Page 89 of Tabloid Princess

I glanced at the small secluded area. The curtains provided a private room within a room. Next to Oliver a small table with a white tablecloth held silver cutlery and a wine cooler with a bottle with a gold foil top.

“This is a lot of effort if you weren’t sure I’d come.”

He shrugged. “I was willing to take the chance.” Stepping closer, his fingers slipped along my bare elbows, caressing my skin with his light fingertip touch. “Thank you for coming.”

“Well it’s not dinner down the local.”

His answering smile was brilliant and wide. “It’s true. I have issues going down the local.”

I shook my head, trying to calm my pulse. “It’s a dump. You aren’t missing much.”

I held my breath as he shifted forward and pressed his lips against my cheek. I could have turned then, seeking his lips with my own, but I held back. “Thank you,” he said.

“For what?” Leaning back, I met his gaze.

“For coming.”

“Well, you know, you made me feel so bad for you, I figured it was the least I could do to help you out.”

His answering smile all but killed me on the spot. “Then I’m eternally grateful.”

I turned then and looked at the painting. “Why have you brought me to have dinner in front of a painting of an execution?”

“Here, come and sit.” He motioned me over to the table and pulled out a chair for me. “Champagne?”

“Just one. I’ve got to do the school run in the morning.”

“Is it worse with a hangover?” His lips quirked and I decided it was my favourite smile.

“Everything is worse with a hangover.”

“Where does Daisy go to school?”

Were we really going to sit here and discuss mundane things like this? “Why?”

He chuckled low and once he’d finished pouring the drinks, he handed me a delicate flute. Soft bubbles rose to the surface and when I lifted it to my lips, the bubbles tickled my nose.

“Isn’t that what people do? They find out things about each other on these things called dates?”

I shrugged which effectively summed up my knowledge of the matter. “She goes to Winterborn which is not that far from where we live.” I scrunched my face up.

“What? You don’t like it?”

“No.” I put my glass down. “It’s not that. The school is as good as an inner London is going to get. We were lucky really. It’s just a nightmare getting her there. Daisy has severe asthma. She was born a few weeks early, and while the doctors tell me that her asthma has nothing to do with the complications of her birth, I don’t quite believe it.”

“What’s that got to do with school?” He leant forward and my own body shifted in response.

“We have to walk along the main road to get there. It’s awful with the fumes of the cars and the buses. I worry for children who have to take that trip to school. This town can’t take much more I don’t think.”

He cocked his head to one side. “You wouldn’t consider moving out of the city?”

“I’d love to. If I thought it would help her, I’d try in a heartbeat.” My cheeks heated. “It’s just not that easy. We are on the waitlist for new housing, but her asthma isn’t a priority. There isn’t any proof that where we live is affecting her health, and the house we have is considered actually quite lucky for a single mother with only one child.”

“I see,” he said this, but I knew he didn’t—not really. “And what about Nana?”

I glanced up in surprise, meeting his gaze. He remembered her name even though I’d only mentioned her once. “She doesn’t live too far away. Close enough to be able to help me with childcare.” I lifted my glass with shaking hands and took a deep sip. “But when I made my choice to keep Daisy, I wanted to prove I could do it by myself. I knew if I lived with Nana, who I loved instantly despite us only just finding one another, I knew it would be easy to give the responsibility over to her. I mean I wasn’t even an adult myself.”

Why was I talking so much?