Your Room or Mine? (11 page)

There was a pause.

‘I came to ask you on a date,' he said.

A surprised burst of laughter bubbled up inside her.

‘A date?' She could hear the incredulity in her own voice.

He raised his eyebrows with a hint of defensiveness.

‘Yes, a date. You know the kind of thing – I pick you up, I bring flowers, we go out somewhere nice, get to know each other, enjoy each other's company. And at the end of the evening, I drop you home.'

She stared at him.

‘Home?'

He nodded.

‘To your place. If you like. I guess what I'm really saying is that we skipped that whole stage, didn't we? Went straight from not knowing each other to bed. OK so we've gone about it all backwards, but so what? Let's start over.'

Could it really be that easy?

‘You can't just go back and fill in the blanks like that and expect it all to work,' she said. ‘It would be like me laying a lawn or planting up beds here without putting all the groundwork in first. It might look great on the surface, might even last a little while. But eventually it would all just wilt and die off. You can't build something that will last by skipping to the end.'

‘You don't know that. Just give it a try.'

‘Then what?'

‘Then we just see how it goes.'

‘It?'

‘Us. I want there to be an Us. I want that not to be an afterthought or a side effect or a quick fuck or one night stand. I'm in love with you.'

She looked at him in shock that he'd used the L-word. The expression on his face was open, his desire to make this work palpable. She had been wronged girlfriend and other woman. Maybe this time she could try and combine the two.

‘You're serious?'

‘Absolutely serious. No secrets, no lies…' he swallowed ‘…no putting work first. A proper relationship. You and me. How about it?'

Excitement simmer through her, slowly at first then gathering pace.

‘Ground rules,' she began and he pulled her against him and pressed his forehead against hers.

‘Not a bloody chance,' he said.

THE END

Charlotte Phillips

I live in Wiltshire, UK, where I squash writing in between looking after my family, who have been taught not to notice that I'm rubbish at housework. I love watching American TV shows in my pyjamas and I can't live without coffee and cake.

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