Chapter 20
Frankie trailed after Ed as he headed towards a different display area full of cards, wrapping paper and other stationery items like diaries and pretty notebooks.
Her mind was racing a mile a minute as the words he’d used so casually echoed around her head.
‘You’re dating one of Santa’s little helpers.
’ It wasn’t the Santa bit that was bothering her.
Choosing a tree and the exact decorations she wanted for it had been way more fun than she’d expected and she was already eager to get home and put it up.
No, it was more the ‘dating’ part that was the problem.
It sounded too formal for what she’d had in mind for them, too serious.
She’d figured they would hang out a bit, fool around together and then part company after the new year with a hug and a wave goodbye.
Dating sounded more like he thought it might lead to something and that was definitely not what she was in the market for.
Relationships were for other people. She’d tried it and they always ended messily.
Being in the public eye was a nightmare too.
The couple of times she’d made the mistake of dating a co-star their every move had been reported on by the online gossip sites.
Going out with a civilian was even harder because they resented the intrusion, which, while completely understandable, was outside Frankie’s control.
That hadn’t stopped one of her exes from accusing her of sharing stories, or another one from selling private photos of them after they’d broken up.
They weren’t anything that didn’t get shared by people on Instagram a million times a day, but they had been deeply personal moments Frankie had believed he’d treasured as much as she did.
No, she needed to nip this in the bud straight away before there was any risk of either of them getting hurt through a misunderstanding.
Reaching Ed’s side, Frankie tugged his sleeve to get his attention.
Ed turned to look at her, a Christmas card in his hand.
‘There you are,’ he said, all smiles. ‘My brothers and I don’t bother to give cards to each other, but Mum loves a Christmas card.
What do you think of this one?’ He held it up to show her an image of a pair of cuddly teddy bears dressed in scarves and hats.
Choosing a card for his parents was definitely a big step outside her comfort zone. ‘I don’t know. Go with whatever you think she’d like.’
Ed turned the card back towards him and frowned at it for a moment. ‘It is a bit cutesy, isn’t it?’ He put it back and selected a plainer one with a stylised gold Christmas tree on a red background. ‘This one?’ he asked, holding it up to show her.
‘It’s fine. It’s nice, whatever.’ She glanced around to make sure there was no one else around then said, ‘Look, can we talk a minute?’
Ed’s easy smile vanished in an instant. ‘Is something wrong?’
‘Not wrong, I just think we need to make sure we’re on the same page, that’s all.’
‘About Christmas cards?’
‘About expecting me to have an opinion on the card you want to give to your parents.’ She could feel her face getting hot.
Why did shops always have their heating cranked up to tropical when customers would be wearing coats and scarves?
She opened the zip on her jacket and tugged her hoodie away from her neck.
Ed was still staring at her in utter confusion, clearly not getting the point she was trying to make.
‘Look, you used the word “dating” earlier and, well, it has some connotations attached to it that I don’t think apply to our…
’ She cast around for an appropriate word. ‘…situation.’
‘I’m asking your opinion on a card; I’m not asking you to marry me, Frankie.’ His bemused expression only served to make her more uncomfortable.
‘I just didn’t want you getting the wrong idea about my kissing you earlier.’
‘Oh.’ Ed’s sigh was an echo of the disappointment written across his face. ‘You’ve changed your mind about that and would rather just be friends?’
‘No!’ The word shot out too quickly and she clamped her mouth shut for a moment as she tried to figure out the right words.
She was a grown-up, for God’s sake, it shouldn’t be beyond her wit to speak clearly about what she wanted.
‘I liked kissing you and I am hoping that, should the appropriate opportunity arise, there will be more kissing, and, well, you know.’ She gestured between them.
‘I know,’ Ed said, with a grin that made it clear he was enjoying her moment of discomfort.
‘Okay, good. But I want to make sure that you know that any you knowing that might happen between us is purely temporary and come the new year we’ll both go our separate ways.’ There, that should do it.
‘So you just want me to be your fuck-buddy?’
‘Bloody hell, keep your voice down!’ She glanced around but thankfully there was no one near enough to have heard him. ‘I was thinking more along the lines of friends with benefits.’
‘Situationally adjacent,’ Ed suggested. ‘Dance partners in the horizontal tango?’
She glared at him. ‘You’re just taking the piss now.’
‘Advantageously connected? For the next fortnight only, of course.’ He danced back with a laugh when she took a swipe at him.
‘It’s not too late for me to pack my stuff and catch a train back to London,’ she mock-threatened him, trying not to join in with his laughter.
He moved closer, putting his arms around her waist and tugging her behind a tall display stand where they would be out of sight of anyone passing.
‘Come here, I’m only teasing.’ His smile remained but the amused light had gone out of his eyes.
‘I get it, Frankie, I promise. I’m sorry if me saying we were dating freaked you out.
There wasn’t any hidden meaning behind it.
In just over two weeks I’ll be headed back to the Caribbean and my next contract is for six months.
After that I’m planning on signing another one, so I’m not sure when or if I’ll be back in the country. ’
She raised her hands to rest them on his shoulders, his height and their bulky clothing making it hard for her to return his embrace.
‘And I’ll be away filming most of the year, so even if you were home for a bit the odds on me being around at the same time are pretty slim.
It doesn’t make sense to consider anything else, even if we wanted to. ’
‘Exactly.’ His gaze shifted to her mouth and for a moment she thought he might kiss her, but he settled instead for squeezing her waist and releasing her.
He moved back to the cards and retrieved the red and gold one.
He held it up to her with a cheeky grin.
‘Now we’re on the same page, would you please tell me what you think?
Because I am hopeless when it comes to stuff like this. ’
* * *
She did her best to keep a low profile, but she didn’t miss the double takes and stares when someone thought they recognised her.
Usually she was resigned to it and would accept the tentative smiles and stop for an autograph or a selfie.
But not today. Today was about Ed and she didn’t want to share herself with anyone but him.
Whenever someone tried to catch her eye, she turned away and nudged Ed in the opposite direction.
It didn’t take him long to catch on to what was happening and he became more aware of their surroundings; more vigilant.
She didn’t like that he had to do it, but when she tried to apologise, he brushed it off.
‘You’re entitled to your privacy, Frankie.’ His eyes gleamed as he drew her closer. ‘You’re all mine, today.’ Now they were both on the lookout, it was much easier to avoid anyone who showed a flicker of interest in her presence and Frankie was able to relax and enjoy herself again.
Garden centre wasn’t an adequate name for the place Ed had brought her to.
It was more like an Aladdin’s cave, with a new surprise around every corner.
She could’ve spent an hour browsing the food hall alone and she was persuaded to leave the clothes section only when Ed pulled out the car keys and threatened to go home without her.
With a laugh, she allowed him to lead her towards the tills.
There was a sticky moment when they reached the front of the queue and the eyes of the young woman behind the counter widened in recognition.
Frankie raised a quick finger to her lips and winked at the girl and thankfully she nodded and began to ring through her stack of purchases.
They’d just finished packing when Frankie spotted an abandoned till receipt.
She fished a pen out of her handbag, scribbled a quick message and her signature and handed it to the girl along with her credit card.
The girl read the message, raised her head and beamed at Frankie. ‘Merry Christmas to you too,’ she murmured then folded the paper and tucked it carefully in her pocket.
‘You know the point of Christmas is to buy other people presents, right?’ Ed asked a few minutes later as he loaded her mountain of bags into the boot.
‘Not everything’s for me!’ she protested with a laugh as she rounded the car to climb into the passenger seat.
‘Given your packing problems this morning, I’m not sure of the wisdom in adding three more tops and two jumpers,’ he pointed out as he sat beside her and pulled on his seat belt.
‘They were on sale!’ she protested. ‘And I needed something nice to wear to your Mum and Dad’s on Christmas Day. You don’t want me turning up in this, do you?’ She tugged the front of her favourite cosy hoodie.
‘I refer you back to the two suitcases’ worth of clothing I saw spread all over the living room this morning.’
‘I’ll figure something out.’ Even in her frenzy earlier she’d noticed several things she hadn’t taken out of the drawer since she’d arrived.
There must be a charity shop locally where she could drop off a few donations.
‘And a lot of the food is to make a basket for your parents. And I bought the basket!’ She started ticking things off on her fingers.
‘And the champagne is for Christmas Day as well. The bath products are to make gift bags for the girls.’ They would be part Christmas gift, part apology.
‘All of the bath products?’ Ed prompted as he negotiated the busy car park. He hadn’t been kidding about getting there early, she thought as they pulled out onto the main road and saw the queue tailing back on the other side towards the entrance.
‘Most of them,’ she conceded with a laugh. ‘And I was planning on sharing the rest of the food with you for dinner tonight,’ she dropped in casually. ‘If you’re available.’
They paused at a junction and Ed dropped his left hand off the steering wheel to place it on her knee. ‘I’m definitely available.’
The heat from his palm melted through the leg of her jeans and travelled all the way up through her body to flush her cheeks. Two could play at that game. ‘If you’re very good, I might share one of my bath bombs with you,’ she murmured as the traffic in front of them cleared.
Ed jerked as if an electric shock had passed through him and the car stalled.
‘Damn it,’ he muttered as he wrestled with the key.
An impatient blast of a horn sounded behind them.
‘All right, all right,’ he yelled, as if whoever was honking could hear him, and the car lurched up towards the junction.
Frankie bit her lip to stifle a laugh, quickly turning her head.
The traffic was heavy all the way back to the village and by the time they got to the cottage and had unloaded the boot, she could tell Ed was on edge. When he checked his watch for the third time in as many minutes, Frankie pointed towards the door. ‘Go and do what you need to do. I’ll be fine.’
Frowning, Ed looked around at the piles of boxes and bags they had carried in and dumped on the floor next to the empty, open suitcase. Half the contents of her wardrobe still covered the back of the sofa. ‘I can’t leave you with this to sort out.’
‘I’ll be fine,’ she repeated, coming over to place her hands on his back and give him a gentle push towards the door.
He let her move him a few steps before he stopped and glanced over his shoulder at her. ‘What about the tree?’
Part of her wanted to put it up on her own.
It was her first tree, after all, and she was excited at making it exactly as she wanted.
But wouldn’t it be more fun to do something like that together?
They could open a bottle of wine and graze on all the tasty treats she’d bought from the farm shop at the garden centre.
She could put some nice music on and light the fire…
‘I’ll wait until you arrive and we can decorate it together, if you’d like. ’
His delighted smile told her she’d made the right choice. ‘I’d like that. Hopefully I won’t be too late, but I’ll text you later with an ETA.’
‘Take as long as you need. Rick will be glad of your help, I’m sure.’ She nudged him towards the door once more. ‘The sooner you go, the sooner you can come back and we’ll have the evening to relax and enjoy ourselves.’
‘Good point.’ Ed turned on the threshold, cupped her face in his hands and pressed a swift, hard kiss on her mouth. ‘There’ll be more where that came from,’ he promised.
‘I should certainly hope so,’ she replied with a laugh, then danced out of reach when he made a grab for her waist. ‘Chores first; kissing later!’