Page 23 of A Change of Heart

“You say that about everything I try on. You just want me to buy stuff to get the shopping trip over with.”

“Not true.” He righted one of the shopping bags that had toppled over by his feet. “You just happen to look good in everything.”

Her stomach fluttered and his bashful smile brought heat to her cheeks. “I think I’ll get these and the T-shirt. Then I’m calling it a day. I’m running out of money anyway. Which reminds me, I owe you money.”

“What for?”

Her eyes widened. “For the flights, and the tickets for yesterday and food yesterday. You keep paying for things.”

“I don’t mind. I’m just glad you came with me or I’d have spent most of the weekend alone.”

“Our mission to check on Trystan has failed somewhat, hasn’t it? Have you heard anything from him? I wonder how it’s going with Jenny.”

He pulled his phone from his pocket. “I haven’t heard anything.”

“Do you think we need to stay away from the flat for the day?”

“I dunno. Why?”

“Because I was thinking that shopping is exhausting and I’d quite like to chill out this afternoon, but if they’re getting back together Trystan might want us to make ourselves scarce.”

“He’d message if he wanted us out of the way.”

“So, you think we can go and watch films for the afternoon?”

“Yeah.”

She checked her watch. “We missed lunch. I’ll get changed and pay for these things, then we can find jeans for you and grab something to eat before we head back. And while we eat, we can figure out how much money I owe you.”

“You don’t need to pay me back … you can help me with my shopping and we’ll call it quits.”

“That doesn’t seem fair.”

“To who?” he asked, the corners of his mouth lifting to a smile.

“How bad are you at shopping?”

“Completely hopeless. Usually Trystan comes and picks everything out for me.”

“Picking out clothes for you actually sounds like fun.”

“You’ll just have to tell me I look great in everything,” he said, raising his voice as she slipped back into the changing room. “That way we can get it over and done with and get to the pub.”

“Are we going to the pub?” she asked, unbuttoning the shirt.

“We are unless you’re choosing where we go for food.”

“I’ll let you choose,” she said, realising she’d paused in getting changed. Her reflection in the mirror was positively beaming. Spending time with Kit was far too lovely. There’d been a couple of moments when being with him felt so much like being on a date that she’d had to stop herself from pressing her lips to his.

Although it wasn’t particularly like any dates she’d ever been on. Kit was sweet and kind and attentive, which didn’t describe any guys she’d previously dated.

Peeling the jeans off, she silently cursed herself. Why was she thinking about dates? Kit was a friend and that was all. She needed to get a grip. It was just hard to do when he was so easy to be around.

Shopping for him was as enjoyable as shopping for herself, and the smile didn’t leave her face as she waited outside changing rooms before giving her verdict. Being able to legitimately look him up and down without feeling like she was perving on her best friend’s little brother was great. It wasn’t doing anything to dampen her feelings towards him, but she decided not to worry about it while they were away. She’d figure out what to do when they were home and back to reality. Until then, she was determined to enjoy herself and not overthink things.

When they arrived back at the flat, Seren dumped the shopping bags and scooped up her pyjamas before heading for the bathroom.

“You realise it’s only half past four,” Kit said.