He was babbling now. Doing the thing that he found so endearing in Bonnie. Why had she looked panicked? Did she really want to say no? Maybe he was reading things all wrong.
Her lips pressed together and after a few seconds the edges turned upwards. ‘Freya would love that. It’s a great idea.’
He brushed past her. ‘Good. I’ll book tickets and maybe we could grab some dinner first?’
He kept walking down the corridor as she gave the slightest nod of her head. He didn’t want to tell her he’d already booked the tickets and the restaurant. That would seem presumptuous.
It was the oddest feeling. Jacob hadn’t felt this nervous asking a girl out since he was a teenager. For a second, he’d thought she might actually say no.
As he turned the corner at the bottom of the corridor Bonnie was still standing at the office door with a smile on her face.
For a second he felt sixteen again. It was all he could do not to punch the air.
* * *
Bonnie was nervous—and that was ridiculous. She looked at the clothes laid out on her bed. Nothing seemed to suit.
‘Wear the Christmas jumper, Mummy!’ said Freya as she bounced in the room. ‘We can match.’
Bonnie blinked. Freya hadn’t been wearing that jumper a few minutes ago. She was going through a stage of changing her clothes constantly—and putting everything she’d worn for ten minutes in the washing basket.
She smiled. ‘Well, I suppose it is officially December now.’ She pulled the black jumper, adorned with a bright green Christmas tree and glittering red sequins for the Christmas baubles, over her head. As soon as she pulled it on she felt more comfortable.
That was what was wrong. She was fretting over what to wear as if this were actually a date. And it wasn’t. But it had felt like that when Jacob had asked her. It had given her that warm, tingly feeling that spread throughout her body and stayed there all day.
Ridiculous. This was Jacob being polite and taking out his house guests. And if there hadn’t been that soft, sizzling kiss a few nights ago that might have been a rational thought. It might have been brief but she couldn’t get the feel of Jacob’s lips out of her mind.
‘Come on, Mummy.’ Bonnie pulled on her favourite jeans and stuck her feet into her boots. She’d put make-up on this morning and had no wish to do it again, so just reapplied some lipstick. There. Ready.
Jacob was waiting for them at the bottom of the stairs as they walked down. The look of appreciation and smile he gave her made the little fire inside light up again.
‘I can’t wait to see this film,’ chattered Freya. ‘Three people at school have seen it already and they said it’s brilliant. The princess dances on ice and the prince lives underneath the water.’
‘Are you sure you’re up for this?’ Bonnie asked.
But he smiled. ‘Oh, I’m sure. I’m sure in the next few days every adult will have seen this film too and it’s all we’ll hear about.’ He opened the front door. ‘I booked Paulette’s Italian. Are you okay with that? I thought it would suit Freya since spaghetti bolognaise is her favourite food.’
She’d expected to go to the nearest fast-food restaurant. Jacob Layton was proving to be more than a little surprising.
It only took ten minutes to reach the cinema complex and the nearby restaurant. Dinner was almost a disaster. Freya was too excited to eat and ended up wearing most of her spaghetti rather than eating it. But the food was good and the company even better.
Jacob was careful not to talk shop in front of Freya—or ask Bonnie any difficult questions about being back in Scotland. He asked Freya about school and her friends, and Bonnie about her favourite things and how she was settling in.
She took a sip of her glass of wine. ‘I love CRMU. The staff are really friendly. A few of them have invited me out—Isabel, Hope and Jessica. But it’s difficult. If we were still at home I could ask my mum and dad to babysit. Going out in the evenings in Cambridge isn’t really an option for me.’
Jacob hesitated. His fork poised just before his mouth. ‘I could do it.’
She almost choked. ‘What? No, I couldn’t ask you to do that.’
‘I mean, as long as I wasn’t on call or anything. I mean, once Freya’s had dinner and done her homework, there’s really no problem. We could watch a film together and then it would be time for bed.’
Bonnie shook her head, glancing sideways at Freya, who seemed to have missed the conversation. ‘That’s so kind of you to offer. But no, Jacob, I wouldn’t do that to you.’ She paused for a second. ‘I could always ask Lynn, the childminder. I’m sure she would say it was okay.’ She put her hand around Freya’s shoulder. ‘But I’m just not ready to do that yet. We’ve had a lot of change in a short period of time. I’d like her to feel really settled before I start thinking about going out.’
Jacob nodded thoughtfully then shrugged. ‘Okay. But the offer is there if you need it.’
‘Is it time for the film yet?’ cut in Freya, smiling, with her bolognaise-smeared face.
Bonnie glanced at her watch as she wiped Freya’s face with a napkin. ‘I think it is. Are you ready to go?’
Freya bounced out of her seat. ‘I’m ready. Let’s go and see the princess.’
Jacob paid their bill and helped Freya on with her jacket before they walked the short distance to the cinema. It was already busy, with numerous excitable children all waiting to see the film. The noise level was incredible.
Jacob winced. ‘Is every kids’ show like this?’
Bonnie nodded. ‘Believe it or not, they do go quiet when the film starts.’
They collected their tickets and bought some popcorn, then filed into the cinema and found their seats. Freya changed seats three times. Sitting between them, then on one side of Bonnie, on one side of Jacob and back to the middle again. She leaned forwards as the film started.
In the darkness of the cinema something struck Bonnie. Freya had never been to the cinema with her father. Robert had always managed to find an excuse not to go on family outings with them and the cinema had rapidly become a treat for Bonnie and Freya on their own.
This was the first time she’d actually been at the cinema with a man since she’d been born. Regret twisted inside Bonnie. She should have chosen better. Robert had never lived up to the role of a father, and now here was Jacob, a single man with no experience of kids, bending over backwards to be accommodating towards them.
She wasn’t sure what all this meant, but it was so nice to feel considered. She appreciated it more than she could ever say.
She reached over in the darkness, across the space where Freya leaned forwards, and slid her hand into Jacob’s. He turned towards her, surprise on his face.
‘Thank you for doing this,’ she whispered.
He smiled and gave her hand a squeeze, circling his thumb in her palm.
He kept it that way for the whole ninety-minute film. And she let him.
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