Page 76 of Forget It

She bites her lip. “I don’t know.”

“You’ve come out with us all before,” Anya points out.

“Yeah, but I wasn’t the one people were looking at.”

“Come on, you have to get out there eventually.”

“I don’t have anything to wear.”

Anya waves a hand. “Have you met Pip? You’ll have something to wear.”

“I don’t know.” She rests her hand on her belly.

“Come on, show off that gorgeous bump. It really suits you, by the way. I can’t wait to have my own.”

Danny sits up straighter, staring at Anya with stars in his eyes. “Huh?”

“You know, I think I’d look really cute with a belly.”

Danny stands up quickly, dislodging Anya with a laugh.

“Okay by me, freckles.” He bends at the knee and throws her over his shoulder. “Let’s go do that right now.”

Anya screeches as he carts her out of the room like a sack of potatoes.

“Saturday, Rosie!”

Rosie giggles as she sits down beside me. I rest my hand on my fist and glance at her, our first moment alone all day.

She peers up at me, mirroring my position. “What do you think?”

“I think I want to show you off, pretty girl, I have for a while now. This just gives me the opportunity.”

She sends me a soft smile.

Laughter erupts from down the hall, and she glances towards the sound. “Maybe we should get out of here, give them some space.”

“I think that would be the best for my ears.”

“I should get back to the flat,” she says, sounding like it’s the last thing she wants to do.

My heart pounds in my chest. “There’s somewhere else I’d like to take you first, if that’s okay with you.”

This plan is either the stupidest thing I’ve ever done or the best, and we’re about to find out.

More laughter from down the hall and Rosie shoots me a wide eyed grin. “Let’s go.”

We don’t need to take the car, since the journey is less than fifteen minutes on foot and I know how much Rosie likes to walk. But it’s too risky this morning, not with every person rounding the corner likely to make her jump.

I hold the car door open for her and help her inside before closing the it behind her. She’s quiet on the drive, head resting against the seat. A few turns of the wheel and we’re pulling up in front of the building I’ve visited more than a few times over the last few weeks.

I take a breath as I undo my seat belt.

“Okay, before we do this, I need you to keep an open mind,” I tell her.

“Where are we?”

“You’ll see.”

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