He laughed, amusement twinkling in his eyes. ‘You know, I’m sure you’re telepathic. I was thinking about this very thing only yesterday. I saw a fabulous dress in a shop window and I thought of you.’ He looked away, put his beer down on a mat. ‘Sorry if this is presumptuous in any way, but I bought it.’

Her heart skipped a beat and she wondered if she’d heard him properly. He bought me a dress?

‘The colour will be just perfect with your skin and your hair.’ He looked up at her, a sheepish smile on his face. ‘And those lovely brown eyes.’

She blushed, mouth opening and closing, lost for words. No man had ever bought her clothes before. Not even Matt had done that. James didn’t seem to notice her shock, and carried on talking.

‘I was also thinking it would be better if I give you a lift. There’s engineering works on the line at the moment and people have been telling me how unreliable the train service is. Can’t have you stuck or arriving late, can we?’

Sara was about to answer – say she didn’t think it was a good idea for them to travel together – when he started speaking again. ‘I know you think it’s risky, but I’ve checked and there’s nobody in the centre tomorrow night. So why don’t I pick you up from there? I can bring the dress over, you can get changed in the office, then you can change back into your work clothes on our way home. What do you think?’

Sara didn’t know what to think, or where to start with an answer, her mind still stuck on the fact that he’d bought her a dress. She picked up her beer and took a couple of sips, her eyes firmly on the table.

‘I can’t let you buy me clothes,’ she said eventually. ‘That’s hardly me paying off my debt, is it?’

‘Too late, it’s done, and it was in a sale so can’t be returned.’ He gave her that smile again, and her heart did a little flip. ‘You’ll light up the room. And that will make it all worthwhile.’

What could she say to that? The answer appeared to be nothing, and she found herself agreeing to his proposals in lieu of a better alternative. It’ll be fine, she told herself as she left work that evening, but her stomach was telling her otherwise.

The following day, Sara’s anxiety had notched up to another level completely. She found she couldn’t face lunch, and kept making mistakes as her thoughts filled with everything that could go wrong with the arrangements for her evening out. How could she keep it secret from Matt?