, now?’ I called to him.